I have a few concerns about radios painted outside the manufacturers standards.Whilst some look nice and have been done to a very high standard, what is being covered up. I know that we use modern internals to get the radio going again, but I for one do not want to see that old cathedral radio in Ming blue with yellow trim and blood red knobs.
Regards
Joe

True enough; but on the other hand, there isn't much that can't be done to a finely-veneered wooden cabinet, paint-wise, that can't be undone.

To me, a painted wooden radio is a red flag that the cabinet underneath had severe finish damage which the "restorer" did not want to deal with. For example, in the late 30s-early 40s many radio manufacturers (most notably, Zenith) fell in love with photofinished appliques to simulate expensive woodgrain. These sets are stunning when they are in pristine condition. But anyone who has seen one of these sets that has been knocked about will know how horrible they look when the finish is scratched. Worse, it is really not possible to restore them to factory condition since the factory bookmatched grain-pattern appliques haven't been made for many decades. Since the woodgrain decals are applied directly to unfigured softwood, removing the appliques and staining what's under them doesn't give a nice result, either. So, many of these sets end up being painted.

I'm not sure that that is such a bad fate for these radios if it keeps them from being scrapped out. Maybe in the future some radio entrepreneur will start to manufacture copies of the original woodgrain appliques, and these still-intact but painted sets can then be stripped and restored to their original glory.

Good to see thoughts from another perspective
Regards
Joe:

Some clean up nicely. This is one of mine.
Terry F

http://www.radioatticarchives.com/radio.htm?radio=6883

:Some clean up nicely. This is one of mine.
:Terry F
:
:http://www.radioatticarchives.com/radio.htm?radio=6883
:
That's nice but I prefer your 6-leg Matheson-Bell,that's very nice.