Tube type radios

[luvmysuper]

Anybody here into repairing / reworking or just listening to older vacuum tube radios?

I spotted one (a 1952 General Electric Model 440) on some recent meanderings and was instantly attracted to it.
The single light above the translucent dial just gives it such a warm beautiful glow.
A little research and a little reading has me believing I may have found my latest and greatest new hobby (after shaving gear, hats, rotary dial telephone, fountain pens etc).

Some of these late 1940 and early 1950 radios are absolutely gorgeous. The lighted dials, the lines. Man, they just don't make that kind of stuff anymore.

Anyway, I thought I'd ask.
This forum has done so much for me in the way of dumping my wallet for old gear, that I thought I'd share this topic and see if we can get some people sucked into this rabbit hole!

If you have a favorite tube type radio, post a pic here so we can all drool over it.
What is it that you really like about your favorite?
If you do restorations, share with us some tips or tricks you've figured out.

A General Electric Model 440 (which is almost identical to the Model 409)

 

[Phog Allen]

Phil those old table Radios really are nice. I remember my grandmother's sitting on her kitchen counter and how it would have to warm up for a bit to hear the sound. I am sure you already know this but the old All American Five type Radios can pose a shock hazard. I wish you could buy modern radios that looked like that AND have a decent AM section. The difference between my Sangean 803 ATS and my home and car stereo is ridiculous. The Sangean blows them away.

Cheers, Todd

 

[robellison01]

I love tube sound. I keep a 1950's Zenith table radio on my desk. I also use tube gear in my ham radio station, but that's another animal. Shortwave radios are a lot of fun too, but my only working shortwave is the transistorized Zenith Trans Oceanic.

If you are considering getting in to the old tube gear, you should pick up a tube tester like a Sencore Mighty Mite.

 

[Graybeard57]

I could very easily fall into this rabbit hole. My wife's grandparents gave her a console Magnavox stereo with a tube AM/FM. Here in Pittsburgh PA, I could easily pull in AM stations from St Louis, Chicago, Detroit, Hartford, NYC, Philadelphia, and Miami, and several points in between. There are still 50,000 watt "clear channel" stations in big cities around the country, and when the weather's right, at night you can span 1000+ miles. With the internet some of that sense of wonder at pulling in faraway broadcasts is lost, but those old radios are like old razors: they can take you back in time for just a little while.

I agree, the warm lights glowing on the dial, the pop and hum as it warms up...those things just make me smile. Enjoy your tinkering.

 

[roklein]

I have my Oma and Opa's 1937 Philco Model 37-630. Actually it was retrofitted along the way with FM. Takes a couple of minutes to warm up and sounds great!

 

[Graybeard57]

I have my Oma and Opa's 1937 Philco Model 37-630. Actually it was retrofitted along the way with FM. Takes a couple of minutes to warm up and sounds great! View attachment 302704

I let one of those slip through my hands. The great thing about it is when you look in the back, the radio could fit into a tabletop model, but the cabinet is waist high. That is a gorgeous model.

 

[luvmysuper]

Phil those old table Radios really are nice. I remember my grandmother's sitting on her kitchen counter and how it would have to warm up for a bit to hear the sound. I am sure you already know this but the old All American Five type Radios can pose a shock hazard. I wish you could buy modern radios that looked like that AND have a decent AM section. The difference between my Sangean 803 ATS and my home and car stereo is ridiculous. The Sangean blows them away.

Cheers, Todd

Yep, right you are!
Also because of the crappy paper or cardboard capacitors used, a Dim Bulb Tester is a must have piece of equipment.
Most of these old radios cannot function properly unless the cover is in place, so if the back is on and the chassis is firmly mounted and it's been checked with a D.B.T. you're pretty safe. Just don't go poking around in it with it powered up, some of the older ones, one side of the input was tied to the chassis, so NEVER try to attach a ground wire to the chassis!

 

[heybatter]

Samsung recently introduced a tump amp to cater to the analog audiophile segment...I haven't researched this too much, but it does look cool.

http://www.samsung.com/us/2012-vacuum-tube-amplifier/

 

[lestergillis]

I recently restored these:




The first one has a hardwood case. Electronically, they are virtually identical. They are circa 1950-1952.
I refinished the wood to its original state on the first one as well as re-labeled the knobs.

 

[lestergillis]

Here are the before pics...

 

[_MementoMori_]

I also think they're beautiful. I always admire them when I go antique shopping. The only reason I can't see myself getting into them is that there isn't anything on the radio worth listening to anymore. Not here in St. Louis, anyway.

 

[luvmysuper]

I recently restored these:

The first one has a hardwood case. Electronically, they are virtually identical. They are circa 1950-1952.
I refinished the wood to its original state on the first one as well as re-labeled the knobs.

Awesome job!
I love the RCA Victors.
How the heck did you manage the lettering for the knob labels?
Peel off - stick on alphabet sheets?

 

[tinashubby]

Picked this one up at a antique shop, the keeper said it didn't work. He forgot they need to warm up!

 

[lestergillis]

Awesome job!
I love the RCA Victors.
How the heck did you manage the lettering for the knob labels?
Peel off - stick on alphabet sheets?

