Today, I would like to share that radio with you. When I purchased the radio, it had been sitting in a house that had been locked up for 20 years after the owner's death. The lines of this great radio caught my eye, and I decided if it went cheap enough I would buy it. When I bought it, two of the wood trim pieces had come off the cabinet. Luckily, the pieces had been stuck inside and were easy to reinstall when I restored the radio. I paid $2 for the radio and the chair, and ended up with 2 beautiful pieces of furniture from the deal. The unit was manufactured by Majestic in 1946, is model 4810, and has an am radio and a phonograph. There are two lids on this unit. The lid on the left lifts to reveal the phonograph, and the lid on the right lifts to reveal the radio and the unit controls. I disassembled the unit, stripped the original finish down to the bare wood, sanded and re-stained the unit in red mahogany. I then added three coats of lacquer (not polyurethane), and reassembled it. I am quite pleased with the way that it turned out. The best thing about it is that it works, or at least the radio does. If you have never had the opportunity to hear one of the vintage tube-type radios in action, you are missing out. They have a beautiful rich tone that you can't get in a modern radio.
For specific information on this model, please visit this site: http://www.radiomuseum.org/r/majestic_8s473_8_s_473_ch4810.html
I now have quite a large collection of antique radios, one of my favorite things to collect. They sure do take up a lot of room! I purchased another console similar to this last weekend to restore, probably next summer. I'm sure that you will be seeing a lot more of my collection, both the restored pieces and the ones awaiting restoration.
Wishing you a great, stress-free Friday!
That is a beautiful radio! I'm so impressed with the work you put into restoring things. Sure wish I could find a 50s-60s console around here for a good price. Things are expensive in my area (basically a suburb of L.A.).
ReplyDeleteThanks! I really enjoy spending time in the summer saving old furniture. I feel like the older things are of better quality than I can get today. They lasted a long time through the life of the previous owner, and will most likely serve me for an equally long time. Sounds like your search for a console is going along about as well as my search for a period correct stove for my house. I'm sure that we'll find what we're looking for in the end!
ReplyDeleteMichael, so when do we get to find out if the turntable works? I'll be right over with my Zeppelin albums if it does. :o)
ReplyDeleteAnd Tikimama, my parents' early 1960s walnut console is sitting in their living room in Minnesota, just in beautiful shape, and they keep saying they would rather get something else and I keep saying it's worth money if they were to sell it, but they don't believe me. Of course, they think their 1957 ranch is not worth much, either.
ReplyDeleteLOL! I don't think that the turntable works on this one. It does work on the 1968 RCA stereo that I featured. However, that one needs a new needle.
ReplyDeleteHey I have the same console radio that I just restored. Only one more thing to do is replace the phonograph that does not work.
ReplyDeleteAny idea's?
Also I love this thing and would not part with it but for Insurance purposes what would you put the value at mine is fully restored except that one problem and my refinish is lighter in color thats it.
If you have the time any information you can pass on tome would be great
faldridge29@mchsi.com
Thanks
PS You did a wonderful job on your radio
My shortwave radio on mine picks up stations from oversees at night COOL
Please don't post this or remove email after you read and than post Thanks