The Fine Things are Always Hand Made
McMurdo Silver Masterpiece 1 Completed Restoration
A fellow esteemed forum member inquired for my services a number of months back regarding an electrical restoration of his Masterpiece 1. One of several currently known examples, they originally came in two flavors. Early versions (this example) were brass plate with painted transformers/speaker. Later versions were chrome plated leading up to Masterpiece II production.
McMurdo Silver produced the Masterpiece 1 between 1931-1932, it's direct competition was the E.H. Scott All-wave 12. Build quality and circuit design/layout differ greatly between both. Example's of the AW12 can be seen here on the forum. There are also pictures of the MP1, including several pictures of this very example discussed in past topics. Top side pictures of the MP1 here on the forum are prevalent. Underside pictures however are not.
Below are the final results of the electrical restoration. Electrolytic capacitor boxes as well as all metal bath-tub capacitors were all re-stuffed with brand new components. Initially all mica capacitors as well as dog-bone resistors were all tested and within tolerance. Post restoration testing of the set which resulted in 40 hours of playtime indicated two mica capacitors and one resistor needing replaced. All other components stable and performing great.
I want to thank Norman Braithwaite and John Eckland for their help with several questions that initially arose upon starting this restoration.
Video of the set performing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2jim9ZoXJw&t=54s
You will likely never see another one performing on the web!!!
Jon
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by palegreenthumb on
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Wow, great pics, Jon, and very nice resto work!
It's interesting how similar to an MPII it looks underneath.
In the video, the tuning seems really slow. I can see why they revised that for the 2nd model.
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Permalink Reply by Jon Ketron on
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Hi Rodney,
I agree, similarities are indeed present. Thank you for your interest and comments. Glad you enjoyed the video.
Jon
palegreenthumb said:Wow, great pics, Jon, and very nice resto work!
It's interesting how similar to an MPII it looks underneath.
In the video, the tuning seems really slow. I can see why they revised that for the 2nd model.
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