[jayoungs]

Just came across a box in some very old radio stuff I inherited about a year ago. Found it has about 25 tubes -- each in individual sleeves. One of the tubes is a 6G5 eye tube and is a shoulder type. Looks brand new, but not tested yet. I have not encountered a shoulder eye tube yet in my infant stage of radio collecting. I found a little info about their lineage on the web, but very little detail. Anyone know any background and, especially, is there a particular group or type of sets these were typically used? Thanks.

[exray]

Yep, they are out there. I'm thinking they were the tube of choice for the 1936 series RCAs like 9K3, etc. Of course a straight type tube can be used to replace them in those radios because of the way the mounting bracket was made but the opposite is not true in many sets where only a straight sided tube can be used.

-Bill

[jayoungs]

Thanks Bill, much appreciated.

Joe

[Texasrocker]

I agree with Exray on the RCA special needs orig eyetubes sets! A few yrs back,I had a special "request",from a customer, to look thru all my spare eye-tubes for a suitable "rare fit" orig replacement for a vintage 30s RCA set.I cant remember the exact chassis model of RCA radio in question , that generated that " item specific"request. I do remember it was a request for the overall "length" in question of the tube to fit properly. Just any ol reg eye tube replacement wouldnt fit in the orig overall"length" space from front to back, except for a special-designed tube. I didnt have the exact fit my customer was looking for out of many spare eyetubes in backstock here. Most eye-tubes are very similar in size etc. Joe,.. you just may have a "rarity" special-fit eye-tube indeed! Compare the overall "length" of your eyetube with others you have on-hand as comparison.Im no eyetube expert by any means, but I learned over the yrs how to sometimes add a resistor across some of the old Zenith sets eye-tubes sockets to perk up their eyelids abit! Works too! Congrats on your find Joe!! ol Tx

[jayoungs]

Hey Tex,

Good to hear from you and thanks - I was glad to find this stash. I'll send you a separate e-mail, too, as the eye tube in my 9-S-263 is starting to fail and I'd like to try your resistor trick on the replacement. Wish I had a 6T5 that it was originally outfitted!

Anyway, thanks as always,

Joe