View Full Version : Would you pick this up for free?


maxhifi
12-09-2011, 09:11 PM
Found this guy and a console stereo together advertised for free. Leaning towards not getting it, but tempted.

Eric H
12-09-2011, 09:50 PM
Depends, do you really want it cause you'll be stuck with it forever.
Nice set but those 60's models seem to be unloved.

maxhifi
12-09-2011, 10:08 PM
Depends, do you really want it cause you'll be stuck with it forever.
Nice set but those 60's models seem to be unloved.

That's kind of what I'm thinking... I should let this one slip by, or I'll be dealing with it in perpetuity. On the other hand, well, it's an old tube tv, and old tube tvs are cool!

The console stereo he has is similarly bland, it looks like something I would use for about two weeks, spend money to fix it up, and then forget I owned until I tripped over it.

marty59
12-09-2011, 10:09 PM
May be considered unloved by some, but do you have any other sets or a collection? This could be a good starting point to work some skills on and may be enjoyable with minimal work. And besides, if the CRT is shot or some other major component you won't be out anything and scrap it out for parts.

maxhifi
12-09-2011, 10:21 PM
So far, I've got

Silvertone colour roundie console - 1965 or 1966
RCA 8" portable B&W - 1957
16" Zenith color portable with SC-100 remote - 1973
Admiral B&W portable, 16 or so inches. - 1966

The Admiral came with the Silvertone, the guy insisted I take it. It's got a vertical linearity problem I have yet to deal with. All other sets in good working order (thanks in no small part to videokarma).

bgadow
12-09-2011, 10:47 PM
There's something about that cabinet style I've always liked. The price is sure right. I was getting ready to write "but, like the other guys said...". It occurs to me that we've been saying that for a long time now. Thousands upon thousands of these now reside at the bottom of landfills. Could they turn the corner, might they become collectible? Don't hold your breath! I'll just say, if you like it, don't be ashamed to get it.

miniman82
12-09-2011, 10:58 PM
if you like it, don't be ashamed to get it.



So, these are like that fat chick with a sexy face? :scratch2:

maxhifi
12-09-2011, 11:00 PM
There's something about that cabinet style I've always liked. The price is sure right. I was getting ready to write "but, like the other guys said...". It occurs to me that we've been saying that for a long time now. Thousands upon thousands of these now reside at the bottom of landfills. Could they turn the corner, might they become collectible? Don't hold your breath! I'll just say, if you like it, don't be ashamed to get it.

Hmmm you've got a good point.

Eric H
12-09-2011, 11:25 PM
If you have the room for it then get it, my previous post was biased by my own lack of space. :D

Phil Nelson
12-10-2011, 12:24 AM
You could get it and think of it as a practice set. For the price of a few capacitors, you can get some experience restoring a TV. If that works out and you want to upgrade to a more interesting set, give it away to someone and move on. That's what I did with one of my early TV projects. It was fun to work on at the time, and I learned some good things, but I didn't miss it a bit after it was gone and I had room for something nicer.

Other pluses: a TV of that vintage should be simpler to restore than a really early set, and easier to get working well.

Phil Nelson
Phil's Old Radios
http://antiqueradio.org/index.html

Adam
12-10-2011, 12:48 AM
If you like it, get it.

There is a tendency in tv collecting to automatically think older = better. And while I like the 40s-50s sets, many of my favorites are 60s-70s models. For a while, I had a rule, "no solid state sets", but then I found out there were a few ss sets that I really liked, and plenty of tube sets I really wasn't that interested in. Nowadays I only collect color sets if they're high-end consoles with remote controls, and avoid any tv with a phonograph in it. I'm also trying to amass the largest 1960s Zenith metal tabletop b/w collection I can - they're not worth much, but I like 'em alot.

stereorob
12-10-2011, 07:43 AM
hell, for free, yeah id snatch it :D

wa2ise
12-10-2011, 03:28 PM
You can always strip it for parts if it does turn out to have a fatal flaw, like a dead CRT. Power transformers can be useful for other projects like audio amps. Some of the caps (like ceramics and micas, can be useful, as well as some of the resistors. And various other parts too. Ask any ham about the "jubk box" concept.

bgadow
12-10-2011, 10:29 PM
About 20 years ago I had all kinds of 60s/early 70s color sets. Motorola, Zenith, GE, Philco-Ford, RCA, Admiral, Sylvania, Bradford, JVC. I loved 'em, every single one, but trashed them. Everyone told me they weren't collectible, that I shouldn't like 'em. Maybe not their exact words, but it was clear that I was not "normal" for wanting to keep them. So they are all gone, long gone. I didn't start rebuilding that part of my collection until I found VK, and I knew it was okay to enjoy such things! (you could probably have a pretty deep discussion about this, deeper than I want to delve into). My message to anyone out there is, ignore anyone who says you're a fool for wanting a 60s bw console or a late 70s solid state color set or something from the 80s. The last time I checked it's not a sin to own one, so what does it matter? :)

Electronic M
12-11-2011, 12:36 AM
Anything pre-early SS is fair game in my book. I have a 77' Quasar SS inline table top color set that I trash picked, and I'm not ashamed of it. I think that it is cool, so I will keep it....at least untill I have to get rid of it for something which I like better.

