Parting out a CG

[Hydrolastic]

Hello, Ran across this https://inlandempire.craigslist.org/ele ... 41883.html. Sad but if you need a prt for your CG. This guy gutted one for you. Hydro

[Firedome]

Sad... well sorta. Let's face it a large majority just don't want the big heavy furniture those came in. If the style is formal or Provincial or Early American, any other decor but MCM, it's totally out of fashion, anathema. We here all like them intact but it's unrealistic, and I'd rather see the innards of consoles saved and re-purposed as opposed to the whole thing going to the dump, which happens a lot. Time and time again I've heard from people - oh we had a big old stereo in a cabinet but nobody wanted it so we junked it. So if this guy can make good money by doing this and at the same time save the electronics and the speakers, more power to him I say. If he put the whole console on CL or FBM priced at anything over about 200 it'd just sit unsold. He can make a lot more by doing this or he wouldn't be doing it, understandably. Let the flaming begin....

[electra225]

Although this seems sad on it's face, how are we going to get parts if nobody takes one apart? I bought a Packard Carribean that had an engine fire. A totally done car. The owner wanted it totaled, so they did. We bought it for parts. By the time we were done with taking parts off for more fortunate examples, you could haul what was left in a wheelbarrow. Really, it was a restorable car. There is an element who looks at things we value in a different light. I'm glad I have mine, undesirable though they may be, and consider the hobby fortunate that there are those willing to supply parts for them.

[Firedome]

Wow if that was a '55 or '56 Caribbean, especially a convert, it'd have to be pretty toasted not to want to save it, but where would we get parts if not for parts cars? I always wanted a Carib but had a lowly '56 Clipper. Not gonna happen now.

This parting-out guy has a good selection, it must be happy hunting gout there. I've been looking for a nice Early American tube Mag console for some years to replace the DuMont (that replaced a '63 Motorola) in our LR but no dice after over 10 yrs of looking.

[electra225]

A complete Concert Grand has a very limited audience as far as buyers go. Parts the same way. Anybody who has a complete, nice, usable Concert Grand does not need those parts. Anybody who has one for sale thinks it is worth a fortune. I have long maintained they are a $500 item on a good day. They are horrendously heavy, hard to ship, expensive to ship. They have lots of parts, so easily damaged. If you buy one, you should prepare to go get it yourself, above the capabilities of many. Then there is the electrical complexity. Not horribly difficult, just lots of it. If the cabinet is not pristine, you are in over your head in many cases, unless you are Fred Taylor. Grill cloth is unobtanium. People take one apart, price the parts in the stratosphere, then sit on them indefinitely. The Concert Grand we posted about awhile back that was missing most of its parts is now down to $1275 last I saw. Still about $1000 too much money. The amps aren't the rare parts. The remote control is the rare part. The batteries for the remotes are almost $50 now. Probably a good stunt for someone who has a CG would be to see what this guy wants for the changer, if it's original. The remote control CG's and Imperials are the only ones who used that changer, both in Conquest and S-600 guise.

[Hydrolastic]

Hello again, I guess the issue for me is the fact that it was complete and the condition of it looked good. Once dissembled its value in keeping others running is also good. But there becomes a time where the supply of good "driver quality" consoles dry up and this is where it gets weird. Imagine that your electra 225 becomes more valuable in parts than as a complete car. You have lovingly restored/preserved your car so the next guy can disassemble it and it can be the basis for a convertible restoration. At some point the value of the complete console/car has to go up to keep it from being disassembled.

[Firedome]

CGs sure are big, heavy, and with 2 PPP 6V6 amps, complex. Luckily I prefer 6BQ5 amps, and if I can find a Maggie to replace our DuMont SE 6Bq5 it'll be a 93 series amp (or an 88 series - were they 6BQ5?) in a mid-sized model, with Early American styling, if any such a beast exists. So would that be a Symphony? Or? (Do we have the catalogs on stickies here?). I've never been really crazy about the sound of any 6V6 amp, but maybe that's all in my head, who knows. But when I do see a Mag console within, say, a couple hour drive, 10 to 1 it's an SS model. They sure sold a lot of those in the mid-to-late '60s and early '70s, from what I see up for sale now.

[William]

If memory servers, the only 6BQ5 PP amp from Magnavox was the 9300 series. They did make Early American, but they are hard to find. The most popular cabinet back in the tube day seems to have been French Provincial, followed by what I call Traditional but I probably have that wrong. This is what I call Traditional.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/124902864984?h ... SwBbhhQksg

The French Provincial and Traditional I'm referring to are the Big Imperials. They also came in the smaller sizes. I have never seen an Early American Big Magnavox. They came in the Symphony series and below. If anyone knows anything different please correct me, I'm only going by what I have seen in old brochures.

Bill

[Hydrolastic]

Hello. I have an email out to him for the reject button and a few other parts I think I may want the remote control chassis because I think I would like to get it running someday. Does anyone have that part working on theirs?

[electra225]

I've never had the remote chassis turned on on my CG. I may tinker with it one of these day

[Hydrolastic]

Hello, Last week I called this guy and he told me that he had some parts left for a CG (Tuner and power chassis) the rest were gone. In the conversation he tells me they picked up three CG's from an estate. His friend kept one . He has one and there was a third one in parts without the cabinet. he was selling the parted out one but he doesn't ship... His complete running CG is also for sale for 800 dollars. Hydro

[William]

Thanks, Hydro, if it was only closer!

Bill

[electra225]

$800 is probably the best price for a CG I've heard of in years. Shipping is the killer.

[Firedome]

The N California Radio society had a working decent CG for sale around 2 yrs ago as a fund raiser for, I think it was $250 or 300? It had been donated to them. It actually took them quite a while to sell it.

[electra225]

Probably a hard sell to the general public. Many people under 50 have never run a record player, nobody listens to the radio anymore, they are "old", and they are heavy. The only folks who want one are folks like us. Most of us who want one, have one. People raising families and paying car payments and mortgages don't typically have extra money for such things anyways. I don't believe a CG is as hot of a property as they were a couple years ago.

[Firedome]

They were selling it "in house" so mainly to other radio collectors and buffs in the club, I don't believe it was ever advertised to the public, so I have to assume it was the imposing size and weight that made it not-so-desirable, as you say.
The Early Television Foundation raffles off vintage TVs in similar fashion as a fund-raiser as well.

[electra225]

I'd buy another one for $250-$300 if it was close enough I could go get it myself. I'd rather have a set of external speakers for one.