franken scott zenith 004

Comment

Comment by Ken Carr on February 26, 2015 at 6:29pm

Bruce, by the way, that McMurdo Silver and the Philco-sourced speaker cabinet is gorgeous!

It looks like a guy in slippers (dog at feet) and smoking a pipe should be sitting next to it.

Comment by Ken Carr on February 26, 2015 at 6:26pm

Bruce; My Philco that reminds me of your radio with the hinged top over the dial is a 1942 model 42-1012 console. It has an extended grill area since it covers up a fold-out record player that was unique in that it the movements of the tone arm were translated into electrical impulses by a beam of light and mirror arrangement. I believe it was used for only one year because it would come out of alignment so easily. Here is a photo:

I have more pictures of it and a bunch of other radios on my Flickr site. Many of them are in a special Radio Collection folder. Please feel free to visit the link. Additional photos of the 42-1012 and several other radios will be found there. My collection would best be described as eclectic.

Comment by Y2K Bruce on February 26, 2015 at 5:24pm

Hi Ken-I don't have any post war Philco's. I would have to see which cabinet you are looking at to ID. I did have Kenny Richmond make a cut down custom speaker cabinet out of an early 1930's Philco 12X and now have my McMurdo Silver MP 3 sitting on top of it. That one turned out real nice with the inclined speaker board and grill cloth.

Comment by Y2K Bruce on February 26, 2015 at 5:09pm

Thank you for the nice comments. I bought this radio off ebay in 2009 and the sellers lived in the Chicago area and hand delivered the set to me. it had been in their family since the early1980s as you see it.

Both the radio AM/SW Phantom Deluxe 20 tube and the cabinet were 1940 models and the conversion was very well done. The original Zenith has a 12" speaker and now has the correct original 15", The cabinet had a lower shelf added that the amp now sits on. The radio plays very well and the tuner dial is very tight to rotate. I suspect it had little use over the 75 years since new. The front round board was a well made replacement and looks better in person than in the photos.

Comment by Ken Carr on February 26, 2015 at 1:32pm

That is interesting , David. I had not seen this Zenith before. The design does lend itself nicely to customization.

Comment by David C. Poland on February 26, 2015 at 1:18pm

That Zenith 12-S-471 cabinet already had that large oval panel. An uncommon Zenith cabinet.
The oval panel was merely replaced by another cut for the Scott Phantom.

Comment by Ken Carr on February 26, 2015 at 5:45am

Nice. It looks like one large circle was cut out to fit the radio.
Another of your cabinets looks a bit like a post war Philco design.