Who Made the "Realistic Lifetime" EL84?

[bob p]

Does anybody know who the ghost manufacturer was for the Radio Shack 6BQ5 that was sold under the "Realistic Lifetime" label?

[Sweetfinger]

Based on scant evidence..

I'd say that it was probably Japanese made. They might have been made in several different factories over the years depending on who was cheapest. A pic might help.

[Enzo]

A pic is the only way, they didn't have exclusive fatories, they wanted a certain part, they bid it out.

[bob p]

ok, not a great photo, but still a photo: Photo 1 and Photo 2

[soundmasterg]

It depends on when they were made. Some were Japanese, others were Amperex and even Telefunken. One interesting tidbit I heard was that they had a lifetime warranty on Realistic tubes, so you can go to a Radio Shack for laughs with a dead Realistic tube and they'll replace it for you with modern manufacture. Of course the clerks have no idea, and have to call district managers, etc., but the tubes get replaced according to a guy's info on the Hoffman page. They sent him his new tubes in the mail. Pretty funny actually....I've thought of trying it myself.

[TD_Madden]

well, about 20 years back, I took a 6V6s back and sure enough got a replacement...I had to pick it up at the store after they ordered it....BUT the replacement was NOT a "lifetime" tube (can't remember what vendor it was from).....it WAS funny to see the looks on the clerks' faces, though.

[Rob Mercure]

If you can supply any numbers or other branding on the tubes it may help - I've got a couple of "realistic" branded Type II Mullard EL-34s for instance.

Rob

[bob p]

Sorry, the other numbers aren't legible. The yellow silkscreened paint has mostly been wiped off.

I was wondering about the warranty support that was mentioned earlier -- does RS give you a receipt that offers lifetime replacement on the new tubes that they give you? or does the warranty die with the new replacements? just wondering...

[TD_Madden]

In my case, the lifetime warranty died when I received the replacement.

[Rob Mercure]

Hey Bob,

While the more prominent numbers may have rubbed off any Phillips company, such as Mullard, will have a couple of rows of 2-3 numbers near the base of the tube that are, as best I can tell, etched - at least I've never seen them rub off a Mullard tube and these will identify not only the Phillips subsidiary that made the tube but also the particular plant and specific valve. And of course the Telefunkens have the "diamond" stamped between the base pins.

Rob

[soundmasterg]

I would assume the lifetime warranty was stopped at some point by Radio Shack, and would only apply to their "Realistic" branded tubes, which would put them somewhere in the 70's or early 80's I'd guess for a cutoff date. With the story I had heard, the guy got his replacements for free, but the replacements were not warrantied.

[Odd I/O]

Look At The Base Glass and also The Pins

Does anybody know who the ghost manufacturer was for the Radio Shack 6BQ5 that was sold under the "Realistic Lifetime" label?

.......If the Pins are Gold Plated, and you also see a number (any number) MOLDED INTO THE GLASS on the bottom then they were made by Siemens. At this age the gold plating may have worn off of most of the pins, so look up towards where the pins meet the glass and see if you see gold plating, But once again the molded number with the gold pins is usually Siemens. they are German made and Not only give Telefunken a run for its money, I think they sound noticably better.
I have never heard of a Radio Shack EL84 made by Telefunken or Amperex. But Siemens definately made a lot of their EL84's.

[sportster4eva]

The plate structure in those el-84's look like some Amperex ones I have. Do they have a seam across the top? That would be a tell tale sign.
I have a number of Realistic 12ax7's, with the gold pins, that say made in Great Britain on them, and they look exactly like some Amperex Bugle Boys I have. Some also look like ribbed plate Telefunkens I have, but there is no diamond on the bottoms.... Puzzling.