The Fine Things are Always Hand Made
Hi! My name is Félix, I'm 17 and have been collecting and restoring radios for 3 years. I have had the priviledge to get two E.H. Scott.
First is an AllWave XV in an early Tasman cabinet. Second is a Sixteen in an Acousticraft cabinet (unfortunately not with the original finish, but that will be corrected eventually). I rebuilt the power supply chassis of the Sixteen and it worked well on the bench. Will restore the tuner later this year.
My fleet also contains a few high-end american consoles, including a Stromberg-Carlson 935-M, a couple of 1938 Zeniths and a basket case Airline Lafrance (62-197), the 16 tube monster with the two chrome chassis and two speakers, which I'm restoring slowly but surely. I am also very fond of the pre-war canadian Marconi radios and have several.
Anyway I just wanted to say hi as I just subscribed, and I hope to contribute in the future. :)
I'll leave you with a few pictures.
Tags:
Guess I'll have to ask Y2KBruce... :P
Hi Felix-I have fired up my LaFrance to let to stretch its legs this weekend after reading your posts.
I rotate my radios I listen to and my LaFrance is in my Philco room aka my bedroom and recently i had been listening to my 37-690 there. The LaFrance was acquired by me as is in restored condition about 10 years ago from the Taylor's in Chicago who had previously purchased it at the former auction house in Marshaltown Iowa. The chassis has a sticker from a repair shop in the New England area who i believe no longer does radio repairs.The controls are a bit scratchy currently so it needs a good cleaning but when on, as it is now as I type this it has a wonderful natural sound. I had both speakers re-coned and tuned up last year by the speaker shop aka Nick and he did great work on them. Mine has a refinished cabinet with a piano finish but the grill insert has the same toner as the main cabinet. Brew Master Joe in the Chicago area has i think the most original one of these I have seen and his grill is toned darker.My knobs are incorrect and I have been looking for a nice set of original ones with the words indented in them. The volume on mine is LOUD if turned up. No eye tubes used on this either so its 16 real tubes in action including 4-2A3 ones.
This radio is fondly referred to as the one that looks better from the back than the front. I will take some photos and videos of it in play this weekly hopefully.
Thanks for your reply, Bruce. :)
This radio is really fascinating to me. I bought mine at 14 years old so it has been around since the very beginning of my collecting and has always motivated me to learn more and improve my restoration skills. Can't wait to hear yours in your video. Should inspire me a lot. :p
Note the small brass tag under the dial that says La France and under that on the tag in very small letters 'Super Heterodyne'
Nice lookin'!
Man, I know people call it the radio that looks better from the back, but I personally reaaaaally like the look of the huge grille and the very simple design, with a lot of vertical lines.
Felix - fun thread you have going. I too started with an upscale radio in my teens. Was 50 plus years ago with a Scott Philharmonic. You have a major advantage of the internet and sites like this for information and help.
Videos take today of my LaFrance. Station is WMT 600 in Cedar Rapids streamed via my laptop and broadcast through the AMT 3000 SST
http://s213.photobucket.com/user/y2kbruce/media/lido%20and%20LaFran...
http://s213.photobucket.com/user/y2kbruce/media/lido%20and%20LaFran...
Here's my early AW12 with the wunderlich tuner in the LIDO. I have this set for sale with a potential buyer. This was from my test drive this week.
http://s213.photobucket.com/user/y2kbruce/media/lido%20and%20LaFran...
http://s213.photobucket.com/user/y2kbruce/media/lido%20and%20LaFran...
Quote: I'm also planning on stripping the bottom chassis this summer if I have time and have it re-chromed. There is a lot of pitting and it won't ever look anything near perfect but I think it deserves that I try, and it would be a major improvement
The pits can be filled in with weld. I restored a Philharmonic amp that I had to weld up 30 hole that somebody had drilled in it. It came out perfect. Find someone who can fill and grind smooth.
Just make sure the pits/holes are filled with iron/steel weld and not brazed with brass. The brass is softer and will be removed to a greater extent during the grinding/polishing process prior to plating leaving flat surfaced depressions. Another method employed by plating services is to overbuild using copper or nickel plate and grind back down before polishing and dipping in the chrome tank.
Norman
Thank you for the input guys. I'll refer back to this discussion when I continue the work on the chassis.
This group is awesome!
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