Any "new" old radios out there in Fedoraville?

[ScionPI2005]

Purchased my very first (restored) vintage radio late last week and even as I type, it's coursing its way to me. Made back in 1938 by the Howard Radio Company (Chicago), she'll find a home in my fly-tying room where she'll not only keep me entertained, but with all those tubes, nice and toasty during those cold winter evenings ... the first push button will be programed to Denver's own, KEZW AM: http://www.studio1430.com/

That is one beautiful radio. You'll sure enjoy it once you get it.

 

[RetroToday]

and yet more!

:eusa_clap

Wow Vitanola, you have a great collection in beautiful condition - and I suspect you have a lot of room at your house too!

*Just wondering, what's up with the 1929 Majestic model 91, looks like it's floating in the air. Ghost radio?

Thanks for posting them here, amazing.

 

[vitanola]

:eusa_clap

Wow Vitanola, you have a great collection in beautiful condition - and I suspect you have a lot of room at your house too!

*Just wondering, what's up with the 1929 Majestic model 91, looks like it's floating in the air. Ghost radio?

Thanks for posting them here, amazing.

No, the Majestic was photographed laying on its side in the trailer.


These sets are just the recent acquisitions.

I have hundreds of sets, very few of which are displayed properly.

Most are battery sets, dating to the 1920's. Ai would suspect that they are a bit modern for the tastes of most who post (or lurk!) here.

 

[Talbot]

Wow - I am unworthy......

Amazing radio's here.

Here is my humble contribution borne of limited funds. I have picked them up over the years - no one seem to value these mid century items[huh].
I havent seen any about in a while, so perhaps things have changed.

I have an early 50's Stromberg Carlson clock radio and a Bakelite Radiola in storage if it redeems me somehow

Its sacreligious I know, but I have been considering putting an MP3 player and amp into one as I can't get Germanium transistors. One would look good in my car - 54 chevy. Any advice on the MP3 conversion, ie don't do it, or who cares?

 

[dhermann1]

Those are sweet! Really nifty! I'm not so sure about modifications, tho. I'm not at all technical, so consider ythe source. Are you saying you can't get replacement transistors? There must be some place out in cyber space that has them, I would think.
Here's my latest acquisition. It's a 1920's vintage Brandes external speaker. In the very early days of radio it was more common to listen with big headphones, than with a speaker. You could get external speakers, and you attached them, much like component systems of today. This will go with the Grebe Synchrophase that I got last year that is completely and utterly asunder at the moment. I'm thinkin' this may motivate me to get the radio itself restored.

BTW, regarding the two high end radios I had my eye on, the Scott Phantom Deluxe and the Philco 38-690, I had a sudden (or gradual) attack of sanity, and decided to pass them up. MUCHO dinari.

 

[RetroToday]

Here is my humble contribution borne of limited funds. I have picked them up over the years - no one seem to value these mid century items[huh].
I havent seen any about in a while, so perhaps things have changed.

Cool radios! Good for you, having the foresight to save them.

And, yes, things have changed.
People who grew up with them are old enough now to be reminiscing about "the good old days" of the transistor radio, and are kicking themselves for throwing them away.
Because of all the fond memories they held there are several people who just collect transistor radios, but many collect them because they don't take up the room like older tube console radios do. Also, they can (for the most part) still be found easily at yard sales.

Have a look at Michael Jack's collection of transistor radios (link below) - amazing stuff, great photos too:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/transistor_radios/

With any hobby, the more common ones are worth not as much.

Hope you don't feel compelled to butcher them - I'm surprised, I thought it would be easy to find replacement transistors these days, especially with the advent of the internet.
A lot of stockpiles of "new old stock" radio parts (that were previously unknown to collectors) opened up when the internet became popular. I'm into tube radios, so I haven't a clue.

Maybe you can just plug the MP3 into the speaker, bypass hurting the original electronics.
To make it work I know you have to match the speaker's impedence, but that's about as much as I've heard, haven't done it myself.

 

[RetroToday]

...Here's my latest acquisition. It's a 1920's vintage Brandes external speaker. ....This will go with the Grebe Synchrophase that I got last year that is completely and utterly asunder at the moment.

