Decapitated Concert Grand

[electra225]

This is really a shame. Missing the legs, the glass tops and the back of the cabinet. The cabinet is not all that nice. And it's a modern cabinet. The price is ridiculous for such a rough instrument.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/275047434993?h ... SwQJ1hpo0X

[chazglenn3]

What a shame! Almost a great console. And way too much money.

[walyfd]

At least it's somewhat salvageable. This one breaks my heart. At least I could use the r2r but I'm in the process of rebuilding mine...

https://www.ebay.com/itm/313740538676

Hate when bad things happen to great consoles...

[Firedome]

Ridiculous price, even if it were perfect.

[electra225]

I get into trouble for saying that, Roger......

I wouldn't give that price for the best one in the world. I see them priced like that commonly, but I have never documented one selling for near that much money.

[chazglenn3]

Oh man. That Fisher President makes me want to cry.

[electra225]

I've been looking really closely at this instrument and all I can say is that it's a real mess. He supposedly had "the best tech in the area" whatever and whomever that may be, go thru the amps and "upgrade them to dual rectifiers". The seller claims to have over a thousand dollars in this alone. Now I know why his price is so high. The cabinet will need someone with the talents of Fred Taylor to ever hope of bringing it back. There is actually a chunk out of the edge of the cabinet in one spot. The grille cloth is advertised as being "excellent" but the right hand side is sagging and crooked, so that would be an issue. The changer is missing, but, if it is indeed a 1962 model, it wouldn't have remote control, so that would be no big deal. I figure it would cost maybe $1000 to reproduce the tempered glass, reverse painted sliding lids. Maybe not quite, but I'll bet it would be close to that. Then there would have to be a new base built with the legs. That is not gonna be cheap, either. I can see spending $3000 to do the job right. I'm not sure it would be worth that after it was done. I'd probably consider doing it in ebony so the places on the edges could be fixed and not be so noticeable. Then the seller wants $2100 dollars for it as is. That would put me in over five grand, plus shipping. Unfortunately, as bad as it pains me to say this, this poor hacked example of the vaunted Concert Grand would be best utilized as a parts donor for a more fortunate instrument. I don't believe there are enough parts left to get the seller above water with what he has spent so far.

I don't know what a Concert Grand is worth, to be honest. I know what I gave for mine, and it ain't NEAR the kind of money they are asking for this one. I don't have that much money, including restoration costs, in my entire Magnavox collection. Not close to that much money. I know what I consider astronomical prices are asked, but I don't know what anybody actually paid. I don't want to come right out and ask, so all I can do is suppose. And guess. I'm betting most sell for between $500 and $1000. I don't believe, if one were selling parts, that the biamps from a CG are worth what the 93 series amps are because they are more complicated to use for purposes other than what they were designed for. The tuner isn't worth anything, the cabinet is firewood, so all the seller has is the speakers and the amps. My thinking is he'll have a tough time getting a thousand dollars for that stuff. His best bet is to try and sell it whole, but I'd say he has an uphill battle ahead of him. Oh, I know. It has Bluetooth. That'll get him the big bucks. It's a parts set with few usable parts.

[chazglenn3]

I bought my 1962 Concert Grand two years ago. Completely serviced and playing wonderfully. The cabinet can use some love, but I'm not interested in the project at the moment. I can fire it up and enjoy my albums as is. I paid $500 for it.

[electra225]

I didn't give quite $500 for mine, but I bought mine in 2014, just before they started getting expensive. And I'm not sure the seller/flipper who had it knew exactly what it was. I have that much in it after I went thru it and after I made a trip to Fort Worth to get it. I actually gave more for the Imperial than I did for the CG, to be honest.

The decaptiated CG we are talking about would be reasonably priced at about $100 just because it's a CG. The seller is dreaming at the asking price.

[Firedome]

He sure is. To Maggie aficiandos a CG is worth a very decent amount, but not everyone knows what a good console it is and I've seen them for sale by the unknowing for as low as the $150-200 range, but with ability to search eBay and &c now sellers seem much more aware of values, real or imagined, often the latter. Stripped and parted, as this one probably should be, it wouldn't bring anything like a Fisher President that has a pair of 50-A or 90-A mono amps and dual tube 80-A preamps, or a later model Presidents with a SA-300B EL34 amp and a 400CX preamp, any of which of which regularly bring up to the $2000+ range EACH. I had all of this stuff years ago and stupidly let it all go for the next big thing that struck my fancy and/or due to several long distance moves. The "Fisher Doc" in NYC got a lot of it. Easy come easy go. But honestly I've having as much fun or more with more down-to-earth locally available consoles.

Can someone tell me the configuration of the 93 series amps... is there a sticky on this stuff somewhere?

[electra225]

The 93 series is pretty simple, and only 15 WPC. I have the schematic if you'd like it. The 93 is just one of those devices, made with fairly simple components, that is sweet from the start, kinda like a Buick 401 V-8. Everybody who ever owned one like it. 5U4 rectifier, 6EU7 pre-amp, 6EU7 phase splitter, and P-P 6BQ5 output. The 88 series is quite similar, with a 6CA4 rectifier and 6V6 P-P output and about the same 15WPC output. Robust performers in their own right, but not the sweet sound of the 93. I have no idea, honestly, why the 93 is so special, but it is.

[Firedome]

My guess is possibly it's the EL-84/6BQ5 outputs? I've always thought that well-designed amps with good speakers like Maggies and others with them have a particularly sweet sound, it's one reason for my love of a number of Scott and other amps that have those tubes. I've had many of both 6V6 and EL-84 amps and can't say I've ever had a 6V6 amp I liked more, or even as much, as most 6BQ5 based ones. My econo-line Dumont has a little SE 6BQ5 amp and tho' not powerful it has very nice clean and clear mid-highs at normal listening levels, but less bass of course with only 10" woofers and low-ish power. It may be all in my head but I do tend to prefer the 6BQ5 as an output tube for audio amps.

What years/models was the 93 amp found in?

[electra225]

It might be the 6BQ5's. Those tubes get criticized because they typically get driven hard.

[Firedome]

That's not the poor tubes fault! LOL.
Anyhow there's the 7189 to take care of that! I've had great luck with the inexpensive military Russian 6P14P-EV version of the 7189 believe it or not, they're a real bargain imo.