Zenith 6-S-256 Antique Radio Custom Guitar Amp Cabinet Celestion G12S-50 Speaker For Sale


Zenith 6-S-256 Antique Radio Custom Guitar Amp Cabinet Celestion G12S-50 Speaker
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Zenith 6-S-256 Antique Radio Custom Guitar Amp Cabinet Celestion G12S-50 Speaker:
$650.00

Thanks for having a look at my listing!

I do have other guitars and amp cabinets up for sale so please have a look at my other listings!

History:

This beautiful cabinet was born in 1937 as the skeleton of a Zenith 6-S-256 radio. Standing tall, and proud for many years, this lovely lady charmed many an observer, I’m sure.

How I Received It:

This Zenith was rescued from a middle aged gent who tried to explain to me how the very 1960\'s fabric was the original grill cloth and that the radio was just working last week. Well, the chassis was missing most of the requisite tubes and the transformer and rest of the chassis was so rusted out that I don\'t think it had worked in many, many years. The veneer on the bent corner transition from the top to the front looked like it was hanging on by a thread, if at all. So, after bringing it home I was wondering about the wisdom of my purchase. But, as you might have figured out, I am a Zenith fan and the opportunity to work on another one was simply too good to pass up and I dove right in! As should be expected, there were some dents, scrapes, and general light damage before I ever got started. I did the best I could to remedy what I could. But, I want to set appropriate expectations by stating unequivocally that this is a cabinet that is nearly 80 years old! I can only hope I look as good when I’m 80!

Modifications Made (in short):

· Cabinet Exterior: removed the original finish and in the process watched that veneer on the top/front transition just disappear, vaporize, unfortunately. But, I really don\'t think it takes away from the overall appearance as they look very much like character marks. The Lemon Yellow stain really brought out their flashiness, as well. I also tried out the use of black paint on the recessed area leading into the speaker and the decorative wood structure in front of it. This was a first for me and I do like the contrast established by the black vs. bright yellow stain. That said my painting skills aren\'t exceptional, so there are some imperfections, but very small and I\'m happy to attempt to phtotgraph them if you wish to inspect them. Then many, many coats of gloss polyurethane, it has the original escutcheon but no original knobs, so had to add time period logical knobs, also added a back to the sound-box area

· Radio Dial: The escutcheon is original, but it lacked the radio dial and knobs, so used period logical knobs and and a couple layers of grill cloth backed by some black foam board, one note on some of the photos you can see through the grill cloth ... Those photos were taken just prior to me adding a black foam board, my apologies.

· Cabinet Interior: cut a new speaker board, some black paint, added 4 bolts on which to affix the one 12-inch Celestion G12S - 50 speaker, 4 Ohm impedance, some black grill cloth, added the ¼ inch jack, and a wrote her new name, “Joanna”, on the inside

Dimensions:

Cabinet: 41“ x 26” x 13”

Holds:

Speaker: one 12-inch Celestion G12S - 50 speaker, 4 Ohm impedance,can provide other speakers or ship without speakers, customers choice


Local Pickup is Great!!!

Shipping: The cabinet will be insured for purchase price. There are three options for shipping:

  1. I have a friend who works in the shipping business who builds wooden crates for the cabinets I work on. Cost of crate is approximately $75, plus ground shipping to your location being around $250, for a total of $325.
  2. If you live within about 400 miles of Phoenix, AZ I will deliver or meet you in the middle for a fee of $50 - $75 or so, depending on how far the drive is for me.
  3. Shipping via Greyhound bus that is more economical, if you are keen to pick it up at your nearest Greyhound station. To ship via Greyhound a flat rate of $150.

Please ask any and all questions. I\'m happy to answer them.

Also happy to provide additional photos, upon request.

Ethos:

The work I do on these pieces is rather controversial in the antique radio, speaker and TV world. There are some who think that every cabinet, speaker and television should be restored to as close to original condition as they can, regardless of present condition and who actually owns the cabinet or speaker.

I respect that position. As a history buff, a former archaeologist by degree, and a fan of these pieces, I understand and appreciate that way of thinking.