Electrohome
12-11-2011, 01:01 AM
When I started collecting vintage TVs back in 1997, I was originally collecting pre-1970
TVs only that I gradually expanded to 1970-79 era TVs in the early 2000s finally expanding yet again to 1980's TVs just in the last 2 years.
Me being born in 1978, I very much enjoy a lot of my 1970's TVs and early-mid 1980's TVs as they bring back so many memories of my childhood in the late 1970's and 1980's. Great memories of a much happier time any day:-)
I see Electronic M has got a 1977 Quasar SS inline table top color TV-awesome trash pick as a 1977 Quasar SS inline table top color TV is an awesome trash pick any day-awesome find and a great collector's item. In dedication to this find, I picked up a 1977 Quasar Works-In-A-Drawer 25-inch color console TV with a delta-gun CRT that was just replaced a couple of years ago right here in North Bay in the last few weeks. Vintage Quasar TVs are awesome:-)
Now that 1960's 23-inch black and white console that's being advertised for free, I would pick that up in a heartbeat any day. I really love those 1960's B&W 23 inch consoles and I would say go for it:-)

jr_tech
12-11-2011, 02:55 AM
This pretty 23" Philco Has one bid at 299$ :eek:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1957-Philco-23-Vintage-TELEVISION-TV-All-Original-Works-/300632535180?_trksid=p5197.m185&_trkparms=algo%3DSIC.NPJS%26itu%3DI%252BUA%26otn%3 D12%26pmod%3D310348070739%26po%3DLVI%26ps%3D63%26c lkid%3D4811248274339845354

not affiliated,
jr

dieseljeep
12-11-2011, 11:03 AM
This pretty 23" Philco Has one bid at 299$ :eek:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1957-Philco-23-Vintage-TELEVISION-TV-All-Original-Works-/300632535180?_trksid=p5197.m185&_trkparms=algo%3DSIC.NPJS%26itu%3DI%252BUA%26otn%3 D12%26pmod%3D310348070739%26po%3DLVI%26ps%3D63%26c lkid%3D4811248274339845354

not affiliated,
jr

That set barely cost that when new. It looks like a mid-sixties series string cheapie.

dieseljeep
12-11-2011, 11:09 AM
Anything pre-early SS is fair game in my book. I have a 77' Quasar SS inline table top color set that I trash picked, and I'm not ashamed of it. I think that it is cool, so I will keep it....at least untill I have to get rid of it for something which I like better.
I sold several Quasar sets at that time. Fine performing, super reliable sets.

Eric H
12-11-2011, 03:05 PM
This pretty 23" Philco Has one bid at 299$ :eek:


jr

Wow, it must be because it's working, or because it has the Bride of Frankenstein on it, or because of "Mad Men" or because it's in Los Angeles.
Not a 57 model by the way, definitely mid 60's.

Maybe it's time to sell my 1965 23" Admiral Combo?

M3-SRT8
12-11-2011, 03:26 PM
Nope. Wouldn't take it.

robert1
12-11-2011, 08:03 PM
Is that a Setchell-Carlson? it is hard to tell in the photo. if it is, it is well worth getting.

bgadow
12-11-2011, 10:47 PM
One day we were out for a drive in the country and I spotted a similiar Philco sitting in a driveway. I stopped but nobody was home; I thought about leaving a note; I thought about just taking it (but it wasn't on the curb). No room for it, though. When it rained the next night I felt just a little sad.

zenithfan1
12-11-2011, 11:50 PM
utsukushii desu ne, if you get it, and don't want it, I'll take it off your hands.

kx250rider
12-12-2011, 11:50 AM
If I wanted it for some reason, and there are plenty of people out there with reasons for wanting a certain TV, then yes. But not for resale or to better my TV collection. I'd heave it in the truck and rescue it out of the rain, and stick it someplace, (IF I had a someplace to stick it). But it's sadly worthless to most collectors, and likely will be for some time.

Charles

maxhifi
12-12-2011, 05:12 PM
i'm not looking to make a buck on this hobby, and will probably never sell anything for 'market value'... Either free to someone who really wants it or hang onto it forever, maybe it's my personality. I decided to pass on this one, mainly because it's large, and doesn't really add anything to my small collection. I think my next set is going to be early japanese.