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Tube Faking
how we found out the name of the faker
(Last updated: 24-Jan-2016 14:56 )

The unknown seller. An interesting situation is when there was this really huge batch of TESLA ECC803S offered also to me in 2006, via internet, by dealer that I occaisionally buy some NOS stock from. Then, he had for sale for me this batch of ECC803S. This turned out to be a huge fake job, really big money. I was not the only victim. So far, this tube I have never seen faked, because originals were still available. They would sell for about 40 Euro in those days. The crowd was not interested in those, it was a tube for connaisseurs rather. So there was not yet what I call the lemming effect for this part number. Also the TESLA brand was not discovered yet as the second best tube after Telefunken. Still I noticed increased demand already. So a lemming effect might develop, and simply buy a few hundred of those in 2006, as they were still no expensive, seemed a good idea to me. Later, as I found out about the fake job, I issued a warning on the largest non-moderated, old women gossip and fight Forum, called: Audio Asylum. Guess what that sparked! Oh, they LOVED teh dirt throwing. Everybody was poking into it. From this, I generated a private email list for myself, with qualified people, to whom I communicated the rest of the inside information. Really communicating on AA is not what I do, because I don't like unmoderated fight forums. THEN...... in the meantime, the original faking person was reading this too. Note this, there was this dealer in between. So the faker sold them to a dealer, and the dealer sold them to me. Now, the faker that I did not know until then, but from the dispute he started with me, I found ouot who he was. (Very simple by copying his emails to the private email list I have.... and yes! Somebody knew him by name). At first he started a dispute with me via email, under a false email address, telling me I was wrong with the warning in Audio Asylum, and he thinks the tubes are real. Soon after he became agressive and insulting. After forwarding this to my private mailing list, there was a person who recognized him. So that is how I find out his identity. For who knows him, his name starts with an L, and ends with an O. Then I asked my dealer the simply question: Did you get those tubes from "L....O", and his answer was... Yes! So that is how the case got cleared. After letting the faker know what is real name was, he disappeared. Any of those tubes I never saw before.

Now comes an interesting learning experience. You MUST read this! After posting that warning, I was contacted ny private email by SEVERAL tube dealers asking to buy those fake tubes, and offer me some profit on the the batch. This was so crazy. I made me realized how sick this business can be, and I learned a few names of dealers I would never expected this from. I decided not to sell any of those, and return the whole lot to the seller (who took them back - no problem). Six weeks after, I noticed a few times larger batches of "unprinted JJ ECC803S" were for sale by obscure sellers on Ebay.

Another USA company of excellent reputation got screwed also with the Fake TESLA's and we stayed in personal contact about it. They decided to wipe off the printing completely, and sell them for what there really were. That is "JJ tubes without printing". Which is what they are indeed. That was a good and honest solution of them.


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