Now I've done it...One Bucket List set FOUND!
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Quote:Yes, the original owner received the privilege of having their name engraved on the manufacturer's tag on the back of the tuner chassis.
I think it would be interesting to have some documentation on the original owner; was it the late parent of the heirs you got it from via estes? Were there other owners in-between? I believe its part of the specific history of that radio, and these models give a rather rare opportunity to look in that direction, compared to non-identified radios...
After all, its part of your bucket list. If it deserves the extra attention of having paper caps restored, maybe it also deserves a little more backstory?
-Mars
(This post was last modified: 07-22-2012, 11:22 PM by Marsupial.)
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These radios don't come along very often and I am happy for you.. I know you will do it justice in the restoration dept. Just make sure you keep us posted with photos Fantastic find,I'll bet you are happy
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Now I want one. Ling will be furious when she finds out.
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I finally opened up the tuner chassis and took a look inside.
[Image: http://www.philcoradio.com/images/phorum..._00001.jpg]
Looks pretty good in here. The only work that has been done to it is where someone removed the original cloth-covered wiring harness which runs out to the amp/power supply, and replaced it with individual modern plastic-coated wires. A couple of the original caps were replaced decades ago, but this appears to have been untouched (save for the wiring harness as mentioned above).
Good news: It appears that almost all of the original capacitors are still inside, so I will be able to restuff them as I had wanted to do. One electrolytic box was obviously replaced with an Aerovox tubular unit in the center of the chassis. There is another Aerovox electrolytic off to the side; it, too, may be a replacement for an original rectangular box.
Bad news: Some of the original Sprague paper caps have metal bands around them; these are riveted to the chassis. This will make replacement a little more challenging.
[Image: http://www.philcoradio.com/images/phorum..._00002.jpg]
Notice some surface rust on the bottom of the chassis cover...
[Image: http://www.philcoradio.com/images/phorum..._00003.jpg]
...and if you look really close, you will notice some bubbling veneer where the tuner sits.
Apparently this was in a damp environment at one time. Fortunately, the worst damage appears to be the rust on the amp/power supply, and the bubbling veneer on the very top of the Clifton cabinet - where it is hidden by the tuner chassis.
--
Ron Ramirez
Ferdinand IN
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Stunning radio. Something suggests that it would be ideal for listening to Buck Rogers... ;)
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Pretty good feed available from WRCA over net starting at 10:00 PM EST with old Danny Stiles tapes followed by Tube Talk which is always a pleasure to hear. All sound good over old time sets, but 1330 AM not possible here in NY. Anyway, there's so many things available to make these old sets come alive again.
One of the tone cabinets must go if I get a SILVER Console. Still will be war!
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I found this photo this week in my memory folders. I don't know whose radio this is, but it's a McMurdo 15/17
on what I believe (but not sure) is a cut down Philco 15 DX.
The small black box above the receiver is an R-9 McMurdo SW antenna tuner which was an option.
[Image: http://www.philcoradio.com/images/phorum...cMurdo.jpg]
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Hi Bruce
That cabinet is, or should I say was, a Philco 112X.
You know, I have to say, I like it...I wasn't sure if a McMurdo would fit on top of one of those (modified) Philco cabinets, but obviously it does.
A Masterpiece would look pretty classy with a setup like that...and the 15-17 looks good on there, too! 
For the person who has the McMurdo Silver chassis but no speaker, this would keep you from a search for that 18 inch Super-Giant used with the MP V and VI; you couldn't use anything bigger than a 12 inch speaker in that cabinet. (The original Philco 112X speaker is a 10-1/2 inch unit.)
I think, if I hadn't found a MP VI with Clifton cabinet, that I might have considered a similar setup.
So, guys, keep this in mind next time you're in Kutztown...if you find an early Philco Inclined Sounding Board cabinet that no one wants, you could always convert it to a McMurdo Silver speaker cabinet. 
