EH Scott Radio Enthusiasts

The Fine Things are Always Hand Made

My father recently passed away and left a Scott tuner and amp. I had a few questions about it and was wondering if someone here might be able to help. I am attaching some pictures and hopefully they come through. There is also a pretty big speaker that says Scott on it. There are some knobs for the tuner but they are not on the tuner in the picture. I do not have a cabinet. This radio looks like it was completely chromed and the chrome is in nice condition. My questions are:
1) What Scott radio is this?
2) Are cabinets available for these types of radios?
3) I am guessing this radio does not work and would have to be serviced. A friend of mine who is a retires EE said on these old radios the capacitors typically need to be replaced. He looked at the bottom of this unit and said it appears to be all original. He also said this model looks to have a very early FM tuner on it based on the scale on the dial. All of the switches and knobs work/turn. Any ideas on who would do this type of restoration and a range of what it might cost?
4) If I don't decide to go ahead and put the money into making this play again, are these type of radios something folks would be interested in? ie. Does it have value and if so, is there a range that someone could suggest? I understand this question is based on a lot of factors such as how much rehab needs to be done to the radio, condition, speaker condition, etc.

Thanks much for any help that can be provided.

Forrest    This kept erroring out with my pictures so I am trying it without the pictures to see if I can even post anything!

Views: 292

Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

There are a few guys around who will restore these, but you should expect to pay $500 or more for a complete restoration and alignment including parts.  You will have to deal with proper packing and shipping if the person doing the restoration is not local to you.   I can give you a name if you message me. 

As for a cabinet, they occasionally turn up empty on E-bay, but honestly, it could take you years of stalking E-bay to get one, then you have to deal with the shipping if it is not local. 

Regarding your question about desirability in it's current condition, it certainly is desirable to collectors.  The market for EH Scott items is always a roller coaster ride, but I would expect to get up to $600 on E-bay between the speaker, power supply and tuner chassis. (that is if the speaker cone is not ripped).  Most sellers list them separately on E-bay. 



Forrest Wagner said:

Thanks for the information. It is much appreciated. Because the amp is not a real match for the tuner, does that mean this is not desirable? Or, does that not really matter? And, can you or anyone else answer some of the questions I posted in my first message? Are there folks who can repair these? Can anyone provide a name of folks who do repair these and quite a range of what it might cost? I am trying to determine if I want to put the money into bringing this back to life. And if I don’t want to do that, is this in a condition where someone else might want it?

Thanks much for the time.

Sincerely,

Forrest

The high cost to restore it electrically is because mere repair to get it working is inadequate. Scotts were rugged and designed to survive shipment overseas. But your radio is 80 years old. The 30 to 40 capacitors and filter capacitors are way past their deign life, and any not leaking or shorted already are subject to sudden failure which may lead to burned out resistors, and hard to locate coils and transformer replacements. A full electrical restoration includes replacing them with modern capacitors which use film technology and are far more reliable than the 1930's version were when new. There may be other parts to repair or replace, like a coil, transformer or perhaps one of the two field coils in your speaker. Controls my need cleaned and lubed, the alignment probably needs touched up,  a new power cord likely, and so on.

The Phantom is a high quality radio, way more complicated and feature laden than the typical 5 to 9 tube radio of the era. Restored it is reliable, impressive radio and with an FM tuner or CD player into the Phantom's phono input yields impressive sound. A Scott cabinet may be difficult to find, but a Phantom can be retrofitted into another good quality radio cabinet as I have done. 

Consider - Inherited, you have zero cost so far in a Scott radio with good chrome plate. Several hundred invested in restoration should cost less than buying one complete and fully restored. Some folks would put the speaker in an enclosure made for a 12 inch speaker and display the amp and receiver on a shelf as  eye candy display like 1950's component hi fi.  A Scott was the McIntosh of the 1930's.

Radio repair shops are history. Today, the knowledge mostly resides in hobbyists who collect vintage radios, but of them, only some have learned to restore old radios. Of those, fewer have the where with all to address a sophisticated high tube count radio like a Scott and are willing to for others. 

Your Phantom is not an FM model. The FM Phantom of 1940 and 1941 has the obsolete pre-war FM band as a 5th band from 41 to 50 MC but can not receive the modern/post war frequencies of 88 to 107 MC. The FM Phantom model is wider with an additional 8 tubes and two magic eye tuning indicators.

Yours is non-the-less a desirable Scott radio, in part because the chrome is pretty good and you have all the tube covers, the knobs, the amp and speaker. Should be restorable to a working example. You have not mentioned if you have a wood panel with  dial  cover and the 6 bronze control escutcheons.

If you decide to sill it, start with a new topic on this Scott Enthusiasts site. Add a photo of the speaker and knob set.

Thanks so much for the info folks. Much appreciated. I know there is a lot that goes into restoring one of these and I am not worried about investing $500 plus into it. I’m sure that many of you folks have a 100+ hours in some of your radios. It is a labor of love. I have to determine if I will actually use the radio or if it would be better to have it in the hands of someone who really loves these things. I am at a point where I am trying to downsize on things. While the thing looks freaking cool as hell, at a certain point I have to determine how much “stuff” I really want and can keep. That is really the decision I need to make. Believe it or not I have about a dozen other tabletop radios my father had that I really like (repwood models such as Mickey Mouse, Snow White, Crosley s, RCA models, etc. I just have to determine what I can keep. I may in fact look to sell this scott so I may be back in touch in a month or two. The speaker, by the way, will need to be re-comed as it is deteriorating along the outer edge. There is no wood plate that was mentioned or escutcheons and I do not believe all the knobs are there but most were. In the models I looked at, I did not see a wood plate, but rather a plastic trim ring that covered the gap between the glass and the wood cabinet. This is missing, but as I am sure you know, these are reproduced. Thanks again. I will be back in touch but if someone is interested in the unit feel free to call me at 847-254-9546. Forrest Wagner

Reply to Discussion

RSS

© 2024   Created by Kent King.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service