Posts Tagged ‘Philco Radio’

Posted on April 20, 2013 - by DLandon

Philco Model 60 Cathedral

This is a Philco Model 60 that has been restored. The electronics were previously repaired. The repairs were undone to restore the electronics as much as possible to original. The capacitors inside the bakelite housings were taken out and replaced with modern capacitors. This radio had a common issue with the Model 60 – the antenna and oscillator coil primaries were open and had to be rewound. The case was restored and not refinished. The Model 60 receives broadcast AM and the obsolete police band. Overall the radio is in good condition and plays very well.

Posted on February 19, 2011 - by DLandon

Philco 37-630 Table Top Radio

This is a very nice Philco 37-630. This radio uses a shadow meter for tuning. The shadow meter works very well. The case and knobs are all original. The case finish was restored and not refinished. The speaker grill cloth has been replaced. I really like the sound of this radio. This radio plays strong and is one of the best sounding Philco radios I’ve restored.

Posted on April 27, 2010 - by Vintage Tube Admin

Sparton 7-46 Console Radio

This is a Sparton 7-46 that has been completely restored. The Chassis was in remarkable shape. There is no rust on the chassis and the power transformer paint is in excellent shape. There have been some repairs done over the years. Based on the components used in the repairs, I believe that it was repaired in the late 50s or early 60s. The power supply filter capacitors and one capacitor in the amplifier section were replaced along with the output transformer mounted on the speaker. The tubes all tested out as if they were brand new.

The chassis was restored by replacing all wax and electrolytic capacitors. A line fuse and inrush current limiter were added for protection and to slowly power up the vacuum tubes.

The push-pull output using 6F6 tubes of this radio gives it a very strong sound. The shortwave band picks up quite a few stations with the built in antenna. This antenna is just a piece of wire running around the inside of the cabinet in the back.

As you can see, the cabinet was in terrible shape. There was a lot of de-lamination of the veneer. The veneer was repaired and the old finish removed. There were two water stains in the top of the cabinet. These were not removed. The only way to remove them is to bleach the cabinet and I don’t like to do that because of the risk of further wood damage if not done carefully, and the fact that the patina of the wood is ruined. A lot of the character of the older radios is in the patina of the wood and the finish. If the finish is badly damaged, there is not much choice but to remove it and apply a new finish. I try not to remove an old finish if there is any reasonable chance of restoring it. In this case the finish was very badly damaged and could not be restored. In fact the finish was so bad that it detracted from the overall aesthetics of the radio as can be seen in the pictures.

I’m very pleased with this restoration. The radio looks very good and plays remarkably well. I’m still very impressed at how well these older radios sound after a restoration. Because of the quality of newer components, I believe these radios actually sound better than they did when they were brand new. This radio should play and perform well for many years to come.

Posted on April 21, 2010 - by Vintage Tube Admin

Philco 38-10 Table Top Radio

This radio was restored to its original condition.  It came to us in extremely good condition.  It required very little work to the cabinet to get it back to the original condition.  Everything is original including the speaker grill cloth, knobs, and dial.  This is a beautiful radio that plays very well.

Posted on March 22, 2010 - by Vintage Tube Admin

Philco 37-610 Tombstone Radio

The finish on the front of this model is a faux (photo) finish and cannot be repaired easily if damaged.  Unfortunately this radio had some very bad damage to the photo finish that couldn’t be repaired.  The wood underneath was not damaged.  The finish was stripped, and the cabinet was completely refinished.  Considering that the front is not original, it still looks pretty good.

Notice in the photo of the back of the radio that the RF chassis is floating in the middle of the chassis and is held in alignment with rubber washers.  These were also replaced so the tuning shaft would align properly to the front of the radio and would not wobble.

The first photo shows what the cabinet looked like when we received the radio.  The faux wood finish on the front was beyond repair.