[Scott D]

I picked this up recently and was wondering if anyone can tell me the model # for this radio.

It clearly says Jackson Bell on a brass tab on the front of the radio, but there is NO identification elsewhere.  The tubes are a mix of brands.

Any ideas????

[Phlogiston]

I have one of those - tags - on a different radio. Mine was made by Continental Radio & TC., after Jackson Bell was out of business.

[morzh]

I restored sonething really similar for Kirk that is a different brand.

[Arran]

I agree with Russ, it looks like one of those radios turned out by one of the Chicago independent companies with the meaningless brass plates nailed to the front, Continental R & T used to build such sets, and so did Belmont, the speaker at least was made by Quam-Nichols, that may help narrow it down. The real Jackson-Bell went bankrupt as Russ mentioned, then one of the co-founders found a new business partner and founded Packard Bell. The really cheap sets were manufactured by the infamous "Plant A" which some claim was actually a company called "Clinton", but I think that they came along later. I don't wish to come off as offensive but the refinishing jobs someone performed on that set is poor, all monotone, no grain filler, rough looking, and to make matters worse they sanded the grain every which way, then there is that grill cloth. I noticed one odd feature though, the two escutcheon plates behind the knobs are not centered with the controls, I wonder if someone mixed and matched chassis and cabinet, or added those plates to dress up a cabinet that didn't originally have them? Noticed that one plate has a 0-100 scale like a a 1920s radio, but why when it has a nice airplane dial in the center?
Regards
Arran

[Scott D]

I get that it is a mishmash as I suspected. I had never seen anything like it. If it was made in today's world, it would have been made in China, perhaps.

[Scott D]

What about an LA independent?

[OldRestorer]

That was my Century 47

[Scott D]

Wow, it looks like the same airplane dial! Not quite, but close.

[morzh]

Yep, that's the one I was referring to.

[Scott D]

         Here's one I found on line.  It's similar.  They claimed it was a Jackson Bell 34.  Hmm???

[WallaceRoger]

It looks like this radio used a few different dials. If JB actually built it, they were probably just using up whatever they had lying around. Here's a Jackson Bell 34 repro that Radio Daze sells

http://www.radiodaze.com/jackson-bell-34/

[kc5gym]

Here is mine. I had never seen another until now.
I think it is a Jackson Bell 34, but I have no proof.
           

[OldRestorer]

Beautiful!

[Scott D]

Indeed, a very nice looking radio!

[Arran]

You can't really go by the dial scales as a means of identifying many of these mid 1930s "Pee Wee" sets, the dials were often generic off the shelf scales. Sometimes you can identify the set by the tube lineup and it's location, and whether the set has a power transformer, a curtain burner cord, or a ballast tube. That last set has a power transformer, and one IF can, so that narrows it down, the cabinet might help too since it appears that the top and sides are made out of solid lumber that was molded with a shaper.
Regards
Arran