$30.00 And In Working Condition.....

racfan9

Super Member
I called this morning about a RCA record player on craigslist for $20 about 6 miles from my house. It had been listed for about 2 weeks. Gentleman said he still had it so I told I'd come out and take a look at it. So me and my wife jumped in the SUV and headed his way. When we arrived at his house he informed me that they had another record player in the garage if I wanted to look at it before we went into the house. So I said sure, he had it on and playing as I got closer I knew it was going to be a lot nicer unit than the rca in the house. As I got even closer I could see THE FISHER at the bottom right corner of the cabinet. Needless to say I never made it in to look at the RCA.
Anyway it's the Medalist Series II, I took a few pics while it was in the back of my suv. It's in really good overall condition, just was wanting some info on this particular unit and where it ranks in the Fisher line of consoles.

Thanks,
racfan9
 

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Head on over to the fisherconsoles.com website & you'll find a ton of info; looks like yours is a 1958+/- Contemporary which is about in the middle of Fisher's lineup. Nice find!
 
A few more pics out of my vehicle. Still not sure exactly which model this is, It looks like the 1958 Contemporary in the Fisherconsoles website but on the radio dial plate it says The Metalist Series II but it looks nothing like the 58 Metalist listed. Any ideas? Also can you tell if the knobs on the radio look original?
 

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The 1958 Provence (or commonly known as the Medalist II) is one higher on the lineup than the 1958 Contemporary. They both used the R-20 chassis. And both used the Medalist II dial glass. You can scrape off the Medalist II from the glass if you so choose and it would be correct either way. Look in the sticky's subforum for the FISHER Consoles (1945-1959). You'll find a good amount of info on the Contemporary. Your's IS a 1958 Contemporary. A bit newer than mine. Your's has the secondary (AUX) plug Marked as Stereo. Mine has it as TV/Aux.

Your's looks in outstanding condition. Especially the speaker grill cloth! A lot better than mine was. On the turntable, the motor mounts usually go gooey or collapsed. These are suspect if you get a lot of motor noise thru the cartridge. The idler wheel may also be bad or worn out. Check with Gary @ www.thevoiceofmusic.com

Did you get any of the paperwork with it? It's a really nice sounding Mono unit. The Coolie Hat (or 57 Plymouth Wheel Cover) knobs are original to the Contemporary.
 
The 1958 Provence (or commonly known as the Medalist II) is one higher on the lineup than the 1958 Contemporary. They both used the R-20 chassis. And both used the Medalist II dial glass. You can scrape off the Medalist II from the glass if you so choose and it would be correct either way. Look in the sticky's subforum for the FISHER Consoles (1945-1959). You'll find a good amount of info on the Contemporary. Your's IS a 1958 Contemporary. A bit newer than mine. Your's has the secondary (AUX) plug Marked as Stereo. Mine has it as TV/Aux.

Your's looks in outstanding condition. Especially the speaker grill cloth! A lot better than mine was. On the turntable, the motor mounts usually go gooey or collapsed. These are suspect if you get a lot of motor noise thru the cartridge. The idler wheel may also be bad or worn out. Check with Gary @ www.thevoiceofmusic.com

Did you get any of the paperwork with it? It's a really nice sounding Mono unit. The Coolie Hat (or 57 Plymouth Wheel Cover) knobs are original to the Contemporary.

Some earlier Contemporary and Provence consoles got a different set of knobs than the ones pictured here and on your unit. The R-20 schematic is really strange and confusing, but we can walk you through any work that may need to be done.
 
I have the complete R-20 Service manual. If you need a copy racfan9, PM me with your email address.

I took a look at my C-800's thread (here) and my Serial is 10198E Your's is 10570H 372 difference. Maybe a week or two newer than mine. Look at the speaker codes on the edge of the speakers. They should all be something like 220713 or so. Post them please with additional pics of the speakers.

The white "pole" on the back top of the chassis is a DUAL resistor R59A and R59B. These are off the 1st section of the can cap,With one section @ 5600 ohms(A) and the other is a tap off at 100ohms(B). No wattage on the parts list but I imagine between 5 and 10Watts. It does get VERY HOT and will burn you if you aren't careful putting your arm in there to check something. (Don't ask me how I know!) The RCA Inputs should be replaced as they are really cheap and will probably be loose, causing drop outs, etc. Add a fuse holder, and a 2.0A fuse. Recapping isn't that hard, but be careful of lead dress.

