Tandberg TR 2045 Rejuvenation Project Completed!

Westlind

Rank Amateur
I spent the last several weeks rejuvenating this Tandberg TR 2045. When I got it, it had been sitting for years and had accumulated quite a bit of dust and crud. I literally pulled hay out of the tuner dial, and the knobs produced plenty of static but only intermittent (desired) sound. The wood finish was tired, but no deep scratches and everything was there. The metal grill was scratched and the paint was scratched off in several places.

Plenty of Deoxit later, refinishing the grill, and after replacing many old caps and troubleshooting a noisy phono circuit, the old Norwegian is singing again - and man, does it sound awesome. So far I've only hooked it up to a pair of Sansui SP-50s that I picked up for next to nothing, and it makes those Sansuis sound like a million bucks! I spent quite a bit of time refinishing the wood cabinet - lots off 0000 steel wool and Restor-a-finish, with some wax polish to finish it off, and it is really beautiful once more. Pictures don't do it justice, but here are a few shots anyway. This might be going to my son, who has an appreciation for vintage gear and who I trust to treat it with the respect it's due.


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Lovely job. I'm a 'Tandberg man' based in the UK. How did you refinish the grille? Did you strip it to bare metal and get it resprayed by a car paint shop or use aerosol cans yourself? What was your procedure?
 
Really nice work... that's how ALL Tandberg receivers should look after restoration. Reminds me all over again why I started collecting & servicing these pieces.

John
 
Thanks John, and thanks as always for your tips and insights!

SteveUK - I sanded down the rough spots in the grille, and then sprayed it myself with an aerosol can. Most of the scratches and dings were on the top surface - I sanded the top down to bare metal, but didn't try to get in between the grille slats - they were in good shape, and the spray paint just blended right in. If you know what you're doing and are patient, you can get really good results with an aerosol can (I've built a bunch of guitar effects pedals and some car models, so I'm pretty comfortable with aerosol paint). I found a flat matte black paint that is really, really close to the original black (you'd think all blacks are just "black," but they are not), and it turned out well and doesn't look like something that someone spray painted in their driveway, even though that is exactly what I did.
 
Can you mention the particular paint you used? I have a bunch of rough grills in the boneyard, have been saving them for future projects.Usually I can use a semi-gloss or flat matte touch-up pen for smaller nicks or missing paint areas but some of these are in need of a complete repaint. I had one powder-coated several years ago which worked ok but it's more expensive and the originals were only painted anyway.

John
 
awesome man, really great work.

For those who have to paint these sort of machines regularly,
I could advice a small airbrush compressor and spray pistol.

I used it for my model aircraft and once you get the hold of it, it is great.
the advantage is, one can use all sorts of paints and lacquers. For metal, wood or plastics.


I am working on a TR2045 as well at the moment.
I just recapped the machine and it is unbelievable what clear and warm sound these machines have.

keep up the good work :bigok:

Paul,
 
Last month I bought Tandberg 2045 thru Ebay and finally arrived to my home in Korea after 1.5 months of ocean shipping.
First It's lucky no damage during the Ocean flight and the receiver was almost new, very clean, not noticeable. Happy. But I felt disappointed after connecting to speakers. The sound was stranged, not balanced so deposited to repair shop.
After 100 USD of repair ( just cleaning of mal-contact point and replaced 2 points, I do not know the name), Then I was very surprised the damping capacity and phono sensitivity. Replaced the CREEK integrated amplifier 6060 and it's stored.
Now this receiver is from time to time connecting to BOSE 301-2, B&W CD1, Monitor audio MA 301(Old model as I love) and BOSE freestyle. Old model such as BOSE 301-2, Monitor audio is the best matching to TANDBERG 2045. My Tannoy GRF TWW and Mcintosh 6800 are sleeping at this time. I am focusing to this receiver. Very beautiful! How they created such design 1970's?
I love this receiver.
 
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