I remember when you got that Grebe, a very cool radio indeed! :eusa_clap

I assume that you mean you are in the midst of restoring it when you say the Grebe is "asunder".
Hope so.

 

[Flivver]

Those are sweet! Really nifty! I'm not so sure about modifications, tho. I'm not at all technical, so consider ythe source. Are you saying you can't get replacement transistors? There must be some place out in cyber space that has them, I would think.
Here's my latest acquisition. It's a 1920's vintage Brandes external speaker. In the very early days of radio it was more common to listen with big headphones, than with a speaker. You could get external speakers, and you attached them, much like component systems of today. This will go with the Grebe Synchrophase that I got last year that is completely and utterly asunder at the moment. I'm thinkin' this may motivate me to get the radio itself restored.

BTW, regarding the two high end radios I had my eye on, the Scott Phantom Deluxe and the Philco 38-690, I had a sudden (or gradual) attack of sanity, and decided to pass them up. MUCHO dinari.

I think you'll be very pleased with your Grebe Synchrophase whe you get it working. Mine is the most sensitive and selective TRF receiver I've ever used (it's those Litz wire wound binocular coils). And the audio fidelity is amazing for a 1920s set. I operated mine with a Western Electric 540-AW cone speaker and couldn't believe the quality of sound that was produced.

And that's a really nice Brandes speaker. It will compliment the Synchrophase nicely.

 

[dhermann1]

My Grebe

It's all in parts in a box right now. I'm noone to restore a radio, tho I know people say it's reasonably easy. There's a guy here in the city who does it at reasonable rates. At least I have all the original tubes, tho one of the three escutcheons is missing. But eventually it will find its spot on a shelf, alongside its elegant speaker.

 

[Talbot]

Cool radios! Good for you, having the foresight to save them.

And, yes, things have changed.
People who grew up with them are old enough now to be reminiscing about "the good old days" of the transistor radio, and are kicking themselves for throwing them away.
Because of all the fond memories they held there are several people who just collect transistor radios, but many collect them because they don't take up the room like older tube console radios do. Also, they can (for the most part) still be found easily at yard sales.

Have a look at Michael Jack's collection of transistor radios (link below) - amazing stuff, great photos too:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/transistor_radios/

With any hobby, the more common ones are worth not as much.

Hope you don't feel compelled to butcher them - I'm surprised, I thought it would be easy to find replacement transistors these days, especially with the advent of the internet.
A lot of stockpiles of "new old stock" radio parts (that were previously unknown to collectors) opened up when the internet became popular. I'm into tube radios, so I haven't a clue.

Maybe you can just plug the MP3 into the speaker, bypass hurting the original electronics.
To make it work I know you have to match the speaker's impedence, but that's about as much as I've heard, haven't done it myself.

Good idea. An Ipod nano wont take up much space and impedance matching will be no big problem.

The early transistors used Germanium as the semiconductor. Once industry switched to Silicone, Germanium units were no longer manufactured. Voltages, currents, impedances etc are all different between the two. Germanium units were hard to find even in the 80's (when I was studying my electronics degree).

 

[russa11]

That is a really nice looking radio shoelessjoe.

 

[Brinybay]

Proud new owner

Here's my recent purchase. I found this on Craigslist. It's a Majestic Model 90 or 92, I'm not sure which because it has two plates, one on the receiver chassis and one on the cabinet. I bought it for $75 from a sweet little ol' lady in South Seattle. She was selling it for a friend who told her it used to work. Well, yeah, maybe 70 years ago! It literally had that much dust on it. She wanted me to plug it in and test it, but I took one look at that original cord and said uh-uh. That was ok if the radio didn't work, as long as it was all there. The price was right, I'll worry about getting the radio restored later.

The pictures are after I got it home, vacuumed out the Prohibition Era dirt, dust, dead bugs and wiped it with a damp cloth. I removed the fabric plate from in front of the speaker to clean it. I intend to replace the fabric, just wanted to clean it for now, it was very filthy. There were two layers of fabric. The bottom part was glued to a wooden particle board plate and was a gold & black color. Over that was a black flower-patterned piece of fabric. I hand-washed both of them with a small amount of liquid hand soap and warm water and hung them on the towel rack to air dry. Did I say they were filthy? The black flower-patterned upper layer turned the water a redish color. I couldn't figure that out until it occurred to me that the fabric had probably absorbed several decades worth of cigarette smoke, i.e. nicotine.