Have fun with it. It's a good setup and will give you some good times. Especially with older records and the lights out.
 
Hey Larry, Couple questions then I'll PM you my email address. How hard will it be to find a couple brass brights for the control knobs? How careful do you have to be with the lettering on the dial, is it a decal or paint? As far as the dual resistor well I learned my lesson about a year ago with my 69-A's,(they do get hot). As far as any paperwork there was nothing with it other than the tag tied to the power cord. Also there's no label glued to the inside, I can see the glue stain where it once was but no longer there now. Wish I knew the stain code, It seems a little lighter than yours but it sure has beautiful wood. My big dilemma is going to be what to do with this thing. I've already got 5 working consoles, 3 of them being Fishers, my 64 Ambassador, 64 Custom Electra and now the 58 Medalist II, As my wife say's "Somethings gotta give"
 
Get rid of the NON FISHER's. The Contemporary sounds better than any of my non Fishers, but my '58 RCA MARK IV stays. Tell the wife you'll give up one console if she gives up 10 pair of shoes. That's the going ratio.

Coolie Hat covers. I've read of some guy on the west coast who's supposed to make them. Check with Vendo81 or ruffleruf.

The color codes would be in the 45-59 consoles thread. Yours almost looks like cherry to me. The lettering looks to be a decal that was lacquered over.
 
Get rid of the NON FISHER's. The Contemporary sounds better than any of my non Fishers, but my '58 RCA MARK IV stays. Tell the wife you'll give up one console if she gives up 10 pair of shoes. That's the going ratio.

Coolie Hat covers. I've read of some guy on the west coast who's supposed to make them. Check with Vendo81 or ruffleruf.

The color codes would be in the 45-59 consoles thread. Yours almost looks like cherry to me. The lettering looks to be a decal that was lacquered over.

I'll run out of stereo's before my wife runs out of shoes and my garage is full of stereos. Imelda Marcos ain't got nottin' on her.
 
In your case Tim, 100 pair of shoes per console. Or 1 closet full, which ever comes LAST!
 
In your case Tim, 100 pair of shoes per console. Or 1 closet full, which ever comes LAST!

I'm probably better off just hiding my hoard. If she gives up too many shoes she'll just make me buy her more.

Now if I can just convince her that those Wharfedale W70's are only antique end tables..... Hmmm... That's the ticket. Hi Dear I got you a present. Just don't put any plants on top please?
 
.....
Now if I can just convince her that those Wharfedale W70's are only antique end tables
.....

The end tables would be the Empire 9000 Grenadiers with the marble top. Unfortunately, those don't seem to have passed the longevity test.
 
We took a 1969 Magnavox Chairside, with the matching companion spkr and use them for bedside tables.
 
Some good news and not so good news. First the good. The couple I bought the unit from called me and said they had all the paperwork for it if I wanted it, so I went out and picked it up. The actual model # is C800 P I'm assuming the P is Pecan is that correct? Now some of the not so good, The record player is not working correctly. The motor was froze, so took it apart cleaned and lubed and fine now but I can't get the platter to turn except on 45 and 78 speeds. When I take the platter off the idler works fine on 33 and 16 speeds so I need to figure out how to adjust the tension on the idler. By the way the idler wheel is in excellent condition, very pliable. Also I pulled the amp/tuner out and unfortunately only two tubes we're Fisher branded, the tuning eye and the 12AX7, all the others are a mixed matched conglomeration. Just out curiosity what manufacture supplied the tubes for the 58 model year?

Terry
 
Mine had a Mullard Rectifier, el-84's, and 12ax7 (all branded FISHER). The rest(RF/IF tubes) are branded FISHER but I don't recall exactly who made them. The 6sc7 in there is a replacement GE. I pulled the Mullards as they were all weak on both my emissions and gm testers and stored them for posterity. Then went with the IEC branded Mullard Rectifier, a pair of EL84M's and a 12ax7 tung-Sol ReIssue. The only ones that really matter are the Rectifier, 6SC7(Phono amp), 12ax7 and the EL-84's. These were very popular units back then an into the 60's and got a lot of use. I wouldn't expect them to have 100% original tubes.

