So. I just bought a Philco 38-116 off of Craigslist for $80, I always thought these looked really awesome and figured I would buy one some day and refinish it and just put in modern electronics and hook up to my computer/phone via bluetooth or wireless.(please don't put me in a cage of gasoline and light me on fire) I am okay at woodworking so I feel confident I can get the case looking nice and it's not really in very bad shape at all. I have posted a link to all of pictures here:
I am just figuring out that there is a big community of radio restorers so I wanted to figure out what I would be getting myself into if I actually wanted to restore the guts as well. Keep in mind I'm and engineer so it will probably take me twice as long as a normal human. So, for a complete newbie is it even realistic to be able to restore the electronics, how long in hours should I expect to be able to complete this, and what would be the best case and worst case on getting it up and running again. Also, compared to modern speakers how well do they actually sound, I am worried about spending lots of time and money to restore the electronics and then not ending up very happy with it. I have a small FM transmitter device that I can hook up to my phone/computer and transmit FM so I would be able to pick it up on the console radio, just not sure how good it would sound.
I am not a purist here and new to this so I am not really opposed to just pulling everything out and putting in something modern and easy. (do they sell premade kits for this) That being said... I have no idea about the models, their rarity, or overall historical value. If this radio happens to be a particularly rare & expensive model then I would spend more time considering a full restore, but if you guys tell me that these are a dime a dozen then I might lean more towards new insides if it is something that would be very difficult to fix on my own.
Just curious what the experts say on this and also wondering if the $80 I spent was too high.
Hi;
The 38-116 was the near top of the line set in terms of the 1938 Philco lineup, whilst they are not rare as hens teeth they are also not exactly a run of the mill set. These sets were among the best sounding radios of that era, even though they were AM they had a feature known as varaible IF bandwidth, they also have automatic frequency control circuitry which Philco called "Magnetic Tuning". They also have five bands, a shadowgraph tuning indicator, a push pull power output stage using a pair of 6L6s, and 15 tubes, so it's like having a communications set with a high fidelity audio output stage attached. From what I can see from the back it looks fairly complete, the speaker and acoustical resonators are in place, and the chassis looks rust free with most if not all of the tube shields intact. I don't know if you have the knobs but those can be found, the finish on the cabinet is bad but the veneer looks reasonably sound other then a few places where it is lifting. I've never restored a 38-116 myself but many other on here have and can tell you what needs to be dealt with, they are not the easiest radios to work on but usually well worth it.
I should add that if you still want a console cabinet to put some modern Chinese consumer electronic junk in there are plenty of empty cabinets to be found, at one of the swap meets they even have a bonfire at the end to dispose of the really ratty ones. If you want one I'm sure someone on here could supply you with one at little or no cost, but a 38-116 is just too good of a radio to act as a donor for that purpose.
Regards
Arran
Welcome! You now own one of Philco's finest radios. It will not receive FM but will receive AM and shortwave with amazing fidelity. Should you decide to pursue restoration of it yourself, keep in mind that this is a complicated 15-tube radio and will not be easy for a beginner to restore. I have had two or three of these sets cross my bench over the years, and I've always been impressed with them. If you successfully restore this set, it will reward you with superior performance. You could even make a slight modification by adding a phono input jack which you can use for an iPod or even a Bluetooth adapter.
I would urge you to become familiar with the Arizona Antique Radio Club in Tucson. Sure, it's 115 miles away but some of us have to drive even farther to attend a swap meet of any appreciable size. From where I live, it is several hundred miles to any of the big swap meets - and I am in Southern Indiana.
Should you decide not to keep this radio, you will want to get it into the hands of someone who will appreciate it, and this would be the quickest, and probably easiest, way to do so.
And if you want to find an empty cabinet for your project, these folks can probably help you in that regard as well. There are always console radios, sometimes empty, that no one wants. Am empty, unwanted cabinet would be just the ticket for your project. Please do not gut this fine 38-116.
No, you did not pay too much. 38-116 sets routinely sell for $300 or more in good condition. Yours, as is, is probably worth about half that - which is still almost double what you paid for it.
If you decide to restore yourself, please feel free to ask questions here. Also, you should still become acquainted with the Arizona Antique Radio Club as you may end up needing assistance from a fellow collector if you run into a serious problem in restoring your set.
Welcome to the Phorum!! Wow, great find!! +1 on what Ron and Arran said. The cabinets of the period were finished with toning lacquers and clear nitro cellulose lacquer. Lots of discussion of that in the cabinet section.
Yes, great find, good price, no, not the best first project for a novice but then maybe you are not a novice. For someone green behind the ears it might be a bit intimidating, and even for someone more experienced who never tackled a big radio before it sure does look imposing.
The solution is as always, eat an elephant a bite at a time, do not try to imagine the whole project's scope, just start and keep going. It is not a job, there are no deadlines, might as well make it a learning thing and enjoy the ride.