The cabinet itself is structurally sound, but has a lot of minor scratches and scuffs on it, but overall in good shape and very nice looking. I'm sure a furniture/antique restorer worth their salt could fix those.

This plate is on the cabinet itself.

This plate is on the receiver chassis.

Close up of the fabric face plate after I cleaned it and put it back in. It'll do for now. Note the gold/black lower layer was intended to fill in the clear areas of the upper layer.

Front view.

Back view.

 

[RetroToday]

Here's my recent purchase. I found this on Craigslist.

What a nice find, Brinybay! A beauty of a radio. :eusa_clap
Is the speaker doing okay?

I found the exact same radio at the beginning of this summer past at a garage sale. The elderly lady there said she wanted $100 for it.

Thought to myself, well, maybe... then I opened up the doors, which were already closed.
.... the electronics were gutted! :eusa_doh:

She then started to chat me up about how "Makes a great liquor cabinet, I took out all the insides and threw that junk away years ago".

 

[Brinybay]

What a nice find, Brinybay! A beauty of a radio. :eusa_clap
Is the speaker doing okay?

I found the exact same radio at the beginning of this summer past at a garage sale. The elderly lady there said she wanted $100 for it.

Thought to myself, well, maybe... then I opened up the doors, which were already closed.
.... the electronics were gutted! :eusa_doh:

She then started to chat me up about how "Makes a great liquor cabinet, I took out all the insides and threw that junk away years ago".

Yeah, I've been finding out that's what some people are doing with old Victrolas too, argh! I've been wanting one of those, the old hand-cranked models. They aren't real scarce, but most of them out of my budget. It's when I read another post about old radios just a few days ago on FL that I decided to go that route, they were more affordable and just as nice looking. My find was on the second or third day that I searched CL.

Now to find someone who can restore the radio. Physically, the speaker appears to be ok as far as I can tell, it was just dirty. I carefully wiped it with a damp cloth. The cone is intact, no rips or holes. I don't know if there is some way I can test just the speaker myself.

BTW, can you shed some light on why it says "Model 90" on one plate and "Model 92" on the other?

More pics:

Two toggle switches on the right side. The one towards the back says "Local/Distance", the other doesn't say anything, but I assume it's the on/off switch.

 

[Flivver]

Yeah, I've been finding out that's what some people are doing with old Victrolas too, argh! I've been wanting one of those, the old hand-cranked models. They aren't real scarce, but most of them out of my budget. It's when I read another post about old radios just a few days ago on FL that I decided to go that route, they were more affordable and just as nice looking. My find was on the second or third day that I searched CL.

Now to find someone who can restore the radio. Physically, the speaker appears to be ok as far as I can tell, it was just dirty. I carefully wiped it with a damp cloth. The fabric or material or whatever it's called is intact, no rips or holes. I don't know if there is some way I can test just the speaker myself.

BTW, can you shed some light on why it says "Model 90" on one plate and "Model 92" on the other?

More pics:

Two toggle switches on the right side. The one towards the back says "Local/Distance", the other doesn't say anything, but I assume it's the on/off switch.

Regarding your Majestic's model number, I believe Majestic offered a whole series of cabinets that used the Model 90 chassis. So you have a Model 92 highboy, using a Model 90 chassis.

Prior to 1928, Majestic made radio power supplies, or "battery-eliminators" as they were called at that time. They produced their first complete radio in late 1928 and quickly became #1 in radio sales...bypassing all the established brands. This was because Majestic was first to offer an electro-dynamic loudspeaker that could reproduce bass frequencies far better than the magnetic loudspeakers in competitive sets.

But the Depression hit Majestic hard and by 1933-34, they were among the has-beens.

 

[vitanola]

Yeah, I've been finding out that's what some people are doing with old Victrolas too, argh! I've been wanting one of those, the old hand-cranked models. They aren't real scarce, but most of them out of my budget. It's when I read another post about old radios just a few days ago on FL that I decided to go that route, they were more affordable and just as nice looking. My find was on the second or third day that I searched CL.

