This is another ugly radio that is a dandy performer. Built by the incomparable Wells-Gardner, it is an AA6 chassis with tuned RF. I have gone thru the chassis in the past, so it doesn't need anything. The dial pointer is askew and the paint is coming off the cabinet. Two colors were available from the factory. Gray and burgundy. The gray is mud ugly. I don't know what color I am going to use, but I will use black grille cloth, since I have plenty on hand, left over from the Stereo Theater project. There is a red background "WA" emblem on the front of the cabinet that I hope comes off. If not, I'll have to tape it off and hope for the best. I have a can of aqua marine paint left over from another project, but I'm not "feeling it" with that color. Maybe burgundy headed toward candy apple red? The cabinet is in beautiful condition, no cracks or chips. This one is plastic, loaded with an extra does of "ugly"....
The little "WA" badge does come off. The grille cloth is made behind the paper dial. I haven't developed the plan to replace the cloth yet.....
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It is. This is one of the radios I bought in Pittsburg, MO, in a pouring down rain. We were at an auction and there was a pile of radios. I paid $3 for the pile. IIRC, I got 37 radios in that pile, all real junk. The only dud in that pile, ultimately, was a Philips German radio, which was unrepairable. This radio is a real gem, but it has always been ugly. All the radios I got at that auction, including this one, were full of water. Had water running out of them, soaked speakers, the works. This radio has a five-inch speaker, but has surprisingly rich sound, being that there is no tone control.
A good leader is someone who can tell you where to go, and make you look forward to the trip.
Never allow someone who has done nothing to advise you on anything.
I found a brand new spray can of Rustoleum "Smokey Gray" that I'll use on this cabinet. I figured out a plan to replace the grille cloth. I may also do some cleaning on the chassis, although I won't spend much time on that. I think it's going to look find, and will be fairly close to how it was painted when it was built.
A good leader is someone who can tell you where to go, and make you look forward to the trip.
Never allow someone who has done nothing to advise you on anything.
I was putting the second coat of paint on. It lifted pretty badly on the top of the cabinet only. I trashed all my rags, roll of paper towels, sand paper. I'll have to replace those items, sand off the second coat of paint, primer the area then shoot another coat on the top. Something that touched that surface was contaminated. I've been getting along well, so I can't complain. This kind of thing happens when I use Rustoleum paint. I really prefer Krylon, but they don't offer the colors Rustoleum does.
A good leader is someone who can tell you where to go, and make you look forward to the trip.
Never allow someone who has done nothing to advise you on anything.
It's really frustrating when that happens. I use black Rustoleum on my sailboat propeller. It's aluminum and corrodes here and there. I've been using a urethane paint designed for underwater use on ferrous metals, but if you read carefully the company also says it works on aluminum. I sand the bare aluminum then wet-sand the urethane paint in with a wire brush. You have to recoat either while it's still "green" or sand it if you wait too long. It has never lifted, but the Rustoleum sometimes does between coats. I've never figured out why it lifts here and not there, or this time and not the next time.
I used a razor blade to scrape all the paint off the top of the cabinet. I really shouldn't be around lacquer thinner when I don't have good cross ventilation, so the old scrape and alcohol treatment was successfully employed. Next step is to wash the cabinet in dishwashing soap, then wet sand with 400 grit. Then I'll prime the top again, wet sand after dry, then shoot another coat of paint. I have the grille cloth changed to black. I cut a dial cover from flat plastic that I have had on hand for maybe 25 years. I haven't used any for eons, so I had to clean and polish it with Simichrome to take the scuffs off. I believe everything is ready to assemble once I sort the paint situation on the cabinet.
A good leader is someone who can tell you where to go, and make you look forward to the trip.
Never allow someone who has done nothing to advise you on anything.
I taped off the front panel of the cabinet. That was how I wanted it and didn't want to overspray it. I shot a good heavy coat of primer on the top and sides, then, after waiting the recommended 15 minutes, shot another coat of color over the primer. It seems okay at this point. I'm going to quit while I'm ahead. I'll put the emblem on, put my homemade dial cover on, then slide the chassis into the cabinet. And, I'll get some pictures posted. I think it will be fine, certainly better than it was.....
Next up is the Airline cabinet.......
A good leader is someone who can tell you where to go, and make you look forward to the trip.
Never allow someone who has done nothing to advise you on anything.
Since this radio was built by Wells-Gardner, I'll bet there was a Coronado model built with the same chassis and cabinet as this Truetone. Maybe even an Airline model as well....Or a Firestone......
A good leader is someone who can tell you where to go, and make you look forward to the trip.
Never allow someone who has done nothing to advise you on anything.
It has a five-inch speaker above the volume knob in that picture. The speaker is mounted to the chassis. The board that the grille cloth is on is then attached to the front of the chassis. Rather a convoluted setup, but it works okay when everything is tight. There is no tone control, but the audio quality of the radio is quite good.
A good leader is someone who can tell you where to go, and make you look forward to the trip.
Never allow someone who has done nothing to advise you on anything.
I have been using this set for a shop radio. It has always been a robust performer. It played about two hours today, when it started sounding garbled, sensitivity suffered, I actually lost one of Phoenix's "barn burner" stations that normally comes in strongly. I started subbing the tubes, starting with the 35C5 output tube. I subbed all the tubes except the rectifier with no change in performance. So, in desperation, I changed the 35W4 rectifier. That fixed it! I tested the RCA rectifier and all that worked on it was the filament. There was no, zero, zip, nada output. I don't remember ever having a rectifier fail during operation before. I always figured that if the filament in a 35W4 and similar lit, the tube was good enough to work in a set. I don't see how the set worked at all with a dead rectifier.
A good leader is someone who can tell you where to go, and make you look forward to the trip.
Never allow someone who has done nothing to advise you on anything.
I have a little Sony SRF-59 headphone radio that I use on after-work walking treks. It will keep working until its single AA battery reads zero on the Radio Shack battery tester. At the end it goes to intermittent audio output. It's surprising that a device working n only 1.5 V can continue working on so little oomph.
I sure learned something on this set. I'm wondering now if a rectifier can be weak, but still show sufficient voltage on a meter. It would put out enough voltage, but not enough current.....
A good leader is someone who can tell you where to go, and make you look forward to the trip.
Never allow someone who has done nothing to advise you on anything.