1940 General Television Model 696 Tube Radio
Product CodekhU9lGU
Product ConditionNew
$575.00 inc. tax
1940 General Television Model 696 Tube Radio Summary
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SOLD
For your consideration is this extremely rare, fully restored 1940 General Television & Radio Corp painted bakelite superhetrodyne 6 tube radio, model# 696.
This set is probably the most difficult to find of the bakelite GTV models produced and is only the 3rd one I've seen offered online.
HISTORY
What makes this set even more obscure is this version features the five push button mechanical presets. GTV offered three variations of the model 696 that I know of, each one with slight variations.
One version was like this one offered here but without the preset buttons, the other of course this one with the preset buttons, and a 3rd with a large square dial with no preset buttons (see last pic). Could there be more versions? Possibly, but these are the only ones I know of and after searching many sites, I could not locate a schematic for any of them. Another note, Midwest offered this exact preset button set but placed their own Midwest water decal above the push buttons in place of the General Television decal.
THIS SET
I purchased this 1940 set from the original owners who had it packed away in a box up in the attic. And even though the condition was very poor, I was pleased that they didn't toss it out as I'm sure many would have.
ORIGINAL AS FOUND CONDITION
Upon receiving it the condition was beyond horrible as not only did the bakelite cabinet have three cracks, but the insides were a mess as well. Throughout the last 30 yrs I've restored well over 2000 sets with a few in extremely poor condition like this one, but because of my experience in professional wood/bakelite cabinet repair and electronics repair I've never shied-away from a difficult challenge regardless of the damage. For me, it's all about preserving the history of these rare pieces and the challenge they present.
Upon close inspection of this radio, I knew I had my work cut out for me to say the least, but after a month of work I'm very pleased how it turned out.
CHASSIS AND PARTS
The original field coil electro dynamic speaker was toast, 3 bad tubes, the extensive 6 pulley dial cord system was in very poor condition with a broken dial cord, bad/weak preset tension springs, and a stuck mechanical system. The original dial bulb assembly was removed by someone, the center ivory plaskon knob was gone and replaced with a philco knob, the on/off potentiometer was replaced in the past, and the original dial lens was warped and yellowed. The chassis still had all the original dogbone resistors,wax & filter capacitors and of course the cord was shot as well as some of the wiring.
Below is a list of the parts replaced as well as the cabinet restoration details.
- DAMAGED (three cracks) BAKELITE CABINET PROFESSIONALLY REPAIRED ON THE INSIDE AND NOT VISIBLE ON THE OUTSIDE, PAINTED IN CHERRY RED, CURED FOR SEVERAL WEEKS THEN HAND POLISHED.
- ORIGINAL BAD FIELD COIL SPEAKER REPLACED WITH A SAME TIME PERIOD NOS MOTOROLA FIELD COIL SPEAKER.
- THREE VACUUM TUBES REPLACED WITH NOS TUBES.
- ALL SEVEN DOGBONE RESISTORS REPLACED AND ALL CAPACITORS REPLACED WITH PREMIUM CAPS (no china made junk caps).
- ALL FIVE KNOB PRESET SPRINGS REPLACED WITH NEW ONES. MECHANICAL PRESET SYSTEM LUBRICATED AND ADJUSTED, WORKS GREAT NOW.
- POLARIZED AC CORD INSTALLED
- PILOT LAMP ASSEMBLY INSTALLED AND WITH NEW PILOT LAMP (BRIGHTLY LIT DIAL SCALE LOOKS FANTASTIC LIT UP!)
- NEW DIAL LENS COVER ADDED (CUSTOM MOLDED FROM MY MOLDING DEPT.)
- ORIGINAL DIAL SCALE POINTER REPAINTED IN RED
- CUSTOM FABRICATED HARDBOARD BACKING ADDED WITH EXTRA LARGE RIGHT VENT HOLES FOR HEAT VENTING OF THE BALLAST TUBE.
- CUSTOM TUBE SCHEMATIC LABEL MADE AND ATTACHED TO THE BOTTOM.
- FOUR THICK FELT PADS ADDED TO THE BOTTOM.
- CUSTOM RADIO-CAFE BACKING LABEL ADDED
- NEW 4FT ANTENNA WIRE INSTALLED IN THE BACK
- ALL THREE KNOB SHAFTS LUBRICATED FOR SMOOTH OPERATION. LEFT KNOB = TUNING, MIDDLE KNOB = ON/OFF/VOLUME, RIGHT KNOB = AM(broadcast) & SHORTWAVE SWITCH
AUDIO TESTED FOR A MINIMUM 48hrs THROUGHOUT A WEEK PERIOD.
The reception is excellent with nice mellow tone from the electro dynamic speaker. We only have a few AM stations in this area but was able to tune in most if them with the antenna wire extended.
The Shortwave Band is only 2.2 - 6.5, but I was still able to tune in a couple stations at night. Like with most shortwave bands, it is very sensitive and requires very slow repetitive fine tuning in order to find stations.
NOTE: This 6 tube set (25L6, 25Z6, 6Q7, 6K7, 6A8, L49B-ballast) being a ballast set does get very warm which is normal. With that being said I would recommend playing it for just 30min at a time. Keep in mind this is not just a vintage tube radio but an antique with vintage parts, so it should be treated as such.
RADIO MEASUREMENTS: 11" X 7" X 7.5"
WARRANTY: Radio comes with a full 90 day electronics warranty included in writing. Any tampering/changes to the chassis by the owner will void the warranty. Thanks for looking!
Jerry Waters - Owner of the Radio-Cafe
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