Alternatives to a Scott cabinet

[David C. Poland]

Today, there are more decent Scott radios than there are decent Scott cabinets. About any Scott cabinet is worth restoring. They are furniture quality with quality veneer. A number featured exotic veneers. They were substantial with desirable acoustics. Most 1930's Scott cabinets were exclusive designs for Scott, with most produced by Rockford-Peerless Furniture Co, Rockford IL. Some of the more rare high end cabinets command more than the radio in them.

A number of Scott radios never had a Scott cabinet. The drill was to order  the radio built and consider a choice of cabinets from a catalog with as many as a dozen cabinets ranging from as little about $25 to way over $100. Scott also did custom installations, no cabinet there. Some folks had custom cabinets made to match their own taste. Some updated a fine old radio cabinet replacing an obsolete radio with a Scott. Many cabinets were discarded over the past 50 years because the kids weren't interested  and others were relegated to damp basements for slow destruction. 

Today, we usually price the radio and the cabinet separately. It may be too expensive to safely ship long distance if even if you find one you like and can afford. But playing your restored Scott to hear its audio quality, perhaps using an FM tuner or your I-Phone library or Sirius radio requires a decent cabinet. So what to do?

How about an early 1930's radio with an un-restorable radio due to severe pot metal problems?

How about repurposing some other cabinet to hold your Scott?

I have done both with pleasing results.

[Joseph W Strickland]

Johnathan;

That is a beautiful cabinet! Was this cabinet the original one the Philharmonic was installed in?

Joe

[jonathan dollimore]

Hello Joe,

yes, we believe it was built especially for the Philharmonic and the Capehart. The workmanship is superb, both in the construction of the cabinet, and the internal wiring, with contact switches etc for turning the set on automatically when the top doors are opened. The speaker baffle had the cut out for the tweeters although these were missing. I've since source a pair in the US.

[Joseph W Strickland]

Johnathan;

I am glad to hear that you were able to locate the tweeters to pair with this excellent receiver. The Capehart changer was desired among some Scott owners for its ability to provide extended playing time of records that were current at the time. Capehart had a background in manufacturing juke-boxes. Being able to play both sides of records was a real plus. The last true Capehart changer had the ability to play both 33 1/3rpm and 78rpm records. Having switches to turn on the receiver when the top doors are opened is a nice thoughtful touch on this unit.

Enjoy this wonderful example!

Joe

[David C. Poland]

Jonathan - a really nice cabinet for your Philharmonic.

So your Scott Laureate your next housing project?? Nice looking speaker cabinet it sits on.

-Dave

[jonathan dollimore]

This cabinet dates from the period when conservative people wanted to be able to completely hide their hi if in traditional looking furniture. There were quite a few such people in the UK before the war, and even after, though in reduced numbers: Dynatron and Peto Scott kept the tradition alive into the nineteen fifties after which everyone wanted to have it on proud display.