Nice 1959-'60 Magnavox Concert Grand

[electra225]

And it is just down the road in Tucson. Drastically over-priced, even though it is in nice shape. I believe this is called Traditional, in dark walnut.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/203802304421?h ... SwwC9h5J0g

[chazglenn3]

Wow. This one is $3500 and the big Imperial with the modern cabinet and the extra speaker that needs restoration is $1295. These prices keep tempting me to offer my CG for sale, but then I play an album and come back to my senses.

[electra225]

They are special, for sure, but not $3500 worth of special. I'm not sure I'd sell mine. Maybe if I had to go into assisted living or something like that where I couldn't care for it anymore. I went thru too much to find and snag mine to even think about selling it.

[William]

The sales slip is dated 1959. Does that make it a 1959, or, 1960? The model tag on the back states it's Cherry. It really does not look like Cherry, but, it does not look like Walnut either. I like it not matter what wood it is. Like the Imperial in the other post. I wish them luck!

Bill

[electra225]

I was the notation of cherry on the model sticker. That sure doesn't look red enough for cherry. I've been trying to come up with some kind of idea what a CG or Imperial is actually worth. I haven't come up with anything I'd hang my hat on. Since everything else is going up, maybe a reasonable price for that one might be $1000. The remote is worth $400 by itself.

[danrclem]

The price of everything is skyrocketing but that doesn't mean that they'll get their price out of that one. Then again they're not making them anymore so who knows.

[electra225]

While it's true they are not making them anymore, one has to wonder about the demand for one. The general public has no interest in them. Only collectors like us would be buyers. Shipping cost in whatever form is a killer. This particular instrument is fairly close to me, and it would fit into my little trailer. So a nice jaunt to Tucson, take the wife and the dog, make a day of it. That would be one thing. Shipping this to where you live would involve crating and shipping. At least $500 added to the cost. It cost me $250 to drive from the Missouri Ozarks to Fort Worth to get mine. There is the Italian Provincial Imperial in Mesa that we posted about. Two big Magnavoxes within reasonable driving distance from here is unusual to say the least. If you were into the CG $1000 and addes shipping, you'd have to add restoration costs in. Where would you be? No room for flipping. You'd be in too deep. The bloom is off the rose on Concert Grands. They were hotter two years ago. The seller will own this for awhile if he expects to get $3500 out of it. The seller in Mesa thinks he'll get a grand for that ratty old Imperial, too.

[Firedome]

I've done lots of woodworking, after I retired taught carpentry & furniture-making at the local Voc-Tech.
Cherry can look varying colors mostly depending on the stain, you ID it by the grain patterns. Hard to see
it here but blowing it up it does look like cherry to me. It 's a great wood to work with and I prefer it to
walnut or mahogany, cherry and maple are my favorite woods, plus pine for soft-wood projects. My late
uncle had a pile of it in his basement, we sold it to a local woodworker, I'd have liked it but no room, as usual!

[electra225]

Magnavox used a lot of ash in their cabinets. My guess is this CG is ash with a cherry finish. Magnavox didn't do cherry as well as they did mahogany. That was their specialty. My CG is cherry and it's a lot redder than this one. I know cameras and lighting make a difference sometimes, but, like you pointed out, this one looks like something other than cherry finish to me. I'm not sure if a Concert Grand was available with a mahogany finish.

I have two little tables my grandfather built for my grandmother (when they were courting) in 1915. My mother got annoyed one day and tossed them on a bonfire. My stepdad snatched them off real quick, but they were pretty scorched by that time. They are black cherry. There was a black cherry tree behind the house that got "lightning strick" in 1913. Uncle Fort sawed it down and quarter-sawed the lumber. This is what grandpa made the two little tables with. He drilled and pegged the tables. Grandma never used them because she found them too rickety to set a lamp on. Somehow, perhaps after grandpa died, these two tables ended up in my possession. Ron the Refinisher used his magic sauce on them to rid the wood of the smoke damage. The cherry was so old and hard it really wasn't damaged by the fire. One table I have done and it's sitting here about a foot from me now with the printer sitting on it. The other is in storage, awaiting its finish. We removed the pegs and inserted screws that will be hidden by the pegs. This makes the tables sturdy. We cut the pegs off then glued them back in for appearance. They are still surprisingly straight for being made of unseasoned, green lumber using archaic assembly methods. I have a Philco 116B I want to sit on one table and a Crosley 170 for the other.

[TC Chris]

My '56 Provincial Serenade is in cherry--solids and veneers, except for the base. That's stained or toned to match the cherry. Let's try a photo.

Chris Campbell

[electra225]

There are three Concert Grands on ebay right now. We have discussed them all, but it's rather unusual to have that many for sale at once. The one with no legs has it's price lowered from astronomical to merely ridiculous. The other two are still simply too much money.

[electra225]

There are also several Collaro changers on ebay right now. There is one being sold in parts if any of you guys need something like that. There is both Conquest and S-600 parts on ebay right now. Plus a nice emblem and Magnavox script for $29.95.