Eric, I read in your bio that you had been an engineer for Svetlana. Do you speak any Russian, by chance?

I have a tape showing some history of the Svetlana factory, showing it back in the Soviet days and its condition today. The building is still there. Back in its hey-day, it was a top-secret plant and I'm not sure that the old images of factory workers in this mini-documentary are actually Svetlana workers. It could be they were working at a different tube plant. I just don't know, but it is interesting to see a Russian documentary about the plant.

It seems that there was some controversy about the name here in America. I don't think there is any such controversy in Russia, but I don't know.

Do you have any interesting stories about the company?

Don't speak much Russian, sorry. Could get
some of it translated if it's important.
If this is what I think, it's a documentary
meant to improve employee morale. Possibly
with some Soviet propaganda as flavoring.

Unless there's some film of factory operations,
It's not of great value.

The documentary discussed the history of the Svetlana company and some of the things that were done there. There were some pictures and even some films of assembly in the 40's or 50's. It wasn't propogandized at all, there was no spin or motive of spin. But photos or films of the Svetlana factory in the 40's and 50's may be relatively scarce, since it was a secured area then. Maybe they were declassified, or maybe they were actually photos and films of another place, used for illustration. Sort of a re-enactment kind of thing, I don't know. I just know that the modern photos of the plant showed it to be a bit run down and vacant, but its history is interesting. I also know that manufacture of tubes is becoming popular again, and some Russian companies are keen on addressing the market.

What is the story behind the Svetlana name usage in the United States? I know there was some issue there, but I don't know what. I also don't really know what Russian companies are currently building tubes. It is interesting to me, but I haven't really looked into it. I thought you might know. I'm guessing there are probably some pretty interesting stories there, and sometimes I think about looking to find the stories "behind the scenes." But then I get busy with my daily tasks and never take the time to learn more about the Russian tube market.

You may have noticed there are two Svetlana logos in use, the original "S" logo, and the newer "Flying C" or "Winged C" logo. The "C" is the Cyrillic character that corresponds to the first letter of Svetlana when written in Russian, so I'm told.

In 2003 I believe, New Sensor, owner of the Electro-Harmonix and Sovtek brand names, bought the Svetlana name brand. An legal dispute forced Svetlana to abandon use of it's "S" trademark and Svetlana brand name, which are now used by New Sensor. Svetlana changed it's name to Svetlana Electron Devices, and it's tubes are now sold under the SED brand name and "Winged C" logo. The tubes are still made in the same St.Petersburg, Russia plant, and are still the same high quality.

Today, New Sensor makes tubes with the Svetlana brand name and "S" logo in the Saratov, Russia plant, which is where the tubes branded Sovtek and Electro-Harmonix are also made. The new "S" logo Svetlana is not affiliated with SED in any way, and their tubes are inferior compared to St.Petersburg Svetlana production, either past genuine Svetlana "S" or present SED "Winged C."

For those who may own Decware Zens, the Svetlana "S" SV83s that are available are all NOS genuine Svetlana, as this tube is out of production. Ditto for EF86s and some of the newer Svetlana power triodes such as the SV572.

When it comes to types such as EL34s, 6L6GCs, 6550s, and other types that are currently made in both facilities, make sure they have the "Winged C" logo to ensure you're getting the real McCoy.

Thermionic

You are right that "C" is the Russian character for "S." You'll see the Russian word "Светлана" (Svetlana) in the title of this post, which is actually a girl's name. I suspect the original company name was chosen because it was somebody's wife, daughter or lover. I'm not being chauvinistic or overlooking the possibility that the founder might have been a woman, it's just unlikely because they are a very patriarchal culture, and were even more so in the past. The title of this post says, lampovui zavod "Svetlana" which means lamp factory "Svetlana." Russians call radio tubes "lamps."

I wonder, where was the trademark purchased? Is this an American trademark or Russian? I know Svetlana is Russian, and I think Sovtek and Electro-Harmonix are too. But New Sensor sounds like a Western company name to me. Is the name dispute a Russian/American thing? It looks like that may be the start, and then when they both wanted to take ownership of the American mark, one scrambled for the word mark and the other for the graphic, using the "C." I know that trademarks are separately owned in each country, so there may be some issues because of that too. Is that what the deal is?

I'm not privy to all the details of the situation, but I do know for certain that New Sensor is the legal owner of the Sovtek, Electro-Harmonix, and Svetlana brand names, as well as all the involved trademarks, lock, stock, and barrel, including the the "S" logo. I've read they also have exclusive rights as the importer of these three brand names, including Sovtek amps and Electro-Harmonix guitar effects. They also import Ei, Sino, and JJ tubes, and are a dealer in several well known brands of guitar speakers, capacitors, switches, pots, Accutronics reverb tanks, Hammond iron and chassis, pretty much whatever you need to build a guitar amp, component wise.

I had forgotten to mention this in my earlier post, but you are correct about them being a Western company. New Sensor is based here in the USA.

Thermionic

Trademarks are country specific, so USA trademarks aren't necessarily observed in other countries. Likewise, the USA doesn't necessarily respect foreign marks. If someone shows use of a trademark for product sales in the USA, then America will respect it. But sales in another country don't qualify. Also, America places precedence on first use, where many other countries respect first registrant. So that's sometimes an issue too.

There may have been a relatively recent registration in the USA for "Svetlana" by New Sensor. If unopposed for five years, it would have been hard to challenge, even if Svetlana in St. Petersburg had sold tubes with that name in the USA prior to New Sensor's registration. Svetlana St. Petersburg may not have been aware of this, and it is possible that they didn't monitor or attempt to police their name.

On the other hand, maybe New Sensor considered Svetlana St. Petersburg to be defunct. It may very well have been, and the current company may be an entirely different entirely, just using the same name, engineering and maybe some of the old fabrication tools.

I don't know any of this, it's just speculation. I'm just thinking out loud. Could have been something totally different. And I'm not expert in trademark law, that's for sure, but I have had occasion to deal with these kinds of issues a time or two. So I always kind of wondered about the two companies sharing the Svetlana name.

It's interesting to me, and I'd like to know the real story.

Yes, Svetlana is the name of Stalin's daughter, as I understand it, and who use to run the company. Don't know if she still does.
Be a shame if SED, as it is now called in the USA, went defunct.

Take care.
Steve

You may be right about the company name - Stalin did indeed have a daughter named Sveta. He and she did not get along at all - She married a Jew and her father disowned her. They were at odds through her whole life, kind of similar to the relationship he had with his mother. But perhaps he ordered the name of the company after his daughter for appearances sake. He tried to give the impression of being a loving father and son, although he was neither. He also tried to give the impression of strength and virility when, there again, he had neither. I guess the guy was built for politics.

Hey, on another note, you having any nibbles on the 10A preamp? It sure looks like an excellent deal.

Wayne

Thanks for the info.
Yes, One gent is auditioning it. Should know fairly soon if he will keep it as he has 45 days to audition it.

Take care and thanks.
Steve