I suppose I will drive up the price of these, but I've already seen good reviews elsewhere about these in radio-land. Just re-capped one for a customer, and couldn't believe my ears! Such an ugly and plain phonograph! I would surely pass this up without knowing what was inside. The amplifier is so well designed, and the sound is so thrilling, that it is difficult to believe! Deep rich bass and crisp wonderful treble. Wonderful on 78s and LPs, and has adjustments for different recording curves. ...So if you ever see one, and you don't mind its ugly aesthetics, it's definitely worth owning!

Also, on a side note, the Philco 39-45 that I re-capped and repainted the dial for a customer, and am now reconing the speaker for, has amazing sound and superb reception capabilities. Without re-tuning any of the circuitry, all of the stations fell exactly where they should on the dial, and with excellent strength on a 2' piece of wire. ...a somewhat humble radio with excellent performance, but beware of all of that ugly rubber wiring inside! I told my customer that it should be rewired, but fused it with a 1 amp fuse for now to be safe.

I can't speak to the sound qualities of the Pilot unit, never having owned one, but I will attest that the Philco "39-xxx" family are great-sounding radios. (I own five copies of various models, including the -45, the -55, and the -116, the latter two having the "Mystery Control" apparatus).

I've found that many people find the cabinets of the 39-xxx console family to be ugly- an opinion that I don't share. To me, they are refreshingly modernistic (in a subtle way) especially when compared with the bizarre Deco designs of their late-30s contemporaries.

Ya, I like them, too. I can't say that I don't like the bizarre deco styles, too, but I really do like the more refined modern look of the 39 series, and I especially like using the roller controls. They're pretty fine! Loved the way the dial turned out after 8 attempts of scraping white lacquer off of it, too. Unfortunately all of the original white paint flaked off, but the smart people at Philco etched the letters in the glass. Couldn't be happier!

Those sliderule dials were a surprise to me when I found one that had the paint flaked off. I had already owned a couple of versions in perfect shape, so I assumed that the markings were just reverse-silkscreened on plain flat glass, and therefore unrestorable except by replacement. It was a pleasant surprise to find that the markings were acid-engraved and that restoring the lettering was as simple as shooting a coat of off-white lacquer on the backside of the panel, then skiveing off the excess with a single-edge razor blade while the paint was set but still "green". This must have been an expensive process even back in the late 30s but it really boosted my appreciation for Philco as a high-quality radio manufacturer.

Welcome back, Thomas. Where have you been? Mark from Kalamazoo

:Welcome back, Thomas. Where have you been? Mark from Kalamazoo
:

Working. Way too much--10-14 hours. Got a new job at AT&T. That, and I don't work on radios too much anymore, and I got sick of the same-old same-old on the forums. ...but it's great to see that you're all here, and I like to come here from time to time to read the schematics.

Yes!!! Good to hear from you, Thomas. Always enjoy reading your take on things. Thanks for stopping by.