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Fisher Consoles, when it rains it pours!

hammr7

hammr7

AK Subscriber
Subscriber
I've been searching for years for a Fisher stereo tube console. Never saw one available. I've had Zeniths, and Magnavoxes, and Silvertones, and Stromberg-Carlsons. But never a Fisher console.

I've even found Fisher components. I have a 500-C receiver and an 80-C mono preamp, so I figured I couldn't complain.

Everything changed in the last month. I came across a 1960 Custom Electra, with the 510 receiver and the 30A amp. I figured life was wonderful, even though the electronics didn't work and the console was a major refurb candidate. I disassembled the electronics so I could start work next month.

But over the last few weeks lightning struck; twice! I managed to pick up a pair of Fisher consoles. One is a 1962 Custom Electra (460-T and 460-A). The other is a 1961 or 1962 or 1963 Chatham (with the same 460-T and 460-A). Both consoles have the multiplex units. Best of all, both consoles are lovely and all the electronics, except maybe the turntables, work just fine. I would never have powered them up, but in both cases the owners had the radios blasting when I arrived!

Even better, these units are only two tubes away from both having all original tubes.

Needless to say, my non-Fisher consoles are now history. As is the console for the 1960 Custom Electra (I tried to give them away, but no takers.) And now I need to figure out what to do with my two consoles and my extra Fisher components from the 1960 Custom Electra. For the consoles, I have a pair of period Lenco turntables that might be nice upgrades. Beyond that, I'm looking for ideas. I don't know much about the 460 units, but the amps seem to be very well received.

I wish all my problems in life were this difficult. :thmbsp:
 
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That's the way it is for me, too - feast or famine. I can go 6 months to a year without a Fisher console - solid state or tube - surfacing within 100 miles. And then, suddenly, they're all over the place! The good thing is that once you've accumulated a few good ones (and it sounds like you have,) it's easier to stay on the sidelines and be choosy. Limited square footage and a wife who cares what her home looks like will also tend to be limiting factors. Congratulations on some great acquisitions! Looking forward to photos. Did you get any documentation with them?

Wait a minute . . . you said "Chatham" didn't you? Here I am thinking "Chadwick". That CHATHAM is a VERY, VERY interesting Fisher. It should be a '62 - model number CL-100? This is the famous Fisher/Lincoln console that should be equipped with the Lincoln "Turn-Over" turntable - see my website:

http://members.cox.net/fisherconsoles/Chatham.html

Is this what you have? If so, it'll be the first one I have heard of and I have been keeping my ear to the ground for over 3 years now! Does it not have its original Lincoln turntable? I would have thought you might have mentioned such an unusually configured turntable if it still had its original equipment. I suppose it is quite likely, given the Lincoln's poor reputation for reliability, that it has been replaced at some point over the years. Even so, the Chadwick is an incredible find.

We will definitely need to see some photos of your Chatham as soon as you can possibly post them.

Again: Congratulations on finding one of Fisher's legendary consoles! Take good care of it.
 
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Hammr7,
You don't get the feeling TheRed1 is excited, do you?

He's an authority on these with years of work and research.
 
TheRed1 said:
That's the way it is for me, too - feast or famine. I can go 6 months to a year without a Fisher console - solid state or tube - surfacing within 100 miles. And then, suddenly, they're all over the place! The good thing is that once you've accumulated a few good ones (and it sounds like you have,) it's easier to stay on the sidelines and be choosy. Limited square footage and a wife who cares what her home looks like will also tend to be limiting factors. Congratulations of some great acquisitions! Looking forward to photos. Did you get any documentation with them?

Wait a minute . . . you said "Chatham" didn't you? Here I am thinking "Chadwick". That CHATHAM is a VERY, VERY interesting Fisher. It should be a '62 - model number CL-100? This is the famous Fisher/Lincoln console that should be equipped with the Lincoln "Turn-Over" turntable - see my website:

http://members.cox.net/fisherconsoles/Chatham.html

Is this what you have? If so, it'll be the first one I have heard of and I have been keeping my ear to the ground for over 3 years now! Does it not have its original Lincoln turntable? I would have thought you might have mentioned such an unusually configured turntable if it still had its original equipment. I suppose it is quite likely, given the Lincoln's poor reputation for reliability, that it has been replaced at some point over the years. Even so, the Chadwick is an incredible find.

We will definitely need to see some photos of your Chadwick as soon as you can possibly post them.

Again: Congratulations on finding one of Fisher's legendary consoles! Take good care of it.
Click to expand...

.....:yikes:
 
Scoring a CHADWICK is like WINNING the BIG Game for $100,000,000. and NOT HAVING TO PAY TAXES ON IT!!

Larry

EDIT: DAMN! I got caught up in Carters enthusiasm and wrote the wrong one down. Chatham. CHATHAM!!CHATHAM!!
 
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Holly Smokes that Chatham is awesome!

There is no way you would look at that turntable and not notice it - that is one of the most amazing things I have ever seen!

Hammr7 - We have to see photo's!
 
I'm traveling this weekend but will try to get photos next week.

Unfortunately it is not the super-freak turntable. I thought the unit I have is a Chatham, but maybe it was a Chadwick. I think it is a '62, but I think it is the "33X" configuration. I've seen this reference once or twice in the AK Fisher thread. The cabinet is a bit smaller than the '62 Custom Electra (maybe an inch or 2 narrower, and less than an inch shorter). The electronics in the 2 units are identical, except the Garrard turntables are slightly different models.

Sadly, I got no additional documentation with either unit.
 
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Oh, man, you had us going. Everybody stand down from Chatham alert. That doesn't take anything away from your double Fisher score, though. Still looking forward to photos after you get back from your Thanksgiving travels.

Coincidentally, the '60 Custom Electra III I bought a few years back was originally purchased in Red Bank, NJ. I don't know if that's technically in what you'd call southern NJ - despite having grown up there myself (Exit 3). I have always wondered what Fisher dealership(s) were located there in the early 60s. I wonder if yours might have been purchased at the same place.
 
hammr7 said:
I'm traveling this weekend but will try to get photos next week.

Unfortunately it is not the super-freak turntable. I thought the unit I have is a Chatham, but maybe it was a Chadwick. I think it is a '62, but I think it is the "33X" configuration. I've seen this reference once or twice in the AK Fisher thread. The cabinet is a bit smaller than the '62 Custom Electra (maybe an inch or 2 narrower, and less than an inch shorter). The electronics in the 2 units are identical, except the Garrard turntables are slightly different models.

Sadly, I got no additional documentation with either unit.
Click to expand...


Information and pictures of my Fisher Chadwick are at:

http://www.fisherconsoles.com/custom chadwick.html

Chassis are a 460A, 460T and a small multiplex unit chassis.
 
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