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Restoration - Value or Not?

2/6/2015

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I just posted this comment on another site and thought I would post it here as well:




If a radio is restored so well that a plaque needs to be added to identify new parts then good job (you probably don't need a plaque) and the value to most people, collectors and the general public will be high, higher than the non-working radio with a rough finish and much higher than the same radio with broken or missing cabinet parts.

Now, it all comes down to the quality of the restoration:

Was the proper wood/veneer used - not wood filler or dark toner to cover the damaged edges (non original gradient shading)? Warping?

Is the grain filled?

Are there loose joints or loose veneer? Too much glue?

Is the cabinet missing parts - like legs, escutcheons, knobs, Photofinish?

Are there "over restored" items like the highly polished metal bezel?

Are the colors of the cabinet correct, "white wood" (structural) should not be white. Get 1+ for using the factory correct method for "toning" the cabinet?

Were the finishes used the closest available to the original. This includes the level of "gloss"?

Have sharp edges been rounded by excessive sanding?

Was the finish buffed out properly? Yes it is true that ALL wooden radio cabinets of the 1930s were not finished this way but most were.

How well does the radio function? Are the controls noisy? How do they feel, too loose or binding?

Is the dial glass, glass or plastic? Maybe not too important if it looks exactly original, but it can't have missing markings or wrong colors. This goes for dial scales as well.

Are the light bulbs all there and functioning?

Were original looking parts used on the top of the chassis? How about underneath? Get extra credit if the replacement parts exceed the ratings (better) than the originals, but still look like the originals, such as 630V caps in place of 450V. As a matter of fact this can be very important especially in filter caps considering our higher line voltages. A bucking transformer inside of the chassis is generally not a + so it goes with dropping resistors, but for some sets, those with resistive line cords being the best example, some adjustment must be made. The less obvious the better but it must be reliable and not burn the house down.

Was the chassis painted if it originally was not or the wrong color or texture. And are painted components the correct color and gloss? Rust? Bad chrome? Was the plating polished off - See over restored.

Is the correct hardware in place (do you see phillips head screws on a 30's radio)?

Is the correct part number on the speaker and if it was re-coned, does the cone and surround look like the original?

Does the interior of the cabinet including the back edge look original?

Does it have the correct grill cloth?

Does the radio have the correct type of tubes and tube shields ( G, ST, GT, Metal and so on)? +1 of it has the correct type of tubes and the correct brand and date codes.

Is the wiring in good shape especially rubber insulated wire? Was the correct type and color of replacement wire used. solid core, stranded, cloth covered, rubber (is it obviously plastic?), push back and is the gauge correct? This might be the toughest question of the bunch and will result in a lot of "almost" answers. +1 if the wire is going to last for another 50 years - yeah this excludes (fail) even "good" original rubber insulated wire.

Have the rubber mounting cushions been replaced with original looking ones including those on the tuning cap? This includes rubber cabinet feet.

Are the knobs correct? Only 1/2 credit for plastic replacement for wooden knobs. (sorry knob makers). But new plastic for old plastic is Ok if the underside looks proper too and uses the correct grub screw.

Is the plug and line cord in GREAT shape or a good original-looking replacement?

Is the radio safe to operate?

There are probably a few more and some people will argue (again) with the validity of some of these. But if you can check them all off, I would say that your radio has not diminished in value.
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Spartan Sparton 620A

2/3/2015

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Seven or eight years ago we were strolling the pleasant streets of Jacksonville OR during the "All City Garage Sale". This was in the days when people came from all around and set up shop anywhere there was space, in the days before the city limited access and started charging a fee - back when it was more interesting.

We walked along looking for, you guessed it, old radios. Spotted in the driveway, leaning against a post was this very short console. It had to lean since the parts were no longer held together by glue. The story was that this old radio came from a pile of old radios and parts that were the remnants of an old repair shop that had closed the same year that I was born and that was a while ago. It was told that the old fellow stored the radios in a barn, he passed away and later a tree fell on the barn. Some of the old gear was exposed to a lot of moisture and that is where the glue went.

So, I offered $20 for the tubes in the flimsy, short cabinet. The seller said "OK", but I had to take the cabinet as well. We had driven the car to town. I might have gotten the radio to fit but decided to meet the fellow the next day at his home, besides, there were other items from the barn there too.

