On 10/16/2023 3:17 PM, Jay Hennigan via Jukebox-list wrote:
The metal base tubes have a different profile than the glass based ones. Metal bases have a smaller indented main profile with little notches where the case is crimped on. Glass bases are larger and straight. The clips are to hold the tube in place. They aren't for grounding. That's what pin 1 is for on metal tubes and grounding obviously isn't needed with glass tubes.
The fact that pin 1 was not grounded on the amplifier tells me that it was probably designed for glass tubes. Is there a printed designator next to the socket, and if so does it just say 6L6 or something like 6L6G or 6L6GB ?
Thanks Jay, yes I know what the clips are for, I was just saying that if they _were_ making good contact with the metal base, who knows what damage may have occurred to the amp, like the transformer in particular. I don't know of any jukebox that came with metal 6L6's, but they come to me in all kinds of conditions. Not saying that no jukebox ever came with metal 6L6's, just none that I remember seeing. Even though this particular amp comes with a 2 amp slow blow fuse, I normally test them with a 1 amp fast blow. During that shocking excitement today, the 1 amp fuse did blow.
I wasn't really asking any questions, just stating the fact that I got shocked by a metal 6L6, and again it happened today while I had a good grip on it, I didn't just brush my hand across it like the first time. I've been shocked more times than I can remember and it was a short for certain. The crackling from the speakers was in sync with the shocks (it happened fast). It's a first for me and I thought I'd share it with you guys. Yes, I did get the pins wrong when looking for a short, thanks for catching that and it's good to know about grounding metal tubes.
Tony