[Greg Hyduke]

Hi all,

51-yr-old newbie and total amateur here...

I have just returned my attention to a Philco 91B single-band that was my maternal grandparents' first radio. I have had it as a decorative antique piece since 1976. At the time I was 16 yrs old and I rescued it from my dad's garage. It had been his workshop radio and he had painted it, of all things, navy gray. I loved the gothic cathedral shape and the deco grille and the oldness of it. I re-finished it myself, by hand, which came out incredibly gorgeous, but never did try to get it working again. Later when I got married we bought an old Vic and it's been a decorative antique in my house since then. Over time the grille cloth started deteriorating badly. When it got so shabby that the the speaker cone and pot became visible, I moved it into my workshop down the basement thinking I would try to do something with it 'some day'. That was ten or so years ago.

Yesterday I started looking at it and doing some research with an earnestness I had never done before.

If I'm interpreting the chassis layout for a 91B Code 121 (same as 14/121) that I found on the linked Philco Repair Bench site correctly, it looks to me like two tubes may be missing. There are supposed to be 9, right? I count 7. The two that are missing are the back or innermost pair of the set of four tubes to the right when I am looking into the back of the set. (The 42 and 80 that sit behind the 37 and 42 respectively?) There is a flat piece of metal forming a small barrier. Behind the barrier is a space where it looks like the two tubes might should be. Behind that is the transformer. I never took any tubes out and I don't think my dad did either. Would it play with 7 instead of 9 tubes?

All 7 of the tubes light up, by the way. (I know, I wasn't supposed to do that, but I plugged it in before I found this site!)

Everything else (power transformer, tuning condenser, dial/shadowmeter works, etc) looks to still be there. The Bakelite escutcheon still looks great. The rosette knobs are fine. The cabinet is superb except for a sliver of veneer lifting off the rim at the very bottom near the moulding, facing the back.

Options are: (A) at a minimum, figure out how to replace the grille cloth with a repro myself, or have it replaced by a professional, so at least I can display it as an antique piece again; (B) send it off to a professional and have the grille cloth replaced AND get it working again, or © sell it.

My issue - and the reason I have come here - is that I have no idea in even rough orders of magnitude terms how much A or B will cost.

I know this probably sounds naiive and also maybe dispassionate on an enthusiasts' site like this, but from my perspective, I can't afford to get into this as a project without knowing what the total cost is likely going to be at the end, and I don't have the expertise to make my own estimate. A couple hundred I can do. A thousand I can't. But see, I don't even know if it's worth sinking a couple hundred or a thousand into it!

I have lots of photos I could post, including close-ups of the grille/speaker cone opening and the components, if that would help. (And, if I can figure out how to post them...)

I am at your mercy and would appreciate any advice I can get.

respectfully,
Greg

(Sorry this is so long...)