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My first console keeper

T

thanhdang63

Active Member
I bought a couple of consoles before but their conditions were never good enough and I ended up just taking the maggies out.

Over the weekend I was able to pick up a Pilot TD 5000 console in pristine condition and just wanted to share with AKers. I think my wife will let me keep this one.
Pilot 654 tuner amplifier
Pilot 120 multiplexer
Garrard type A mark II table
Ampex 1250 RTR
Pilot preamp for the Ampex

I removed and cleaned the tubes, brought up with a variac and she's playing beautifully with the Garrard. The Ampex's belt had turned to mush but all the smooth plate Teles tests as new.

I plan to pull the Pilot 654 and restore properly prior to long term use.

Regards,
Thanh
 

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That is one classy console. Love the Queen Anne legs!

Nice how they used the metal plate to mount the receiver. :yes:

I wonder if it was a custom unit?

Cheers

Lar
 
Ok so your the one who bought that, I was wondering who got it. What did you shell out for it? Is there a tv behind the rolling doors? I was thinking there was or use to be. What are those speakers in the background? I swear I have the sameones, well trying to find them a new home.
 
ah, you're the one who snagged it. good work! looked like a great console, but by the time i talked with the estate agent, it was a done deal.

enjoy it! any pictures of the pilot pre for the ampex?
 
cooljjay said:
Ok so your the one who bought that, I was wondering who got it. What did you shell out for it? Is there a tv behind the rolling doors? I was thinking there was or use to be. What are those speakers in the background? I swear I have the sameones, well trying to find them a new home.
Click to expand...

yeah, you've got nothing to say about it, mr. basement sale smarty pants :) at least i snuck my pilot console by you, but that was only because i found it in fresno!:thmbsp:
 
madwing said:
yeah, you've got nothing to say about it, mr. basement sale smarty pants :) at least i snuck my pilot console by you, but that was only because i found it in fresno!:thmbsp:
Click to expand...

:D I've seen some stuff down in fresno/modesto, even have an uncle that lives down there, but its a bit of a drive to check out estate sales, so your lucky :D I still thought for sure someone would have snagged my latest console find, the photo was clear on the ad, and I went there the last day in the afternoon, she said only someone was interested in the ss. I asked about this one when I first saw it, waited for a model #, then she said it was sold. The price tag wasn't a run don't walk, and what I've seen pilot doesn't sell for big bucks like fisher..wonder what type of speakers are in the console?? oh I'm not a queen anne person either :D Wonder if there is a tag saying who built the console?? What I am finding out is if you find out where there was a custom hi-fi builder in the 50's that is the area you'll find good stuff at.
 
I paid 220 for the console.

The asking price was 300. We tried to power the system up- static and a few seconds later blew a fuse. I kinda guessed it was going to blow since I saw a box of fuse with 2 blown ones inside. Nothing was working so I talked the price down.

The whole front panel is fixed with no sliding doors. The Pilot sits slanted so it takes up most of the room in the center bay. The multiplexer and tape deck preamp is mounted on the floor of the center bay. Speakers consisted of Jensens - 3 mid/tweet and one 8" woofer cloth surrounds on each side.

I'll take some pics of the preamp.

Thanh
 
Thanh,
Nice grab... You are so going to love that pilot once its up and running. should be a walk in the park compared to those sansui's.
looking foward to your pics
 
Great looking console! Did you get any documentation with it? I'm curious what year Pilot you've got there. I suspect that that is a very late tube model based on the cabinet style - perhaps 1963-64.
 
I did get a stack of very well kept docs including the original bill of sale. The price was $1650. There was a bill for a replacement power transformer for $25.

Bought in June of 1963
Pilot Repertoire series model TD 5000 (There was also a TD 1000 and TD 7000)
Schematics of the 654 is from Sept 1960
The multiplexer is model 200 ( I mis-remembered and said 120 )
The tape preamp is Pilot model TA-1
I also got two astatic microphones with the console for use with the Ampex.


Regards,
Thanh
 
thanhdang63 said:
I did get a stack of very well kept docs including the original bill of sale. The price was $1650. There was a bill for a replacement power transformer for $25.

Bought in June of 1963
Pilot Repertoire series model TD 5000 (There was also a TD 1000 and TD 7000)
Schematics of the 654 is from Sept 1960
The multiplexer is model 200 ( I mis-remembered and said 120 )
The tape preamp is Pilot model TA-1
I also got two astatic microphones with the console for use with the Ampex.


Regards,
Thanh
Click to expand...
Excellent information there. Thank you. Does the information about the Repertoire series come from a sales brochure? If so, it would be great if you could post it. Just think, if the TD 5000 cost $1650 - how much was the TD 7000 going for? It would seem that the Repertoire series models were Pilot's top-of-the-line consoles in 1963.

I have schematics for your multiplexer if you need them. They date from Feb. 1963 which matches up nicely with the purchase date. It's interesting that Pilot was still using a receiver from the AM-FM stereo period well into the multiplex era. That's a great looking receiver, by the way. Do you know what receivers or tuners were in the other models of the Repertoire series?
 
I took some more pics.
The manual does not indicate which components go into which model. What's interesting is that in the doc packet I found a Scott pamphlet advertising a line of consoles for early 60s SS Scott gear and my console was one of them. So I think Pilot was also using these same consoles and putting in their Tube gear at the same time.
The console is from the Exeter series - my particular one is called the Exeter French Provincial

Regards,
Thanh
 

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That is one awesome console. I love the look of the older
Pilot receivers. Congratulations on a great find :-)
 
i love the text in the last photo, "french provincial at it's most breathtaking"

really? for me it's the back, bristling with tubes, that i find breath taking. speaking of tubes what brands are in there. pilot used mullards and telefunken on occaision.
 
thanhdang63 said:
What's interesting is that in the doc packet I found a Scott pamphlet advertising a line of consoles for early 60s SS Scott gear and my console was one of them. So I think Pilot was also using these same consoles and putting in their Tube gear at the same time.
Click to expand...
Wow - that's really odd! So, if I understand you correctly, both Scott and Pilot were using the same cabinets circa 1963 with Scott debuting their solid state gear while in the same cabinet Pilot was still offering tubes. (I had no idea Scott was such an early convert to the transistor.) Do you suppose Scott and Pilot were affiliated in some way or just using the same cabinet maker?

These technology transitions are fascinating, especially the mono to stereo transition in 1958 being followed so quickly by tube to transistor switch in the early to mid sixties. It's a very narrow band of years in which to seek such treasures as your Exeter.

Thank you for posting those pictures - great information!
 
Yes, I thought that was odd too. I was wondering what a Scott pamphlet was doing in the stack of Pilot docs until I unfolded it and looked at the console pictures. I'm assuming that Pilot and Scott commissioned the same console builder to customize to fit their respective electronics in. Looking at the console, everything is very well laid out including specific openings for some custom switches and tags so for sure the console did not hold anything else prior. There are two wire harnesses and controls that I removed - one allowed for the use and control of a center channel speaker and the other for switching between the built in TT and an external TT.

Regards,
Thanh
 
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