Hello all,

I have acquired a Majestic 90-B radio. I have never restored an old radio before, so I have many questions... I will start with what to do with the cabinet.

The cabinet has a couple of major problems, in that 1) one of the 'feet' - it is a turned wooden ball, the part that touches the floor - is missing.
2) The top of the cabinet is actually split into about 4 pieces. The top appears to be all one piece of wood, and the pieces are still attached to the rest of the radio, but it is badly split into 5 separate sections, with the individual pieces beginning to cup.

The rest of the cabinet appears to be in fairly decent shape, with some dings and scrapes, although the finish is rough - meaning not smooth to the touch, tiny bumps embedded in the finish. I am wondering if someone may have tried to refinish it in the past and just did a poor job.

What should I do with this? Is there any hope for the cabinet? Could I have a new top made for it, and try to refinish it to make the unit presentable? I am not hoping to retain a lot of monetary value with this project, but it would be nice to be able to at least have it working and look nice enough that my wife would allow it to be in the house, on display.

All of the original knobs are present, the power switch and distance / local switch are present with the original round plates under them, and everything appears to be present with the radio portion itself, although the tubes all appear to be bad. I will do a separate post for the radio questions.

So what do you guys think I should do here?

Thanks - Joe

I would first pull the chassis out of the cabinet, and get the radio working. Then deal with the woodworking repair of the cabinet itself.

This is a nice set - but there are likely some problems with the electronics that will need attention.

P.S. You say that all the tubes appear to be bad. I doubt it. What makes you think they are bad?

:P.S. You say that all the tubes appear to be bad. I doubt it. What makes you think they are bad?
:
I say that because after pulling them, the silvering of the getter from the outside looked ok, but looking down from the top at the inside of the gettering, it looks milky. I haven't had any of the tubes tested yet; I don't have a tester. You think they may still be ok?

::P.S. You say that all the tubes appear to be bad. I doubt it. What makes you think they are bad?
::
:I say that because after pulling them, the silvering of the getter from the outside looked ok, but looking down from the top at the inside of the gettering, it looks milky. I haven't had any of the tubes tested yet; I don't have a tester. You think they may still be ok?
:
I hope so because it will be pricey to replace both 45s and all the 27s, unless there are subs I can use.

Joe

Before you get very far check the tuner. These tuners are made with pot metal and often warp.

Agree with Doug, unlikely for all tubes to be bad.

Norm

:::P.S. You say that all the tubes appear to be bad. I doubt it. What makes you think they are bad?
:::
::I say that because after pulling them, the silvering of the getter from the outside looked ok, but looking down from the top at the inside of the gettering, it looks milky. I haven't had any of the tubes tested yet; I don't have a tester. You think they may still be ok?
::
:I hope so because it will be pricey to replace both 45s and all the 27s, unless there are subs I can use.
:

You can't tell for sure by looking at them. You can check the filaments with an ohmmeter - unless the filaments are open, the tube is probably OK. It would be unusual for more than one tube to be bad.

The ultimate test is if the tubes light up in the set and the radio works. Even tubes that show "weak" on a tube tester very often work fine.

:You can't tell for sure by looking at them. You can check the filaments with an ohmmeter - unless the filaments are open, the tube is probably OK. It would be unusual for more than one tube to be bad.
:
:The ultimate test is if the tubes light up in the set and the radio works. Even tubes that show "weak" on a tube tester very often work fine.
:

Thanks a bunch, guys! I'll follow your advice. I've read about the pot metal issues with the 90-B tuner so will check that as well as soon as I get the radio on the bench.

Joe: I agree with the others. Get the radio working first and then decide to move on to the cabinet. As for the tubes, the old-timers taught me early on that as long as they heat up, they probably work even if they test in the "poor" range on a tester. Mark from Kalamazoo