Estate Sale Finds in 2010!

[akent36]

Good for you for fixing the turntable.

What's the deal with the "chromix" control on the Sears TV?

[Jeffhs]

Am I imagining things, or is that a tilt-out control panel on the Silvertone console? Hmmm. I thought Admiral had a corner on that design.

[Jeffhs]

Originally Posted by akent36

What's the deal with the "chromix" control on the Sears TV?

That control worked with a circuit in the set that injected a soft, warm blue to brown cast into b&w TV pictures; blue at one end of the rotation, brown at the other, and neutral (normal b&w) at center, IIRC. Most people got confused as to how to use the control, so most of the time it was set to neutral and forgotten.

[drh4683]

Yes, even the popular TV repair books by Art Margolis back in the 60's would say that the chromix control was more or less a gimick and hassle that didn't do anything but confuse set owners. IIRC, I can quote him out of his 1969 The Practical Handbook of TV repairs that "you should just set the control to neutral and forget it".

The added control makes the control panel look more sophisticated. Thats about it.

As for the control panel, it does not tilt out like the admiral, but rather slides out on a track. There is an upper door that automatically flips open when you pull the bottom section out. So this method was most likely "slivertones" as opposed to Admrials that tilted out. The neat thing about the silvertone is that the channel indicator lights up on both the top of the control panel and also on front, so with the panel closed, channel numbers are always visible. Its a unique and different design, which I like.

[radiotvnut]

Very nice Sears TV! Wasn't '72 the last year that Sears used the Silvertone name? I think I remember reading somewhere that the Silvertone name was phased out on most products in '68-'69; but, remained on high end products until '72.

[zenithfan1]

That is a way cool Sears, It does remind me of a '67 Admiral, I think you have one with a cabinet similar to this. This is the first time I've seen a Sears like that. Can we see the inside? How reliable were the Wells Gardener chassis? I don't see a lot of high hour Sears sets usually. Too bad about the Chevy huh? I was droolin' over that right away.
So far, it looks like Sears is the theme of your new estate sales thread

[sampson159]

wells garners were reasonably good sets.i owned a few and they were simple designs,very easy to work on and really good rauland crts.the hybrid chassis with three modules was my favorite.early solid states were good performers too.parts werent readily available but overall i would rate them high on the list.the crts were very sought after her in columbus.they looked good in anything you put them in.we would all try to buy or trade someone out of a sears with a 25v tube back in the day.somewhere if have pictures of me dismantling a beautiful sears set.i bought it at an estate sale.slept all night in a van with my two year old.......................sorry,that issue is closed.

[drh4683]

Looks like the TV did see a repair back on March 19, 1979. The card has the date written on the back side and also a tag on the chassis itself, so it did get pulled to go to the shop. The tech was a pro, he put all the screws back and didn't hack anything up when he replaced a resistor on the chroma board. This one has an RCA tube, you can tell right off the bat with the design of the tag (and also the EIA 274). Its a nice clean chassis. WG made a very good TV and they always put out a top notch picture, you can put them up with RCA and Zenith as far as I'm concerned.

Here are some pictures of the inside. My back is still soar from sleeping in my van last night so I could be the first one at this sale. Fortunately my 2 year old didn't keep me up. The real reason I bought this TV is because of the beautiful cabinet. Since vintage video will never be worth that of vintage audio, I was really in a position of not knowing what to do with this TV. Its obvious that the cabinet alone is worth more than the complete TV, however, I seeked reasonable offers from many antique dealers. All of them told me this TV will never be worth anything, so I was left no choice but to part it out. I have always conducted by business very professionally so here are some photos for you....

[zenithfan1]

Originally Posted by sampson159

somewhere if have pictures of me dismantling a beautiful sears set.i bought it at an estate sale.slept all night in a van with my two year old.......................sorry,that issue is closed.

Good one Ron!

Originally Posted by drh4683

Here are some pictures of the inside. My back is still soar from sleeping in my van last night so I could be the first one at this sale. Fortunately my 2 year old didn't keep me up. The real reason I bought this TV is because of the beautiful cabinet. Since vintage video will never be worth that of vintage audio, I was really in a position of not knowing what to do with this TV. Its obvious that the cabinet alone is worth more than the complete TV, however, I seeked reasonable offers from many antique dealers. All of them told me this TV will never be worth anything, so I was left no choice but to part it out. I have always conducted by business very professionally so here are some photos for you....

LMFAO!
You wouldn't believe the stuff I started typing over there She really got under my skin, I hope since they pulled the listing (or it ended with no bid) they smashed it like they "threatened" to do. That way, the one I might be getting and the ones some of you have will be that much more valuable. And we will never have to hear the whining about "that one" again. A sad end but good riddance I say.

Anyways, those frickin' pictures have me rolling! I started scrolling down and the ones of your hand in there are priceless. And the screwdriver, and the knob, HA I'm still laughing damnit!
But that IS a nice tv It looks really well made, even in '72 it still reminds me of a CTC16 layout as far as looks are concerned. Ya done good this time Thanks for the pics!
P.S. Way to go fixing that turntable, that's the way to be, not enough people are willing to help others anymore. Keeps the karma good too

[veg-o-matic]

Doug, are you sure about the Wells Gardner thing? I was always under the impression that WG made the Airline sets for Wards and that Warwick Electronics made the Silvertones.

veg

[drh4683]

I couldn't resist but to make a little light humor joke with those photos. I'm glad someone got a laugh out of it!

Veg, as for the WG or Warwick deal, I may have got my facts screwed up. I always think of WG whenever I see a sears or airline set and I seem to always forget about the warwick name. I was looking up on the internet and it appears that Airline was indeed a WG make. However, I could not find anything about warwick to prove if they were exclusive to sears. Where was warwick based? Warwick, RI? I have no idea. Either Im not looking deep enough, or warwick has been gone so long that nobody cares to write about it or remember it. Even though this link doesn't indicate who made silvertone, it does however give some details as to the history of the silvertone name, so this color set I have would indeed be the end of the line for Silvertone:

http://www.searsarchives.com/brands/silvertone.htm


When I get home, I'll check the model number on the set as the 3 digit number will indicate who made the set. For reference, here's the sears "master list" of manufactuer model codes. Im pretty sure its going to be a 528 as I recall seeing that number on just about all sears sets.



http://acersite.livejournal.com/2131.html



Here is an interesting read. A lawsuit filed against sears, which was my only source about warwick. Still tells me nothing about where they are from.

http://74.125.95.132/search?q=cache:...&ct=clnk&gl=us


.

[radiotvnut]

I do know that 528 is indeed Warwick.

[joemama99]

Doug,the way you removed that tube from the chassis does indeed look very
professional.I am impressed! (LMAO)

[roundscreen]

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[andy]

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