Posts: 361
Threads: 100
Joined: Jul 2011
City: Calgary, AB, CA
I made the trip of 200 miles to pick up this Marconi model 117
It need a grill cloth and knobs[which I have]. The 6U5 is quite bright and the owner said it works but I will do a recap. I think I will leave the finish alone except do some work on the top. I used to own one of these but this time it's a keeper because my last one sounded very good. It has nine tubes. I just love the large glass dial,which is very impressive in the dark.[Image:
http://i318.photobucket.com/albums/mm405...Medium.jpg][Image:
http://i318.photobucket.com/albums/mm405...Medium.jpg]
Living in Calgary Alberta
Posts: 909
Threads: 117
Joined: Jun 2007
Very Cool set Dan! Yes, recap it , and I think a stain pen with a felt tip would help hide the scratches on top. Great find, let us all know how it turns out, bet it will sound great also!
Posts: 4,612
Threads: 51
Joined: Sep 2008
City: Sandwick, BC, CA
Nice set, I take that you also reside in Canada since you had one of these before. Marconis from the 1930s had some very nice cabinets, even nicer then many Rogers sets in my opinion. I don't know who made these cabinets for Marconi but I suspect that it may have been Victoriaville Furniture or another Quebec based cabinet maker since Marconi was based in Montreal, but then again I have a Marconi type 12 from 1928 where McLagan Furniture built the cabinet and they were based in Oshawa.
As for touching up the top I'm not sure how successful that might be, as you can see the top and the control panel is one piece, so whatever you do to the top has to blend in with the rest. It looks like the feet at the base of the skirt/toe kick is almost bare, that portion would have to be refinished, perhaps selectively by masking it off from the rest. It wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing to strip the cabinet and start over, but without seeing the rest it's hard to say.
Regards
Arran
Posts: 361
Threads: 100
Joined: Jul 2011
City: Calgary, AB, CA
Thanks for the compliments .....Yes I reside in Canada,, Calgary to be precise.
I have now recapped the radio and it plays very good an all bands.The sound is rich and there is a lot of bass and trebel.
I will wait until spring before I do anything about the cabinet. I have done some cabinets where I only did part on the cabinet and they worked out well,so I will give this a lot of thought before I tackle it I am just not sure what to use to blend in the top with the control panel.
As far as the Canadian cabinets are concerned I also find that many of our cabinets are made better than most.. I have a couple of Rogers that are also very nice. The wood is real and well made.
Living in Calgary Alberta
Posts: 13,776
Threads: 580
Joined: Sep 2005
City: Ferdinand
State, Province, Country: Indiana
I agree...very cool radio.
Large dial, lots of bands. Multiple SW bands are usually a good thing.
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Ron Ramirez
Ferdinand IN
Posts: 4,612
Threads: 51
Joined: Sep 2008
City: Sandwick, BC, CA
Marconi must have had a regional distribution center in Calgary, of the pre war radios that seem to come up there a large proportion seem to be Marconis. In my area Canadian General Electric and Philco seem to be the big ones with the occasional Canadian Westinghouse (because a local hardware store sold them) the occasional RCA (because a regional music store sold them), the occasional Sparton, Deforest Crosley, and Eaton's Viking.
Regards
Arran
