Masterpiece III (ebony) Clifton 031

Comment

Comment by Kenneth Lee Richmond II on October 10, 2009 at 5:52pm

HI Norm, thanks for the response.
In my last post I mentioned a rigid plate with my company initials and the date. I also said that I promised to install these on the upper inside right of every cabinet that I craft before they leave my shop.
Such as this: SSCCA
2009
Also ,..I craft duplications, not reproductions.
To me a reproduction is an attempt to recreate something of the same, with a cheaper material having intentions of cost effectiveness, using a lesser product than the original.
Norm,. I think after you get to know me you will realize that I have respect and dedication to our forefathers and what they accomplished.
Especially my trade,..which was just driven out of existence by mass production. We went from some of the most beautiful wood carvings,which date back thousands of years,......... moving on into
the late twenties when repwood was introduced and then finally plastic in the forties and fifties.

I am just trying very hard to carry on the craftsmanship of a lost art.

I honestly think that Mcmurdo Silver and E.H.Scott would have been proud of our tenacity in slight deviations.
I also think they would agree to see us inner change cabinets and chassis,..... just as long as we didn't put an
Allwave 15 on a Clifton cabinet. Or a Masterpiece V in the Rosalind Grande. That probably wouldn't have set too well.
But I hope you see my point,.. they too , were adventurers,.. constantly making changes to be better than each other. Which in turn made them both great. E.H.Scott not only offered over 100 cabinet designs but also offered the customer the option of installing his sets to their cabinet design. We certainly don't know where those cabinets reside or what they are.
If I was to run across an old cabinet with a Scott chassis, I would certainly consider it a Scott.
So whoever made the rules about slight changes,.. I am not trying to make them mad or anyone else that feels that way.
I just think we should all thoroughly enjoy what we do and cherish every second,... and just be proud that we are a part of something so great.
And In closing,.I will say,... that I sincerely respect your opinion.
Take Good Care, my friend.
It is always a pleasure,...

Kenneth Richmond, Jr.

Scott~Silver Cabinet Company of America
"Crafting the Past for the 21st Century"
A Division of Richmond Designs

Comment by Norman S Braithwaite on October 10, 2009 at 2:58pm

Ken,

Thanks for the note. My clarification was intended to prevent a future belief that the Clifton cabinet was available with the Masterpiece III and IV. Those of us who have been collecting Scott radios for many years continue to hear rumors of Scott Philharmonics being offered on a Napier consolettes. To date I have not found evidence of this being true but I am aware of one Philharmonic sitting on top of a cabinet in the Napier consolette style. The styling of the cabinet is different than the Napier Consolette and radio was originally owned by a cabinet maker. Last I heard the current owner portrays it as an original Scott offering. The cabinet is fine furniture made of solid exotic hardwoods and is therefore special in its own right but it is wrong to represent it as an original Scott offering. I believe it is appropriate to consider the Clifton for the Masterpiece III in this catagory.

The faithful reproductions of Scott and McMurdo Silver offerings made by Rich Kahnberg, yourself, and possibly others are a valuable service to collectors because, as you well know, the chassis are much more common than the cabinets. I personally believe that it will always be possible for an experienced collector to recognize whether or not a cabinet is a reproduction but this will not always be the case for the inexperienced collector. If a reproduction cabinet is to be constructed so well that no difference can be detected then it deserves equal recognition as an original cabinet. If it were mine, I would still represent it as a reproduction.

Fifteen to twenty years ago, I know of a collector that assembled a cabinet for a Scott Allwave Superhetrodyne (2-dial AW-12 restored to operate simply on the standard broadcast band only) from the bottom half of a Zenith cabinet plus a cloud shaped faceplate. He named the cabinet a Scott Gypt'em and sold it to an inexperienced collector at a large Bay Area antique show. This radio changed hands several more times for prices in the thousands of dollars. I don't know who owns the Gypt'em now but the set is only worth a few hundred dollars at most to a collector as parts. This may be a bit hilarious to an outsider but it will not be funny when the current owner decides to sell or learns what they have.

Regarding the Beardsley 48-tube Custom Receiver (Quaranta), other than completion of the set from other Quaranta chassis and speaker sets, it has no additions. Because of the condition of two original chassis, two chassis were reproduced but all wiring, components, and circuitry are original. I am, however, making a full reproduction set of chassis to go with the second Quaranta speaker console in my possession. These chassis are being built from ground up using correct components salvaged from other Scott chassis (four AW-23 chassis sets and two Philharmonic tuner chassis are required to get the right components and wire - I think I stole some parts from a McMurdo Silver chassis as well). Line output and input transformers and bass chokes for the reproduction set have been copied. The reproduction tuner chassis will use a correct 500 henry centertapped output choke from an Allwave 27 that I parted out many years ago.

Norman

Comment by Kenneth Lee Richmond II on October 9, 2009 at 9:17pm

Hi Norman,
It is certainly good to chat with you again. Thanks to you And to Bruce for the compliments.
Norm, it has been a few months since you and I briefly chatted, as I gladly offered compliments to you on your "Quaranta". What an amazing set.
I have since learned that you did some amazing additions to the "Quaranta"yourself. Excellent job. I want to offer my services to you on additional ideas that you may have thought of over time on that set and any other you may like to improve or build for a homeless chassis.
As I have told Kent and Bruce,..I am aware of the concerns about these sets ,..especially the ones to come. Because unlike the ebony Clifton that you see here, the next cabinets are exact duplications ,.....to the 1/8 inch in measurement and cosmetically exact. I have thought long and hard about the best way to mark them.
The decision I have reached,.. is to place a rigid plate with my business initials (SSCCA) just on the upper inside of the cabinet, in the back. These plates will ALWAYS be on the upper right hand side of the cabinet,
just a few inches in from the back edge. This, my promise to all the collectors, is that no cabinet will leave my shop without it. And it will be place with an epoxy coating, so it will be very hard to remove.
Furthemore, it is also my promise to all E.H. Scott radio owners, that you will never be ashamed to display one of my cabinets, if you decide to purchase from me. I have worked very long and hard to achieve the patina of my finishes, on my designs and in the art of duplication.
If there is any questions or suggestions, please ,...let me know.
Once again it is an honor to be part of the world of E.H. Scott enthusiast and this forum.
Thank you all for having me.

Kenneth Richmond, Jr.

Scott~Silver Cabinet Company of America
"Crafting the Past for the 21st Century"
A division of Richmond Designs,Inc.

Comment by Y2K Bruce on October 9, 2009 at 5:38pm

Thank you for the kind words on Kenny's McMurdo Clifton cabinet.

He built it out of 150 year old white oak (from an old Gin Mill) at my request so I could find a home for some loose chassis I had in boxes here. We both knew that the combo was not technically original BUT the Clifton cabinet was one of the best ways to display a nice chromed chassis with some artistic improvements to the original design.

For example, if you look at the feet details, Kenny improved them in my opinion from a cheap looking base on the original Clifton design to the details seen in his photos.

I ended up selling that particular set back to him as he is making a 2nd similar cabinet for me and I had 2 of the Masterpiece III receivers.

He is currently making new versions of the Scott Laureate Grande, Imperial Grande, Tassman and Napier for several customers who, like me, have nice Scott chassis but no cabinets. That is a GREAT niche for people like me who can not find an original Scott or McMurdo cabinet to complete an original radio.

Comment by Norman S Braithwaite on October 9, 2009 at 1:53pm

I believe it is important to note that McMurdo Silver did not offer the Clifton console until offering the Masterpiece V model a couple years later. This is a very nice cabinet and displays the Masterpiece III chassis well but is a recently constructed cabinet.