However, there are some problems with that position. The first is that even if one can find NOS, original parts or cobble together a similar solution, the only modern day functionality achieved from restoring a pre-war radio is an AM radio. The original multi-band radio has no broadcasts to receive other than AM. For instance, the “Police” band is no longer used by the men in blue. So, spending hundreds of dollars on what will be an AM radio is now an economic decision based on value when a brand new AM radio with better sound and lots of additional functionalities can be had for very little money. Some people love AM radio and may very well enjoy having an antique radio broadcasting their favorite talk-radio in their living room. Just as some people may enjoy watching a 1950’s TV in all of its black and white glory.

My position is that if there is separation of the architecture from the function of the piece, then we can find new, innovative ways to use the architecture, increase their value and functionality, and help them persevere for another 80 + years.

To be clear, I’m not advocating for separating all antique electronics from their exteriors. In fact, I look for cabinets whose electronics are either gone or in such disrepair that fixing them will be a significant challenge. Most of the cabinets you will see came to me as cabinets only. All of those electronics that I do find are either sold locally to fellow radio fans or donated to fellow members of my antique radio club.

The separation of architecture from technology is similar to the situation involving homes built before air conditioning was available. While some people may prefer the more natural ambience of wood burning stoves and fireplaces for heating and open windows for cooling, I think it is fair to say most of us recognize the value of central air conditioning, or at least window shakers in the summer time. Keep the architecture, yet bring the technology up to a current standard for greater utility and value for more people.

A corollary position involves the classic car world. Some people believe in restoring those cars to as close to show room condition as possible. But, some people install new engines, suspensions, electronics, etc. but keep the body styles the same. Of course, some take liberties and modify the bodies too. But, I believe this illustrates my position. Keep the architecture, update the innards and provide new and innovative ways to use that architecture for uses in the 21st Century.

When choosing a piece of history to put my blood, sweat and tears into, I am very selective. I do my best to select pieces that have been through hard times, spent far too long being ignored in the garage or shed, and generally in desperate need of a makeover. In fact, when refinishing a piece like the ones I work on, the entire process is much easier when the finish is quite beaten up. So, the worse it appears, the better for me, to a point. To be clear, I’m not advocating for separating all antique electronics from their exteriors. In fact, I look for cabinets whose electronics are either gone or in such disrepair that fixing them will be a significant challenge. Most of the cabinets you will see came to me as cabinets only. All of those electronics that I do find are either sold locally to fellow radio fans or donated to fellow members of my antique radio club. As you might suspect, nearly all of the cabinets I come across have finishes that are in serious need of a redo. However, I have come across others that still look quite good and those have been occupying special places in my home for quite some time. You will soon start to see them here, on this website, mostly because one of my best friends and his wife wanted to have one of my tabletop mp3 players done. But, they wanted one with the original finish. I hadn\'t ever really considered doing that, but I found a tabletop Zenith (check the SOLD page for photos) with zero electronics but with a solid enough finish that both they and I were very happy with the final results. So, you will soon see some original finish radios updated into both guitar amp speaker cabinets or mp3 players, or a hybrid of the two (both).

I’m not savvy in the ways of veneer replacement and I’m not terribly keen on changing much on these pieces other than cosmetics, and then almost exclusively on the exterior. So, hopefully the veneer is intact but the finish is nearly gone. I truly prefer to leave the interiors as unmolested as possible, mostly as a reminder of how truly old these pieces are, where they came from, and how they were built. Some of the pieces require additional structural support in order to remain upright and in good form. So, I add support when necessary.

As far as the innards go, for the guitar amp speaker cabinets I try to keep things simple. Namely, provide supports for the speaker(s), a jack to plug into, and provide a back if necessary or if requested. The mp3 players are more customized and dependent upon the customer, but usually involve Bluetooth/wireless in addition to some sort of amplification.

My hope for all of my pieces is that they will be seen by younger people who may have never seen this architecture before, much less doing such 21st Century activities as playing music from their phone or ipod or creating music as a guitar amp cabinet. Once they see this architecture being used in ways that they appreciate, maybe they will want to use them, preserve them, and love them as I do.

I did play in a band and used one of these pieces as my guitar amp cabinet on stage. Every time I used it people asked questions such as, “What is that?” and “What does it do?” and “How did you get it to look so cool?”

Sounds like I’m on the right track.

Thanks for making it to the end!


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