On the phono it sounds like the idler isn't being pulled in hard enough to engage, or the platter is slippery in the area of engagement for 33. Clean the whole inside of the platter with green scrubbie and 91% Isopropyl alcohol, then rinse with CRC QD Electronics cleaner. Let dry thoroughly and keep your fingers away from the surface. One other thing to check is the actual alignment of the idelr on the motor pulley at each speed. IT should sit in the middle of each step as you go through the speeds. If not then the assy needs to be aligned. Make sure the wheel is perpendicular to the motor shaft in 2 planes (N-S, & E-W).
 
The 12AX7 in mine is a Telefunken, the Rectifier is a Realistic made in Japan. As far as EL-84's I've got Motorola's and Curtis Mathis that are all strong and date coded the same and all test strong.

As far as the phono I've been working on it this morning and the inside of the platter has been cleaned as well as the idler. It is adjusted to where the edge of the wheel is pretty much centered on the slots of the pulley. I did notice that the platter does not spin freely, that is with the idler removed and spinning it there is some
resistance, but if I hold the start/reject control a certain way then it spins freely. I think it might have something to do with little felt brake arm not fully disengaging all the way. So hopefully a linkage adjustment will take care of that.
 
We've never figured out what "P" means in relation to a C800. It's not listed as an available veneer/finish for that model. This is only the second C800P that's turned up. On other Fisher models, "P" stands for "Provincial" - which certainly doesn't apply to the modern-styled C800 Contemporary.
 
This should have been posted BEFORE Sam's last post. But I forgot to post it. So much for Willy failing me 1st.

OH BOY! Here we go again! Sam Cogley also has a C-800 cabinet in "P". "P" stands for Fruitwood as far as Sam and THERED1 can determine. It was really never figured out exactly what it actually was. See these threads and the listed posts here....
1.) http://audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/fisher-consoles-1945-1958.154781/page-4 POST 76 thru 77
2.) http://audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/fisher-consoles-1945-1958.154781/page-2#post-4094132 POST 39 thru 43
3.) http://audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/c-800-contemporary-coming-home.697697/

Then there was the size debate as shown in link #1. If you would please, take measurements of the cabinet front to back, side to side, and top to bottom. DO NOT INCLUDE the length of the legs, please.

Also need the date codes from the speakers (220xxx or 220xxxx) these will be on the rim or on the magnet. Jensen liked the rim.

I'll let sam know.

P.S. Terry do you have any documentation (brochures, etc.) from the sale that would shed any light on this???

Larry
 
This should have been posted BEFORE Sam's last post. But I forgot to post it. So much for Willy failing me 1st.

OH BOY! Here we go again! Sam Cogley also has a C-800 cabinet in "P". "P" stands for Fruitwood as far as Sam and THERED1 can determine. It was really never figured out exactly what it actually was. See these threads and the listed posts here....
1.) http://audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/fisher-consoles-1945-1958.154781/page-4 POST 76 thru 77
2.) http://audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/fisher-consoles-1945-1958.154781/page-2#post-4094132 POST 39 thru 43
3.) http://audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/c-800-contemporary-coming-home.697697/

Then there was the size debate as shown in link #1. If you would please, take measurements of the cabinet front to back, side to side, and top to bottom. DO NOT INCLUDE the length of the legs, please.

Also need the date codes from the speakers (220xxx or 220xxxx) these will be on the rim or on the magnet. Jensen liked the rim.

I'll let sam know.

P.S. Terry do you have any documentation (brochures, etc.) from the sale that would shed any light on this???

Larry

Hey Larry, Sent a couple pics of speaker with the codes, also none of my paperwork has any kind of dates on it but the yellow tag on the power cord may have some kind of date code on it, I sent a pic of it also. IMG_1830.JPG As far as measurements go width is 36" Depth
18 3/16" and Height 27 11/16"
 

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