--
Ron Ramirez
Ferdinand IN
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Actually, I have one of these Philco/Silvers in the pipeline with Kenny Richmond converting a single speaker 15DX cabinet similar to the one seen above, by giving it a flat-top haircut. (this is the photo that I too liked and gave me the idea)
McMurdo cabinets are SO rare to find and personally I really like the looks and high quality of the early Philco consoles.
I do plan to mount a 15" speaker over the original speaker opening and I doubt to my ears I will hear much detraction on the sound volume or quality.
At least that is my plan.
Stay tuned and don't touch that dial !!
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Quote:Actually, I have one of these Philco/Silvers in the pipeline with Kenny Richmond converting a single speaker 15DX cabinet similar to the one seen above, by giving it a flat-top haircut. (this is the photo that I too liked and gave me the idea)
McMurdo cabinets are SO rare to find and personally I really like the looks and high quality of the early Philco consoles.
I do plan to mount a 15" speaker over the original speaker opening and I doubt to my ears I will hear much detraction on the sound volume or quality.
At least that is my plan.
A Philco 15DX or a regular 15X? The 15DX has a pair of tambour doors over the control panel. It's my understanding that the 15DX models are quite hard to find, I think they built something like 1200 sets compared to 18,000 of the 15X.
Regards
Arran
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Ya know, I am not sure now. I don't remember tambor doors.
I got it from Willie on ebay and it was an 11 tube chassis and a single speaker not a double. maybe it is a 15X, as I do remember a 15 in the number he had on it.
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Here is my MP VI Oxford cabinet just arrived today from Kenny Richmond with one of my 15/17 chassis just installed.
I have a phone book propping up the 15" speaker till I figure how to mount it where the giant 18" hole is behind the grill cloth.
Took all of 5 minutes to put the guts in. The original MP VI is here but not ready for prime time yet.
[Image: http://www.philcoradio.com/images/phorum...CF4780.jpg]
[Image: http://www.philcoradio.com/images/phorum...CF4779.jpg]
The 15/17 chassis-note the small bubbling on some of the cans.
Usually the chrome on McMurdos is pretty good vs a Scott
[Image: http://www.philcoradio.com/images/phorum...CF4781.jpg]
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Bruce
That Oxford cabinet is BEAUTIFUL! Two thumbs up!
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Ron Ramirez
Ferdinand IN
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y2kbruce Wrote:...it was an 11 tube chassis and a single speaker not a double. maybe it is a 15X, as I do remember a 15 in the number he had on it.
Here's what the 15X looks like:
[Image: http://philcoradio.com/gallery2/images/1...ery_00.jpg]
and the 15DX:
[Image: http://philcoradio.com/gallery2/images/1...ery_00.jpg]
Both originally used two speakers, so if it only had one, then one had to be missing.
Now, for fun, the 112X from six months earlier:
[Image: http://philcoradio.com/gallery2/images/1...ery_00.jpg]
The 112X only had one speaker.
Despite the fairly low production numbers of the 15X (13,400), these sets aren't too difficult to find. On the other hand, the 15DX sets seem to be very few and far between. I've never seen one.
If a 112X or 15X empty cabinet were found in less than ideal condition, I would not have a problem with converting it to a McMurdo Silver speaker cabinet. The converted 112X Bruce posted earlier sure looks great with the Silver 15-17 sitting on top of it, looking like the entire setup was a factory job...
--
Ron Ramirez
Ferdinand IN
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Quote:The 15/17 chassis-note the small bubbling on some of the cans.
Usually the chrome on McMurdos is pretty good vs a Scott
I've noticed that as well, there are scores of Scott chassis with pitted and bubled chrome even when the cabinet and everything else was reasonably good. I've only seen one McMurdo first hand but knew a guy in Alberta that had a half dozen Scott radios/chassis and sure enough even the good ones had a few spots here and there. I think Scott flash chromed their chassis and hardware, meaning that they skimped out on the copper and nickel plating that you would typically see on a car part, and plated the bare steel. They used to do this with cheap bicycle parts from Hong Kong and Taiwan, not uncommon for those to rust if they got wet just once. Then you have Wells Gardner made sets with chrome and they still look decent more often then not, same with Atwater Kent.
Regards
Arran
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