Fisher Philharmonic Turntable - French Provincial - Circa 1964

Gentlemen,

I recently discovered a Fisher Philharmonic Turntable - French Provincial - Circa 1964 at my mom's house when we cleaning it out when she moved.

I would like to give this to someone who would actually use it and/or restore it. So please excuse me for this post but it looks like this is the right forum for enthusiasts. I don't want to throw it away or "scrap it."

The radio works and I'm sure with some minor adjustments it would be fully functional. The furnature is in pretty good shape save for a drink ring blemish on the top.

I live in central New Jersey. If someone would like to stop by and pick it up, it's yours. If interested, I will go in order to response... you can contact me at stonemillhq@gmail.com

Thanks!

thats kind of you its looks like a nice piece,i'm sure someone around here will give it a good home

Where in Jersey is this Fisher?

DAMN! I just got a '65 FUTURA VI for FREE!!! Actually traded a Ham operator a Hallicrafters S-85 for it. Gonna post it up in a minute.

Larry

Very nice, Larry! That 'Feed & Wax' works wonders doesn't it?

I mentioned it to someone in a thread about restoring some beat up water damaged Altec cabinets, but I guess he chose another direction.

Anyway, I got this Philharmonic IV.
Funnily enough it was only about 2-3 miles from me.
Thank God it was much smaller than I anticipated.

The cabinet is so-so, far from perfect, but not too bad, it could use some TLC. The Fisher control unit and Garrard inside are in perfect cosmetic shape, however, they look brand new.

But it's still in my hatchback.
Now what do I do?

First thing I'd do is NOT PLUG IT IN unless you know for a fact that it has been running within the last month or so. GET A S.M. for the TUNER and AMP BEFORE doing anything other than cleaning.

1.) Pull and test all the tubes. Replace any weak or bad ones.

2.) While the tubes are out (and protected in towels in a box) pull the Tuner, Amp, and Changer. Clean the cabinet inside and out

3.) Blow out the cobwebs, dustbunnies, etc., out of the tuner and amp. With a damp cloth, wipe the tuner and amp. Let dry.

4.) Clean and lube the changer. There should be a manual over @ vinylengine.com. The changer is a Garrard AT-6 I think. Change the STYLUS.

5.) DE-OXIT ALL potentiometers, switches, and controls on the AMP, TUNER, and CHANGER. Faderlube Afterwards.

6.) Make a list of all the electrolytic capacitors and send it off for purchase. You might be ok for a short while before having to replace the caps. If you do run it, DON'T Push the Volume up until after the recap.

That's it for now on the starters( yeah, there's more. ) We'll let ya chew on this a while.

:^)

Larry

Well, since I have noooo room in my apt. I took the Philly to my storage. But first I opened it. It does in fact have a pair of 6hu8 power tubes,(same as the Philharmonic III), and all the tubes are original. And it also has the kinda rare mpx-77 module.


It is very dusty & dirty inside, missing all the documents that I could see, were once stapled inside the cabinet and on the back cover panel.

The cadmium on the tuner module and mpx module are starting to to turn yellow and corrode. Funny though the aluminum on the main chassis is still shiny? :scratch2:

Restore it or not?

I'd at least recap it, and get it in good working order. It may be fine at that. Then in time if it grows on ya, THEN do a full restoration. But get it out of the storage shed. Being as you're in Jersey with "FULL SERVICE" gas stations, take it to one that has a work bay. ask to borrow an air hose with a blow gun. Carefully blow out all the cobwebs, dust, dirt, etc. Then take it home and with a small brush attachment vacuum it out completely. Wipe the insides with a damp cloth.
Do the Howards restore a finish and some feed and Wax. Get the electronics running satisfactorily and your set.

On mine the cadmium on the Futura is doing the same. Wonder if being in a semi damp basement for 15 years had any bearing on it. Conservative use of Brasso and some judicious elbow grease and it's shiny again. Stayed away from lettering.


Larry