I just bought a super nice original finish Philco Model 70 cathedral. It even has the copper Mershon capacitors in place. There are two small knobs, a large flowered knob and a later 30's Philco knob on it now. Should it have three small fancy knobs and one large one or what?
Steve
Haha, This question come up a lot...
Unfortunately I dont remember, lol..
I have all the types if you need any...
It depends on which version of the 70 you have - early or late.
Early versions (below S/N B22000) use three of the small rosette knobs on the three lower shafts, and a medium rosette on the tuning shaft.
Late versions (above S/N B22000, these use 35/51 tubes and do not have a separate 27 oscillator tube) use a large rosette on the tuning shaft, two medium rosettes on the tone and volume shafts, and a small rosette on the off-on switch shaft.
This has been argued about, disagreed upon, etc. many times over the years, but Philco's own documentation bears this out. So, I go along with the Philco documentation.
"You don't have to agree with me - you have every right to be wrong if you want to be." - Rev. Lowell Mason, RIP
Kirk and Ron,
Thanks for the input. I have to wait now, until it arrives, to determine the serial number. Will advise, upon its arrival next week. I'm hoping to find a nicer tube shield with a full decal and it looks like the dial face may be faded a bit, so I'll look for an original to replace that too.
Steve
And a good thing is, I guess, that from the outside there is no appreciable difference between the old and new versions (it's an arcane knowledge, if there is anything to know; I know there is a difference in the way the grill latticework is routed along the edges but I am not even sure this is the difference in question) so either set of knobs, early or late, will look right.
It may look right to those who do not know, but that doesn't make it right. I want my early 70 to look the way it did when it left the factory, so it has three small rosette knobs plus a medium rosette for tuning.
One could use 1935 Philco hex knobs, or even RCA or Brand Z knobs. It wouldn't look right but it would be functional. (Actually you couldn't use RCA knobs as many of those required a half-flatted shaft and the Philco shafts were 1/4 flatted.)
I appreciate what Mike says, but I'm kinda particular about my stuff too. If I can make it right, that's where I'm headed...
Good for you!
Well, I got the radio yesterday and the serial # is 652376 so it's a late version. How late is this?
I am working on a "later" version and the Switch has a tiny knob , volume has rosette and tone has rosette and tuning has a bigger rosette knob.
(04-05-2017, 07:33 PM)SteveG Wrote: [ -> ]...and the serial # is 652376 so it's a late version.
Actually, it is still an early version.
Late versions have serial numbers
above S/N
B22000.
Let's examine that in detail.
When Philco's serial numbers made it to 999999, instead of starting over or adding a seventh digit, the next number became
A00000. When they got to A99999 the next number was
B00000.
So...according to Philco's documentation...any 70 chassis with a S/N above B22000 was supposed to be a late version. S/Ns below B22000 were early versions.
Ron,
Thanks for that clarification. Luckily, I have all the knobs for that version!
This thing sounds good once I "fixed" what someone else fixed.....
Don't they always...
(04-06-2017, 09:43 PM)simplex1040 Wrote: [ -> ]This thing sounds good once I "fixed" what someone else fixed.....
Never a truer statement, I can't believe how bad some repair work from the past was and how rare I see examples of good work.
Gregb