Thank you, sir. The letters are water-slide decals that are ink-jet printable. I realized after I started this project that printers don't exactly print gold so I printed the letters in bright yellow and then painted them gold with a very small brush.
After I stuck them to the case I polyurethaned over them and the rest of the case.
If you'll notice it has a phono function. There is a RCA jack in the back of the radio for a phongraph. I bought a 'headphone to RCA' cord and plug my iPhone/iPod into it. I kinda laugh everytime I do it because I think people of that era would be appalled by modern music.

 

[luvmysuper]

Picked this one up at a antique shop, the keeper said it didn't work. He forgot they need to warm up!
View attachment 302837

Nice!

I mean - come on... what's not to love in the Boomerang Radios by Truetone or Philco





Or the incredibly awesome Spartan Bluebird?

 

[CRG]

Does anyone have a recommendation for repair/restoration? I picked up a radio similar to the one below on E-Bay for a decent price and although it works, the volume tends to fade within minutes of listening. There is also a strange burning odor that it emits, which I presume can't be a good thing. I'd really like to get this working so that I can listen to baseball, etc. Right now it's sitting in my office at work. It gets lots of compliments, but I can't really use it.

 

[Wullie]

Neat radios!

Don't have any at the moment. Had LOTS of 'em in years past. Even had a tube radio in a '54 Chevy pickup I used to drive.

Neatest one I remember had a "magic eye". It had a tube that lit up bright green when the station you dialed in was strongest. It died and I let it go for peanuts as I had other interests at the time.

I've got an ALLIED DX-60 sitting here beside me, but I need to hook up an antenna to it.

 

[luvmysuper]

Does anyone have a recommendation for repair/restoration? I picked up a radio similar to the one below on E-Bay for a decent price and although it works, the volume tends to fade within minutes of listening. There is also a strange burning odor that it emits, which I presume can't be a good thing. I'd really like to get this working so that I can listen to baseball, etc. Right now it's sitting in my office at work. It gets lots of compliments, but I can't really use it.

That's a beautiful Philco. That picture looks like a Model 48-200. Is the face plate exactly like that or is it different?

My recommendations would be DON"T PLUG IT IN AGAIN until you've done some testing. Hate to see you burn up a beautiful restoration project because of a 50 cent capacitor.
These old radios were equipped with paper wrapped or cardboard wrapped capacitors, and they are really crappy. They fail over time.

The first thing you need to do is make a Dim Bulb tester to make sure that it is even safe to plug in.
The paper or cardboard capacitors may need to be changed out with modern capacitors.
Generally, the vacuum tubes are a LOT beefier than people think they are, and can last longer than a human lifespan. Don't assume the tubes are bad.
You want to get a copy of the manual for it, and make sure the right tube is plugged into the right socket. Sometimes overzealous folks would pull the tubes and replace them incorrectly, or accidentally swap the tubes around.

There is a ton of great restoration information here, under the beginners section. He also explains how to build and use a simple dim bulb tester.

http://antiqueradio.org/welcome.htm

This web site has a bunch of pdf resources for restringing dial strings, parts lists, wiring schematics etc. There should be a model number on the back, or sometimes written on the chassis inside. Philco was kind enough to preface the model number with the year in many instances (other radio manufacturers were not so kind) so a Model 48-200 would be from 1948, a Model 49-500 would be from 1949 etc.

http://www.nostalgiaair.org/Resources/

Keep us posted on how things are going, that's a beautiful radio!

 

[CRG]

That's a beautiful Philco. That picture looks like a Model 48-200. Is the face plate exactly like that or is it different?

My recommendations would be DON"T PLUG IT IN AGAIN until you've done some testing. Hate to see you burn up a beautiful restoration project because of a 50 cent capacitor.
These old radios were equipped with paper wrapped or cardboard wrapped capacitors, and they are really crappy. They fail over time.

The first thing you need to do is make a Dim Bulb tester to make sure that it is even safe to plug in.
The paper or cardboard capacitors may need to be changed out with modern capacitors.
Generally, the vacuum tubes are a LOT beefier than people think they are, and can last longer than a human lifespan. Don't assume the tubes are bad.
You want to get a copy of the manual for it, and make sure the right tube is plugged into the right socket. Sometimes overzealous folks would pull the tubes and replace them incorrectly, or accidentally swap the tubes around.

There is a ton of great restoration information here, under the beginners section. He also explains how to build and use a simple dim bulb tester.

http://antiqueradio.org/welcome.htm

This web site has a bunch of pdf resources for restringing dial strings, parts lists, wiring schematics etc. There should be a model number on the back, or sometimes written on the chassis inside. Philco was kind enough to preface the model number with the year in many instances (other radio manufacturers were not so kind) so a Model 48-200 would be from 1948, a Model 49-500 would be from 1949 etc.

http://www.nostalgiaair.org/Resources/

Keep us posted on how things are going, that's a beautiful radio!

Phil - thank you. This is exactly the type of information I was looking for. I will surely check out the link you provided and will post back with what I find. I'm a complete novice when it comes to these types of repairs, but seems that there are some great resources available. And yes, the face plate on my radio is exactly like the once pictured. In fact, I would say that mine is in even better cosmetic condition overall than the radio in the photo I posted.

 

[CRG]

By the way, I looked at the back of the radio while at work today and it reads 49-500, so 1949. Very cool!