What was that Masked Console in D.C.

approx 2 weeks ago I answered a CL for what looked to be a '57 CE II. Let Red, Naptown and Fran know about it.

The owner also advised me that the chassis said R-3 on the Tag. But that isn't what's in a CE II.

Anyway the owner took my offer and after finally getting our schedules in line (shades of astrology here), I showed up at the owners place. There in the Living Room sat the Console.

Opened it up and immediately noted the missing speaker. She stated that it was taken by a cousin prior to her getting the console about 10 years ago. Last that she knew it was running was approx 15 years ago.

A closer look provided the clue that RED had provided, thinking it was the Rare and almost mythic CORONET. There on the Front panel under the center of the DIAL Glass is a Brass colored applique with a CROWN and FISHER printed under it.

All tubes are intact. The power cord is shot. The turntable is a WEBSTER CHICAGO Model 100 (See pics.). Cartridge is a GE VR

R-3 Chassis # 6981

As I have the speakers from a 3 channel Motorola (Golden Voice 15" by Jensen and the smaller mid and tweeter) I wasn't too worried about the speaker at this point.

The cabinet is the "WARWICK".

Tested all the tubes. All tubes except 1-6ba6, 12at7,12au7, 6ab4, 5u4gb, and 6e5 are RCA with date code of 1-26 or 1-38. The 1-6ba6 is a Tung-Sol, the 6ab4 is a Raytheon, 12at&U7 are Sylv, and the 6E5 and 5u4 are GE with dates from 1951 to 1961. The 4-6V6's all tested very weak to weak on the EICO 625 (6 to 34).

Broke (unintentionally) the 7K-5W Resistor between the 1st can cap and 2nd can cap. I've got a 5 and 2K 10W to put in for testing until I can get the correct one for final use.

This R-3 is totally original underneath. DRY Electrolytics, and a shitpot of Bumblebee's. Now all I need to do is to figure out what they are (relearn).

The cabinet has some nicks and scrapes on the lower sides. The top has some sun bleaching but I think I can get most of it out with Howards. If not, then a total refinish.

I'll start on the chassis 1st and get it running. then work on the cabinet over the winter.

Gonna be a fair amount of pics

Larry

More pics!!!!

More pics.............

And more pics......

Congratulations! A '54 judging by the serial number. Wrigley's '54 was 6080; yours is even higher (later?). The Webster turntable is new information. Shame about the speaker: the '54s definitely came with the Jensen H-510.

Is there a light in the turntable compartment?

No light. Damn! I was thinking maybe a 52 by the dates on the RCA Tubes. But a '54 is cool.

Larry, scratch the '54 ID. There's a flaw in my dating strategy. I thought I had pegged Wrigley's to 1954 by dint of its model number which was written in pencil on a piece of tape stuck on the VC/magnet housing of the speaker: AR-11. I have a price list from '54 which lists the AR-11. My assumption was that each model year would have had a different model number. However, I just noticed that the '52 model number for the Coronet in the Allegro cabinet was also: AR-11. Incidentally, the model number for yours should be the WR-11 - the "W" for the Warwick cabinet.

So if your tubes are telling you it's a '52 then it might well be. Without the speaker production code, however, it will be difficult to tell for certain. The limited information I have on the Coronet doesn't provide the level of detail to be able to know if there were any diagnostic changes year-to-year. Hopefully, I'll hear back from the other two R-3 owners I know of with speaker production code and serial number information. I know Wrigley's serial number and Victor's speaker production code number - now all we need are the missing numbers to put the serial numbers into some sort of context.

Funny about the "Dry" electrolytics. I suppose that would have been a good quality - meaning they didn't leak - when they were new. You've got to love how neat all the wiring is and all the room you've got down there in the engine room.

Yeah. It's like working on a farm with 3 trees in 10 acres, instead of 200 trees per 1/2 acre. I've got the turntable running right now for an hour already. It had a slight thump on 33 (they left it on 33 and pulled the plug which left the turret engaged.) so far it's coming out nicely just by running it. Pretty quiet Idler drive so far.

The chassis is on the Variac @ 25V right now for a 1/2 hour. Started @ 20V for 1 hour and working up to 50V @ 5v per 1/2 hour stint's. From there 10 V per hour until I get to 110. Gonna be along night. I have 8oHm loads to both the speaker leads plus gnd.

Larry

Very cool looking.

Tuner dial/knob layout reminds me a little of the Custom Sixty.

Beautiful console, that's some fine veneer on the front.

Look for date codes on the transformers and pots as well... also on the electrolytics. Usual format is xxxYWW where xxx is the maker's EIA code, Y is last digit of year, WW is week 1-52

Try to salvage the .022 (red-red-orange) Bumblebee caps - they'll bring at least $40 a pair on eBay... leaky as they are (doesn't matter in a guitar - no DC applied).

It's making noise @ 80V. All the lights work (replaced 4), and function switch works to switch AM/FM/PH/TV lights.

Does anyone have a schematic for the R-3??? I could use one badly.

Thanks

Larry

That mahogany cab is gonna be beautiful...and I'm sure Mrs.Larry appreciates the modest size.:scratch2:

Gorgeous find, Larry!

Larry,
You didn't find that one underwater last weekend did you?

Nah! It was floating on the surface. .

It's now up to Line voltage. It was sounding gratey, scratchy, clipped, just junky. Replaced the .1 caps in it (all I had in stock at the time). 2 had cracked cases on them. HMMMMM. Replaced 2 of the 6V6 (1 shorted and the other had a value of 10 on the Tester.....Basically no emissions). Cleaned the chassis with ammonia and water. Now to polish it.

Gotta make a baffle plate for the Motorola "Golden Voice" 15", the 6" Mid, and the 3" tweet. The cabinet is gonna be a Winter Project.

No dates that I could find other than the tube dates. I'll recheck the 'lytics when I pull them out after I get replacements.

$40 a pair for 60 year old bumblebee's???? WHOA!!! Guess P.T. Barnum WAS RIGHT!!!

larry

Larry,

Dang .. that is sure pretty. Looks like quite a rare find. Now can anyone tell me why these early units are so scarce ?? Is it because of low production numbers at first with Fisher ??

Frannie

It's possible Fran. also when Stereo came out a lot of these got left on the Wayside and junked then.

Latest update. It was run until 1:00 this morning. It continued to improve in sound quality until there is just a hint of crackle on the edge if it's pushed hard(finish up the caps). Sound is clearing up tremendously like everything is waking up and taking deep breaths. reception is good to very good on a "T" Dipole . Phono is gonna need a RIAA preamp or circuit.

I wiped the top down with Simple Green and Water. Good portion of whats left fo the Lacquer along the outer perimeter of the top just vanished. So it's gonna needa complete refinish of the top. No chance of just putting some Howards down and calling it a day.

Back to some listening.

Larry

The "Cabinet Restoration" forum on ARF has lots of info on refreshing and/or restoring lacquer finishes. Good resource.

Larry,
Was that a tynee-dry electrolytic I saw?
Hmmm . .. them newfangled thangs.

Yep, there's two of them-thar things in there. Funny thing is they checked out ok on the Cap checker. So they havne't got changed yet.

I got some fabric and a piece of 2'x4' 3/4 ply, cut out the holes for the speakers, and installed it all. Howards and some steel wool and then some Feed and Wax. It's better than it was. But the top still need to be stripped and redone. I'll check out the ARF Forum.

Never mind the date code on the pictures. Changed the batteries and didn't change the date. Lazy me.......