Advice on Bradford Console

huston55

New Member
I have an opportunity to buy a Bradford console WGEC-95190A for a good price. I can find almost nothing on the Internet about this thing. It has separate tuners for AM and FM and does not have a multiplexer installed from what I can tell. All tubes, etc, are there. Now, I know I am buying this and my only real interest is the amp. But, I am curious as to what you all think about what I should do with the cabinet. It needs to be refinished, looks fairly rough, but mostly just scratches. I have no idea about the speakers yet. The turntable is not impressive, but I guess this is very early 60s or late 50s, so no surprise there. There is also an 8-track player that was added on and sitting in the cabinet behind one of the speakers. I have no pictures yet, will pick it up next week.

So, what is the best way to handle this item? If I restored it as a console, I would sell it as I do not have room for a console. Also, is there anywhere I can get schematics for this? And a manual?

Thanks, I am a long time lurker, have learned so much from all of you.
 
Bradford was the store brand for the defunct W.T. Grant department store chain. The console most likely was built by Wells-Gardner in the USA, record changer most likely of Voice Of Music 1200 series origin. Schematics and manuals may be hard to find but the schematic might be in Howard W. Sams Photofact service manuals.
 
. . . . my only real interest is the amp. . . . So, what is the best way to handle this item? If I restored it as a console, I would sell it as I do not have room for a console.

Restoring it as a console and trying to sell it will be a money losing proposition - especially since it is an off-brand. I'd suggest pulling the amp and other electronic parts and donating the empty cabinet to a local thrift store. There are people who will ignore a complete console stereo but will buy the empty cabinet and repurpose it in a heartbeat.

Be sure to post pictures when you get it. Is the amp separate from the tuner?
 
Consoles unfortunately have limited market. People want the guts more than the box. I dig some of the boxes, but room is a problem and honestly some of them were pretty ugly.

Some of those cabinets lend themselves to re-purposing too. The "front loaded" ones are pretty easy to turn into cabinets for other stereo or electronic equipment with a TV on top.
 
Thank you all for the responses. Donating the cabinet is a great idea. I think I found the Sams Photofact for this too, thanks for that pointer, too. I will post some pics when I see it again. Not sure about the tuner question, yet.
 
Did a search and found this video on YouTube which is likely very similar if not the same:

One of my first console pulls was a Wards Airline that I found at a flea market. It was built for them by Wells-Gardner which I discovered when I wondered why the tubes were labelled W-G. As Kent suggested above, I think the Bradford was also made by them. The tuner faceplate and chassis look pretty much identical and it's a receiver style chassis not a tuner and separate amp. Mine used an uncommon single-ended 7868 amp section instead of a 6BQ5, as in the video. It will be interesting to see what output tubes yours uses.

I ended up using mine for parts in a couple of DIY projects. The output transformers ended up in my first DIY amp, a budget version of the Bugle 45 SET designed by Gordon Rankin and the power transformer was used in a preamp project. A few other parts have come in handy for other projects.

It should be a worthy introduction to tubes, especially if you listen to the radio. Still completely usable even if you never use the tuner section, of course.
 
My wife has one that I think is identical to the one in the video and has a SE 6bq5 amp in it. The amp and tuner are all one unit. It hasn't been restored and sounds very good for what it is.
 
I took a couple of pictures of the console today. Radio is on opposite side of the turntable from the one in the video.
console1.jpg
console2.jpg
 
I could be wrong, but the turntable looks too new. Looks like a replacement was done somewhere in it's life.
 
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