[Mutantmoose]

Okay, I'm just starting to dig in, and I'm looking forward to getting this sucker up and running correctly! 

The low down - 

I bought this two weeks ago, and it is in fine shape, it actually functions to tune AM stations and play records, though the crystal cartridge is kaput and very faint. All the controls are dirty, it needs all the electrolytics replaced, blah blah blah. I do have experience working with tubes and capacitors, I rebuilt my own Fender Super Reverb from scratch a few years back. 

So, there are some questions I have - 

First, what is up with these speaker wires? I plan to tear this mess apart and do a much cleaner job of putting the wires together with some heatshrink for better protection, but is this a factory thing, or what? The bare ends of the wires are clearly not good, and probably dangerous. 

   

Second - here are the can caps. On the left is the 20mf cap, and the right is the 25 and 10 mf  multicap. Looking at this, I feel might be hard-pressed to really fit new caps inside these cans, especially the multicap in that not too big can. I'd like to do the new guts thing and preserve the caps, but I'm not so determined that I feel it is a necessity. If I was to do this, what caps should I get that would fit in the cans and have the correct temperature rating? 

   

Third - here is the cartridge. As I said, it is a crystal cartridge that is shot. The rest of the player operates beautifully, though I think a little cleaning and lube would be a good idea. What can I replace this cartridge with? Is there a modern ceramic that will fit and has the right 3.0 stylus? I seem to recall a post somewhere about an Astatic jukebox cartridge that works. 

   

And last, just for grins - what the heck is this hole for? 

   

Thanks so much for all the knowledge shared around here!