What did I do!?!?
 

Good day fellow TV collectors.

I did what I am sure alot of us have done. I have been told by my girlfriend other not to bring home anything else. I did well for awhile. Until today. . .

I never check craigslist. Well in the Portland, OR craigslist was "59 Majestic console" - - - - Free . . . . It was sitting in a closet of most likely the origional owners house. I've been wanting a 5U4 powered TV for a couple months now so I decided to check this set out. Its got one. . . . . Its model Majestic 21D59. Presumably a 59 model. Doing research though, it seems they stopped produciton in 58??

Its sitting in my Vw bus now, it might stay there for a bit. . . My apartment is already to small and too cluttered. The set is actually really well built. 3 video IF's and diode detectors. TWO 10 inch speakers(might be two 8 inch though). Chassis is complete and only dusty. Plenty of replaced tubes. Don't know what brand they should be to be origional. CRT has NO brightener attached and flyback looks good. CRT is supposed to be a 21ZP4(I think) But a brief look at the tube looks like **EP4B. The numbers are blocked by the ion trap. Horizontal output is one of those without the plate cap.

Cabinet needs to be refinished. Its scratched up real bad. I've never had to do a cabinet before. I'll need help because I know nothing about refinishing.

Here are pictures. Kinda hard to take a picture of the front, because of its location in my Vw.

My girlfriend is kinda cheesed off. . . . She is still at work and I told her . . . I know I can recap this baby in a couple hours, but the refinishing the cabinet should be a priority.

Anyone else with Majestic TV? I know nothing about them.

Best regards,
Matt Davala

Let's see Matt...How to phrase this? When she comes home and sees it for the first time... just say that the beautiful, magnificent, front doors on this priceless empress of the airwaves...somehow...reminded you of her...and therefore you couldn't let any other man get his hands on it.

Really, that model does have a very classy look and the inside looks "built" too.

Roger

Hello Matt,

Nice catch. When I saw the name Majestic, I thought this might be
related to the Canadian built Rogers-Majestic sets, but I don't think
so. You said you read they (whoever they may be) stopped Majestic
sets in 1958, where did you read that? I don't find Majestic listed in
my circa 1980 Thordarson cross-reference guide, which does include
a number of obscure makes. Good luck.

This looks like one fine set. It appears to be using the 6AV5GA horizontal
sweep tube (one of the few without a plate cap). Sincerely hope you
can get to keep and restore it. Regards.

Here is the brief info I got on Majaestic.
http://www.tvhistory.tv/1950-59-MAJESTIC.htm

Hi Matt,

Beautiful TV. I was in your shoes last week. I decided to check the Cincinnati Craigslist and found "Vintage Electronic Collection $125" I couldn't pass this one up. I got eight items, two TV's including a nice 1950 Philco combo and six radios. The little lady is very tollerant of my hobbies but this one hit her a little hard. I got the "We don't have room for any more of these". So I agreed to slow down alittle on my collecting....................Unless something came along that I just had to have.:D

Good luck with your new TV.

Lucky dawg !! Tell her you COULD be out, drinkin' & chasin' other women...No, that one never worked w/me, either, but...(grin)

Nice set! It hails from 1955 and the sam's is 280-5.
Terry

Hi!

I'm glad the TV is a little older than I expected. The model 21D59 is kind of misleading. Well ... ...

I get to keep the TV!!!! The only condition is that I have to sell three others that I have to keep this one. Its ok I have thought about listing them on the "bay" for awhile.

So the TV waits in the Vw bus until the others sell on Ebay. Who knows if they will? Its hard to put prices on these TV's because of personal value.

Best regards,
Matt Davala

Matt, Matt, Matt... You're going about this all wrong. You're not supposed to come out and _say_ you brought home another TV set. Never say "Look what I just bought". Here's what you do:

Keep your collection in a semi-orderly yet poorly space-utilized fashion. It's also a good idea to have a couple of "spacers" in the form of junk sets or junk cabinets.

"Organize" once and a while, moving things around. Possibly make the collection take up more space by poorly storing things.

When you get a new set, "organize" things, and shuffle the new set underheath and behind existing ones. Stack things in better, so it looks like there is less stuff.

A month later "organize" again. Throw away one of your "spacers". If you don't have spacers, drive around on garbage day and pick some up.

When the new TV comes to the front, and you get asked "Is that new?", you can proudly reply. "No, I've had it for months. See, I've been cleaning - I threw away two sets!"


And _that_ is how you collect televisions.

-Ian

That may be a blessing in disguise. Everyone has some kind of space limit. When you reach the limit, you have to either quit collecting or start making choices.

In the last few years, I've been following a "one in, one out" rule. If I want something new, I have to pick something to get rid of. This has the effect of upgrading your collection, if you dispose of junkier/commoner things to make room for better ones.

When I was a beginning collector, I tended to grab anything I found and could afford. I ended up with a lot of common, boring things, duplicates, etc. Most of those are now gone, replaced by a smaller number of more interesting items.

That's a very attractive TV, with the cool front doors and the wild aqua knobs.

When you get around to the cabinet, post a couple of photos of the scratch damage, and I can help you get started. A good beginner's book on refinishing is "The Weekend Refinisher" by Bruce Johnson. Note: old TV cabinets were finished in lacquer, so you'll be working with lacquer.

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

I've kinda got the same problem at this point in my collecting. Now that I've brought one back to life every TV has potential. What brakes my heart is the fact that alot of these sets will end up in the trash if I or we don't save them. I know we can't save them all but we can sure try.:D

Is it worth it to lose her ?
Your passion for your hobby may seem like a junk collection to her.
Tell her purses and shoes take up too much room
Tell her it is worth big money, if she says sell it, dump her.
Or go rent a small inexpensive storage locker for your hobby, and keep her out of your hobby, but make sure YOU ! are responsible for the storage fee, cause she will "forget".
If she is bringing home more money than you, and she is paying the rent, YOU are on borrowed time.

[QUOTE=eberts;1813065]Is it worth it to lose her ?QUOTE]

My opinion, NO!!

No hobbie is not worth it unless you've got somebody to share it with.

Several good point brought up here. I am lucky to have an understanding wife. (and the understanding is, I have 2 rooms in the house to do with what I want...and that is IT.) I am starting to practice what Phil suggested. I also spent many years dragging home any and all sets, basically anything that fit my wallet. I basically looked around one day and realized I was operating an orphanage for old TV sets. I wish it was easier to share the surplus.

I have become adept through the years at sneaking stuff into the house. The first one was when I was 14 years old and managed to have a 21" RCA bw console delivered by a local antique shop. They brought it in the half hour between me getting off the bus and my Dad getting home from work. Just enough time for me to drag it back to my room. It was weeks before Mom & Dad found out! Nowadays, unless my wife is with me when I pick up a set, I don't bring it up. Why worry her? :)

Wow, out of the twenty tubes(including the CRT) only two are origional! I was surprised to see two labled Majestic!!

Definatly a high hours Tv. Flyback still looks ok, and CRT is a replacement and no brightener. I still have to wait to bring it inside. Maybe this weekend. Then I can test tubes. Caps are waiting until I get the Sams.

Is it unusual to have the CRT come out during chassis removal? It seems like to pull the chassis, the CRT comes with it! I'd rather it stay inside, where its less likely to have me bump it. Oh well, the TV does need to be recapped no matter what! I'll just have to be super safe.

Best regards,
Matt Davala