Unless there is someone at your household to object to a big wooden ugly thing, I recommend starting with the chassis, as when you finish it and it sings, you will have a significant endorphine boost when it happens. Then you can tackle the cabinet knowing for sure it has a good radio to go in it.
And there are more than one person here, self included, who restored 37-116 and. 38-116 (other than cabinets they are largely the same) so you will have "mony councels sweet and mony lengthened sage advices"
Welcome to the phorum! I wish a gem like that would fall into my lap for a price like that! PLEASE, don't gut it and fill it with cheap, modern components. That would be like slapping your mother-in-law in the face and telling her her cookings no good. Just my two cents worth... Take care, Gary
"Don't pity the dead, pity the living, above all, those living without love."
Professor Albus Dumbledore
Gary - Westland Michigan
Bill, welcome. Many of us have restored radios like yours. As indicated, one little bit at a time. They are a little overwhelming when you look underneath. There are a fair number of radio geeks in AZ. Not certain of your exact location. Assuming (you know what that means) all the "iron" is good you probably need less than $50 in caps to get the radio playing and indeed they sound great. The key is to work slowly and ask questions here.
Best, Jerry
Jerry,
That radio has been on Phoenix craigslist for a while with price coming down every couple of weeks. I would have purchased it but NO ROOM and I already have one. Saw a photo of chassis and speakers and it looks complete and in good shape. Should be a straightforward recap but a bit daunting for a 'first' restoration given the number of tubes and coils, etc. Will require ability to read and follow a schematic/ parts list.
Purchaser is in Phoenix...
Well H**l this is sounding suspiciously a lot like work. But from my research it seems like this really is quite a great piece of history/equipment and deserves to stay in one piece. I began the deconstruction last night and posted many new pictures on Flickr... hoping this helps with any questions I have and presumably will help me figure out how to put it all back together.
I think I like Ron's idea of restoring everything and just adding and audio input for a hard wire or bluetooth input. I also have a little wireless apple device that has an audio out and allows you to play wirelessly to multiple places in the house at the same time. On one of the pictures in my set on the back of the chassis there are some screw posts "red blk gnd" and to the left of that is what looks like an audio jack. Is this original? Is it an audio input jack to the speakers? I am thinking the plan will be to refinish the cabinet and make it look pretty and then just "set" my computer speakers inside it and then I can get it out of the dusty old workshop and into the house and appreciate the beauty of it while I take the time necessary to restore the chassis.
I must say everything looks to be in not too bad shape and I am tempted to just plug it in and see what happens but I know thats not what I should do. Not much rust at all, all of the speakers look intact except for at the bottom of the big one in the center it has a corroded look, or like something dripped onto it but the paper all seems intact. Is the big one like a subwoofer and the others are different ranges? On one picture (IMG-4283-2) there is a wire sticking up that is frayed and not attached to anything, most everywhere else all of the wires are intact and look good. I have no idea what I'm looking at but it looks cool as H**l. The dial has some play in it so when you spin the handle it spins quite a bit before engaging and moving the metal dodads inside, so I suppose I can address mechanical and cleaning issues whilst I learn more about tube radio design. The dial with all the radio stations is yellowed and faded but seems pretty much intact, are they usually replaced or are they cleanable. The front metal plate looks great, lots of character but clean and all there. H**l of a lot of stacks of dust in places, spiders and cob webs galore, and a handful of some weird bean looking things... wonder if they just fell in there or is there some kind of luck/tradition thing here? When I rebuilt my sailboat I found a penny from the year she was built epoxied deep inside behind a wall.... I was careful to save it and put it back. On the back there are some numbers pressed into the wood on the top, 4 on one side and 25 on another?? One of the side speaker cloth cover things was missing but that seems pretty trivial. There were some knobs but I don't think they were the original ones.
Overall based on what I've seen others accomplish with much worse, it seems to be in pretty good shape considering the years. So I started cleaning the cabinet down with Goop last night and man that stuff is working like a charm, tons of thick back gunk coming off and she is beautiful, tempting just to rub in some oil and leave her like that but much of the finish is flaking in places so I think it will need stripped and repaired in places. i plan on working on cleaning, stripping, repairing wood and fiddling/cleaning mechanical things on the chassis until I figure out next steps on electronics. Any good recommendations on books on basic design and function of tube radios and also steps to troubleshoot and repair them?
Thanks to all for your generous help and I can't wait to see her all shined up and singing again.
You have a good approach to doing this one right.
If you have any, some under chassis pics would be good to post.
There are members on here who have restored your model and I'm sure will be willing to help. Good luck.
(This post was last modified: 02-10-2015, 08:07 PM by KCMike.)
Welcome to the world of radio restoration! I'm happy you decided to restore your radio. Here is a link to a course that RCA designed for radio repairmen back in the day. A lot of material, but it is very thorough. http://mikeyancey.com/RCA_Radio_Course_1930.php
Forgot to mention regarding the dial. That looks to be more or less the original color. Also, do not use water if you try to clean the dial. The paint (ink?) on there is water soluble.
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