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https://www.vinylengine.com/turntable_f ... 18&t=78197
Anyway, I have this fine RCA Victor 9-X-561 radio that I plan on pairing with my 9-JY phonograph, and have decided to let him do the reconstruction, refurbishment, and repair of the radio, at least...I went over to visit his collection today, and what he has would literally make you guys salivate! When I pulled up to his place, I knew it was him, because he had tons of old radios on racks in the garage, and plenty of tin car signs on the walls...Boxes of old tubes and parts...Lots of beauties needing restoration work...He even had some EY-2 turntables hiding on the shelves and plastic racks...Inside, he had radios on the countertops, and radios in his living room...In fact, he had two fine Zenith tabletop radios that made fine end tables next to two comfortable old slipcovered chairs...One looked like this...
His whole house system was being piped out through...a beautiful little Grundig Majestic! Sounded great with Nat King Cole playing, too! Similar to this one...
I took a tour of his basement lair, too...In a back room, he had old radios of all sizes and types, plus all of his testing equipment...Beautiful sky-blue Philcos on display, along with old Arvins, Emersons, Westinghouses, Radiolas, etc. He even told me about the time he went to Iowa to pick up a whole cache of old radios, probably $700 worth...The guy kept asking him what this one was worth and that one...In the end, he just decided to sell them in a bundle...The guy actually thought no one would be interested in buying all his old crap...He apparently didn't know about Chris sooner...Chris got it all, though, and packed in as many as he could into his van...I told him he should have brought a wagon! Anyway, he really had some stuff...Even some old Victrolas hiding among the mess...Upstairs, he shows me around some more...In a back room, he had a beautiful, old Regina music box with a bunch of metal discs for it...Another old estate sale find where the daughter was getting rid of her late mother's things...It looked similar to this one...
Wow! The last time I saw one of those was at the Henry Ford Museum here in Michigan!! :shock: In another room, he had a fully operational and stunning Blaupunkt Arkansas with the glass door and bar glasses inside...He got a great deal on it, too (an estate sale find), but it was a pain to move...If you've never seen one, look at this...
In another room, he had some more Zenith and Philco upright consoles and smaller wooden tabletop models on shelves...Never have I seen so many radios in one place!! :o In fact, those weren't even his BEST ones...There is a local library near his house that allows members to put their collections on display...Well, he has several tall glass display cases there filled with his radios that he's lended out to them for a while...I may have to see that when I go back...
In any case, that leads me to my radio...and I could use any advice you "knobheads" can give...Can I call you radio guys that? I want to use the most technical terms here... :wink:
Anyway, it's in a bit of rough shape, but I told Chris...If anyone can do a proper restoration on the radio, you're the right man for the job...In case you haven't seen it, here are the pics again...
He asked what I plan to do with it...It would be nice to have the dial function working again, but I'd also like to be able to play some of my older beat up 45's through it, since there is a phono connection for my RCA Victor 9-JY turntable (seen in the first photo above with the radio)...I think I may have inspired him to do the same thing with one of his...He has a white model 9-X-561, just like mine, that needs work...He also has my exact radio in the garage, but it has a few scratches...The bakelite on mine looks a bit better...He says he may have another one like mine in brown hiding somewhere among his mess, but we couldn't find it today...He said from a distance, you can't really see the imperfections...He said I should have just thrown it out, and got a similar one in better shape...Yeah, I could've done that, but a.) these are beautiful things, b.) I never throw anything away, especially something like this (It has a patina all it's own!), and c. even if I just get it to work good enough so that I can play some records through it, it was a fun project that didn't cost me an arm and a leg...Look closely at these...
On the cracks, he thinks he might be able to glue some of the cracked bakelite back together...He's had radios that were broken in seven or eight pieces, and he was able to stitch them back up that you can't even tell where the seams are, unless you look very, very close...I asked what he uses to repair missing pieces, and he said Bondo! But, when you look at the finished product, you can't even tell...Usually with these restorations, he replaces all necessary capacitors as a precaution, and makes the inside new, while keeping the outer beauty intact...He says he could paint the front ring a gold color, but the sheen of the fascia wouldn't be there, and he thinks it would be better off left alone...Part of the nameplate, as you can see, is missing, too...He thought I could try to find a similar radio (maybe just the plate? :-k) in beat-up shape online, and see if I can't just glue that on...I was wondering if any of you have ever fashioned something like this from a mold of another intact one, or is that too much work? Anybody have a lead on nameplates like this I could look at? Of course, if I'm going to go through all this trouble, I could always get another one like it, but I thought this could be a good challenge for him...Buying another radio is the easy way out...This will take some ingenuity...But, I really want to see what he can do...I'm inspired by his craftsmanship...Plus, he thinks he can do something with it within the month...probably next week, he'll take a closer look at it...Yeah, it's in sad shape now, but I see possibilities! So many options, a lot of drama, and I could use some advice...If any of you have any more restoration tips, I'll be sure to pass them on to Chris...Here's the kicker, though...We worked out a deal of $40 for the repair work...If he can't get it working properly at all, it won't cost me a dime! :D I know it lights up, but I didn't want to play with it too long, in case there were some issues...Plus, I have full confidence in his repair abilities...I have seen some amazing restorations today! =P~ Maybe I could even trade it to him as a parts radio for something else...In a month, he is going to have an estate sale, selling some of his aunt's old belongings, and there will probably be many of his radios for sale, too...He said he just moved into this new house after dealing with a flood at another house he owned...Fortunately, the radios all survived the damage, but other parts of the old house didn't come out so well...He had to move his mom into an assisted living complex, so some of her stuff will also be for sale...I'm thinking of heading back there when he has his estate sale...There could be something of note...He says the last time he had a sale, he was offering some of his extra radios...The cream of the junkpile...The stuff in REALLY rough shape! And every single radio he had for sale sold like hotcakes...Even some heavy console models! I told him to look for good Duals and Garrards...Those are the hallmark of a good console, and highly coveted, too...You know what? He said that every single one of his Zenith consoles sold just like that instantly...They were lining up for his sale! People apparently are nuts about Zenith stuff...Any of you guys ever experience this?
When I go back, I might have to get some pics for you guys, but his collection was just stunning...the breadth of it all! :o
Before I was to leave, he showed me this Marantz 1530 receiver he had acquired from a friend...He asked me about it, but I was unsure...He doesn't really go for the 70's vintage like me...He's a young guy into much EARLIER stuff! =D> Any of you guys ever own one? Is it one of their good ones? What would you pay for one of those?
I may have to raid his stash a little bit when I go back...He should have the radio repair completed and ready by the 10th of December, which is about when he said he'll be having the sale...He says he'll probably have a few more items to sell this time, as he has to make room for more projects...Anything I should look for when I go? In any case, I am happy I finally got to see his stuff...I am still bugging out over it! =P~ =P~ =P~
