Mullard GZ34 metal base · Blackburn, 1961 · pair
The metal-base GZ34 — the rectifier the tweed-Fender crowd will not shut up about.
- SKU
- MS-VT-0421
- Era
- 1950-2000
- Condition
- NOS pair, tested to spec, matched forward voltage
- Dimensions
- 128 × 52 mm (H × Ø)
- Weight
- 62 g each
- Provenance
- Acquired 2020 from a former Mullard distributor's warehouse clearance, Birmingham.
- Category
- Vacuum Tubes & Valves
- Tags
- mullardgz345ar4rectifiermetal-base
Manufactured at Blackburn in 1961, back when Mullard still fitted the GZ34 with an aluminum base skirt rather than the later brown bakelite. Collectors call it the metal-base 5AR4; the internals are the same tall-bottle full-wave rectifier that turns a Fender tweed Twin from good into correct.
Both tubes are unused, though the boxes show the honest wear of sixty-odd years in a Midlands stockroom. Forward voltage drop is matched between the two to within 4V at rated current, which is closer than most modern pairs ever manage from the factory.
Sold only as a pair. We are not splitting them.
Related finds
More from Vacuum Tubes & Valves →
The blue-glow half-wave rectifiers of the golden age of ham radio. Handled with respect.
Late-run American full-wave rectifier from the last full year of Harrison production.
Blackburn-plant brown-base EL34s, Xf2 date code, four bottles, four matching foil boxes.