07-12-2015, 12:01 PM
The Wisconsin Antique Radio Club swap meet was today, and despite the beautiful weather, vendor turn out was meager. I was just getting ready to leave when I saw a late comer just setting up and spotted this:
A 38-116. I asked the out-of-breath guy who just unloaded it from his van how much. He said $30. Wow....this seems to good to be true. Closer examination revealed a cabinet that needed total refinishing (my picture doesn't show the wear, dings, scratches, stains, etc.). I got to talking with him a little and said "At that price you basically are just looking to free up some space?" He said yes. I pressed on. "Has anyone started to restore this or has it been sitting for years?". "I started restoring it about 20 years ago". Hmmm...now it's getting clearer. I said "Did you run into some problems?" Yes came the response. "I recapped it but couldn't get very many stations back then and only at low volume. I just tried it again today and got nothing". So basically I got the sense that he messed something up and just left it sit. As much as I would like one of these, I'm afraid I would've been biting off more than I could chew. Even an original unmolested set is a challenge to restore. Coupled with that... miles of crumbling rubber covered wire (if only this was a 1937 or earlier). In the end, I decided against it. Another guy was going to trade him a 10 year old stereo system for it, so I knew he just wanted it out of the house. I wound up coming home with a Crosley "dashboard" table model instead.
A 38-116. I asked the out-of-breath guy who just unloaded it from his van how much. He said $30. Wow....this seems to good to be true. Closer examination revealed a cabinet that needed total refinishing (my picture doesn't show the wear, dings, scratches, stains, etc.). I got to talking with him a little and said "At that price you basically are just looking to free up some space?" He said yes. I pressed on. "Has anyone started to restore this or has it been sitting for years?". "I started restoring it about 20 years ago". Hmmm...now it's getting clearer. I said "Did you run into some problems?" Yes came the response. "I recapped it but couldn't get very many stations back then and only at low volume. I just tried it again today and got nothing". So basically I got the sense that he messed something up and just left it sit. As much as I would like one of these, I'm afraid I would've been biting off more than I could chew. Even an original unmolested set is a challenge to restore. Coupled with that... miles of crumbling rubber covered wire (if only this was a 1937 or earlier). In the end, I decided against it. Another guy was going to trade him a 10 year old stereo system for it, so I knew he just wanted it out of the house. I wound up coming home with a Crosley "dashboard" table model instead.
Greg V.
West Bend, WI
Member WARCI.org
