My new little H.H. Scott 312 Tuner

Mark W.

Nut house of the Universe
OK if you read the Pioneer forum you know I managed to get a great deal on a Pioneer Series 20 C-21 Preamp AND a nice little 1946-65 H.H. Scott 312 tuner. The tuner is a Transistor type BUT from what I read HERE it appears to be a hybred of sorts as the writer mentions the use of a nuvistor front end. And from what I read that means this tuners used some rather rare tubes in the front end. It mentions that the McIntosh MX series also used this type of front end.

So what I'm asking I guess is did I end up with something really cool when I bought the Preamp?

And is this Tuner a hybred as I'm reading the info? If so is there anything special I should be doing to it BEFORE powering it up it has come to Oregon all the way from FL tha packing was good and should have protected it well even thought the box looked like a visit to hell had been in it's recent past.

I haven't decided to keep the tuner I won't make any decisions until after I listen to it. But it is a bit out of my area of interest UNLESS it would make a great tuner to mate up with one of the Heathkit Amps from the same time frame. As I have been thinking for quite a while about going that route to have a tune system. And as small as this is I actually have room for it.

SO what do ya guys Know what do ya think???

Is this a prized possession to be kept and built upon or a decent toy better passed along to someone else and the profits dumped back in the world of 1970's Pioneer gear?

To see photos of this neat little and I might add BEAUTIFUL little tuner see the Pioneer forum HERE That's some hunk of wood isn't it. I'll do my very best to clean that up. there is some scotch tape residue on the top that I have to figure out how to remove with out anything soaking into the wood.

Later, tell me what you think
 
Mark,
I think you found yourself a very nice tuner. The case is really in great condition! Use olive oil to get the tape residue out, then you can rub it into the rest of the cabinet to protect the wood. It should be a very sensitive tuner. Here is a link to a website with some excellent info on it:
http://www.lacieg2s.ca/w3terra/ols/scott312.htm
It appears to have been intended for high-end or professional use, and I think it is very rare. Yours is the older version which is made better, with hard wiring. Open it up and make sure none of the insulation on any wires is disintegrating, and look at the bottom of any electrolytic caps (the silver cans) to see if there is any oozing of electrolyte (it will be obvious.) If all looks ok, fire it up! It may need an alignment after all this time to bring it into spec, but should sound fine as is. If you don't like it I am sure there will be at least ten people here happy to buy it from you!
 
OK so I should be slapped But I just couldn't wait. I was cleaning the tape residue off the top of it and wondering if it worked. So I dragged it in the kitchen put it on the counter grabbed some 12 ga wire about 3 feet long looped across the antenna terminals and tentitivly turned the switch.

ROFLMAO the first thing to come out of this darly little 1964 tuner was some RAP I bout dropped to the floor laughing. But man did it sound good. No amplification of course but still very nice.

All I have is my headphones shoved in the the tape jack on the front but the sound is very nice even with such a crappy signal. VERY smooth. All the lights work even the stereo and meter lamps (there's one one of each LOL)

I'll have to research the best way to clean up the chassis without messing up any paint.

The wood looks like it will come back beautiful. I think I'm going to do a very light sanding and then just like the origional finish I'll use an Oil like Watco Natural should match the origional finish extremely well while being real easy to do.
 
Thanks Warren. I had actually read that site a couple of times during the auction. It was one of the very few places to mention this tuner at all.

As you can read above work it does!

It still needs hours of careful cleaning and I don't doubt it will benifit from some careful alingment work (waaaaay out of my league). But for now I know it works and survived it's harrowing ride across the country.

As to selling it way to soon to tell anything about that. For now I just want to clean it up and listen to it for a while. If I do decide to do without it AK and my good buddies here will get first chance. BUT you might end up having to discuss that with my widow I seam to do a lot more collecting then selling LOL

I did find out that in 1964 it sold for $259.95 THAT's a lot of money in 1964!
 
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