The next day I spent $100 and loaded the back of my pickup full of cool old stuff and the various parts of the disintegrating Sparton radio.

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I could not resist fixing the radio and what was left of the cabinet. Then I just stored it away since it still had issues, like no legs. There was, even then, a mystery. I could find no examples of this radio even though it was listed in the Riders manuals. The serial number plaque was still there and it called the model a 620A. Now I knew that the chassis was the collectable but not too uncommon Sparton 410 Junior. The escutcheon even said "Sparton Junior". My search uncovered pictures of the cabinet belonging to a Sparton 620 NO "A". So what was the deal?

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The chassis was still in nice shape and still retained its large "wet" filter cap combination. It did not take long to figure out that the cradle, pictured above, was factory built and even hosted the customary Sparton slide-in mounting system for the chassis.

And so, time passed and passed and one day I saw what the radio needed, about 300 miles away. So off we went to pick up a non functioning but seemingly intact Sparton 620 (no "A").

Well somebody had worked on this 620. Known as an Equasonne, it was a large chassis - and heavy. It was missing a lot of parts including the big filter cap. It had also been raided for the speaker by the owners son who was probably wanting to acquire a big base "thumper" for his tunes. We all know how this always turns out and why replace a speaker that "doesn't work" (for him)? So the speaker was gone but I did not need it anyway and as it turns out, I did not even need the shelf that it mounted to.
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From the front of the cabinet the 620 and the 620A seem to be identical except for the missing 3rd knob and the associated decorative hole plug on the 620A. But inside the cabinet was another story and might require some history to explain. Note the round cut made to accommodate the Sparton Jr's. dial on  the front panel, far right.

The year was 1930. Sparton had been manufacturing the Equasonne radios and their own line of tubes to try to avoid paying RCA patent royalties. None the less, the two companies were in court. Sparton had the resources to challenge RCA where most smaller companies didn't. Yet they were likely to loose  any claim regarding tube design in court and their Equasonne receiver worked but was no match for a good TRF let alone a super-heterodyne. They had reached an agreement with RCA which would bring to an end both the Equasonne and the now rare and expensive Sparton/Cardon designed tubes.

The Sparton Junior 410 was one of the first radios the company made following the agreement. It was a TRF (Tuned Radio Frequency) receiver. Though branded Sparton, the tubes it used were conventional RCA models except the 2 push-pull output tubes and these were Sparton 183/483s which were baisicly a 45 (UX-245) with a 5 volt filament. I believe this was done simply to use up remaining tube stock at Sparton.

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I am not sure which it was. Maybe Sparton had some of the 620 cabinets left or maybe they just wanted to offer a TRF radio in a console rather than the cumbersome 10 tube Equasonne. In any case it appears that the 620 cabinets were modified to accept the smaller 6 tube radio. Besides manufacturing the cradle for the smaller chassis and routing out the circular hole for the dial they had to take the top off the cabinet off to remove the upper 1/2 shelf that the earlier radio's speaker mounted to. This was not all that difficult. the top comes off with a few taps of a rubber mallet. A little wiggling and the shelf comes out too. The front panel is held in with screws. I would think that they would have modified it at the same time. The original 620A's cabinet shows the scars created by the removal of the shelf. The new speaker screws to a baffle board that is in turn mounted to the front panel. It would not have fit at all if the shelf were left in place.
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So here it is complete with a pair of the now rare Sparton 183/483 output triodes and it's 10 inch Rola speaker.

A few notes:

Never confuse a Sparton/Cordon tube from this period with a similarly numbered RCA (or other brand) tube. A Sparton 483 is not the same tube as an 83 where as a 27 is a replacement for a 227. Making this mistake will cause bad things to happen!

The original Rola speaker found in the 410 Junior was silver not brown. Unknown as to the color in this console.

Has anyone seen another Sparton 620A?

The radio still needs a set of Sparton 410 style knobs.

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                         Russ Webb

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    Russ Webb & Fuzzy

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CUSTOM DESIGN BY SUE WEBB  06/2013       Redesigned by Russ Webb     Approved by Fuzzy   Updated:  Pretty much all the time, but I forget to change this date
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