Now to find someone who can restore the radio. Physically, the speaker appears to be ok as far as I can tell, it was just dirty. I carefully wiped it with a damp cloth. The fabric or material or whatever it's called is intact, no rips or holes. I don't know if there is some way I can test just the speaker myself.

BTW, can you shed some light on why it says "Model 90" on one plate and "Model 92" on the other?

More pics:

Two toggle switches on the right side. The one towards the back says "Local/Distance", the other doesn't say anything, but I assume it's the on/off switch.

Your Model 92 highboy, with the Model 90 chassis, should have a separate power pack on the top shelf, next to the loudspeaker. These power packs were not fastened to the shelf, and are for some reason often missing.

Should you be unable to find a repairman in your neighborhood, I could handle the restoration of your set for you, perhaps even on an exchange basis (I have quite a number of Majestic model 90 and 90B chassis from which to choose).

 

[ScionPI2005]

I found the exact same radio at the beginning of this summer past at a garage sale. The elderly lady there said she wanted $100 for it.

Thought to myself, well, maybe... then I opened up the doors, which were already closed.
.... the electronics were gutted! :eusa_doh:

She then started to chat me up about how "Makes a great liquor cabinet, I took out all the insides and threw that junk away years ago".

I guess the elderly lady didn't like listening to the radio much...lol

Seriously though, that's a shame. There's no chance of these types of radios being made again so we should preserve the ones that are out there.

 

[Brinybay]

Your Model 92 highboy, with the Model 90 chassis, should have a separate power pack on the top shelf, next to the loudspeaker. These power packs were not fastened to the shelf, and are for some reason often missing.

Should you be unable to find a repairman in your neighborhood, I could handle the restoration of your set for you, perhaps even on an exchange basis (I have quite a number of Majestic model 90 and 90B chassis from which to choose).

The power pack, or HBT as I called it (Heavy Black Thing), is definitely there, and yeah, I discovered that it wasn't attached the hard way when I went to load it into my truck on its back. Also the speaker wasn't bolted down for some reason. Fortunately it was only about 6 inches from the tailgate and nothing damaged, just shoved it back in and turned it on its side.


UPDATE:

Here's the guts after I took them out to clean them more to git rid of that "old smell". Everything's there and appears to be all original.

I appreciate the restore offer, I'll keep it in mind, but because of the distance, shipping would probably be cost prohibitive. I'm sure I can find one around here somewhere. Just a quick look last night and I found one in Portland, OR. It's bit of a drive, but my mother lives just across the state border from there in Vancouver, WA, so I could kill two birds with one stone if I had to go there.

How do I date this thing? For now I've been telling friends it's a 1929 model since the cabinet is the same as the one you posted.

 

[John in Covina]

Ipod & MP3 player source?

Someone asked about using their old radio with Ipods or MP3 Players and it seems it is possible to do. C.K. Farnsworth has an old tube radio that he had refurbished and was able to have a lead placed in the system so he can attach an Ipod and use it as the "broadcast source" for old music and even old time radio shows.

Here is some info from CK (Cary) about this that I'd like to pass along:

"It was I who was talking about that at the Barbie-Q. I took my Grandfather's 1930's Air King table top to a guy for repair and he put a little "pigtail" wire comming discretely out of the back which plugs into my ipod. I gave the info to "straight-8" already but have not had time to post a thread. here's the info I passed on:


"...I don't have time to do a post right now so Here is the info I promised.
The shop located in Arcadia is called
Audio Imports Ltd.
125 E. Santa Clara St., Suite 11
Arcadia, California 91006

The owner's name is John. Tell Him Cary Farnsworth sent you..."
The neat thing is it runs through the radio's tubes and speaker and so retains that warm tube sound!
Cheers, Cary"

 

[vitanola]

An SS-Tran AMT-300 transmitter is another choice. One of these little beauties will allow one to play vintage music through every radio in the house. I currently have one set up with a continuous NPR feed, and a second which plays 1920's and early 1930's music, so that I can tune in my choice of program anywhere in the house, yard, barn, , or (for that matter,) the neighborhood.


Here's their website:

http://www.sstran.com/