Channel Master 6515 Super Fringe Radio Recapped & Serviced Works Excellent! Vintage VTG
This radio has been electronically restored. It works like new and is in good condition. For a detailed description of the radio and the work done, please continue reading:
Research: Made in Japan by Sanyo from 1960 to 1968. Its low serial number of Serial #29337 and a date code on its speaker suggest it was made in ’61. “Super Fringe”… what is that you ask? It was the way Channel Master described their super-sensitive radio. I’ve repaired this model at least fifty times. When these are working correctly they are one of the best performing radios made. This model was at the top of Channel Master’s transistor radio line for several years.
Initial inspection: This radio came to me 3-25-2026 in a carry case. It was pretty dirty and looked well used. It has a chip in one of its corners. Inside I noticed right away that its antenna was broken. I connected it to my power supply and was surprised that the radio “worked” and tuned a few channels. Its battery area was absolutely clean…
Let’s get this nice old radio serviced:
Repair: I carefully disassembled the radio. A previous owner attempted to glue their broken antenna back together. Probably with model airplane glue, they made a terrible mess. There was no chance of repairing it. Fortunately I have some spare parts for this model. I found a nice replacement antenna for it. I replaced its antenna after…
…After I replaced its ten electrolytic capacitors. Five of them were wide open. (It was amazing the radio was working as well as it was).
With those parts replaced, the radio was restored to full performance and it works excellent.
I have a policy regarding this model. I replace all of their chassis mounting insulators with fiber washers. The original ones are seventy years old, dried out, and collapsed. Not replacing them runs a risk of its circuit board shorting out on its metal mounting frame. This radio was that way where the circuit board was contacting the “last chance” factory tape.
Once I had that work done, I added a drop of deox to its volume control, reinstalled its dial, checked its alignment (a tiny little tweak to its antenna trim is all it needed), and carefully reassembled the radio.
A final check of its working order, and the radio was done.
So, how does it work?
Performance: Terrific! Good radio. Working properly, these are, without question, one of the most sensitive transistor radios ever made. It has a large speaker, so local stations tune in with a warm, bassy, clean and clear sound. It tunes in the weak stations in my area I use to confirm a radio is working properly.
Tonight I listed to my favorite oldies stations with it for about an hour. KEJB, “The Jukebox” is a radio station in Eureka California. Eureka is 402 miles from my location… and I don’t mind saying that tonight the DX was really good. I also listed to KFBK Sacramento which is even further away.
Tuning is feather light and precise. Its volume control is equally as light and goes from silent to overload loud.
Condition: It is well used, but looks pretty. It is reflective. Its dial is crystal clear… but it is used. It has some scratches and a chip. Please look over my photos carefully.
I’d give it a grade “C” for its condition, and it gets an “A+” for its performance.
If you’ve read this far, I would like to say: “Thank you for reading my ad”.
Shipping: I need to say something about shipping:
Careless Packaging = Disappointments
The best way to ship an acrylic cabinet radio like this is to “Double Box” it. I will package your vintage radio for shipping in this manner: It goes from the center out. Radio, no-scuff wrap, small bubble wrap, box. Then about 6 layers of large bubble wrap around the small box, then snugly into a USPS medium flat rate box. Make sure nothing rattles; add a note and seal the box on all sides. Traveling USPS flat rate, it spends most of the trip from the jungles of Oregon to you on an airplane, and arrives in 3 or 4 business days… no disappointments.