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Fisher Consoles 1959-1965

This post may not qualify for the Fisher Console thread but I thought I would bring it to your attention.

I just came from looking at a "Fisher Entertainment Center" that was advertised on CL.

It ended up being a 7 foot custom console circa 1963.

The son of the owner said his father bought the custom console and built the Fisher (Stratakits) components himself:

1. Fisher KX-200 amplifier
2. Fisher KM-60 tuner
3. Dual 1009 turntable
4. AR 2a Speakers (guess which one still works)

The tubes are mostly original branded Fisher but I noticed some Amperex Bugle Boy 12AX7's. The amplifier has 2 broken slide switches which I've sent out some emails to look for replacements. One knob cap is missing.

Unfortunately, I couldn't take the console. It was a well made piece of furniture. The 2 speakers fit in the end sections where the speaker grills are located. If anyone is interested in the cabinet, it's located in Central New Jersey. I was told the cabinet was made by a New Jersey company.

Here are some pictures.

PS - On the way out they said they had found 2 1951 bakelite radios. One is a Stromberg Carlson 1500H and the other a generic bakelite with "WOR" on it. Aparently, the wife won it in a radio contest! They gave them to me. I'll add a photo in the next post.
 

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TheRed1 said:
Your Fishers are pretty close to what I've decided would be the ultimate console for my living room: The '59 Contemporary II with matching Stereo Companion. I started with the concept depicted in the Stereo Companion page of the '59 catalog. Then I overlaid a grid scaled to the known dimensions of the 510/610 to approximate the size of the record cabinet which would seem to be a fairly straightforward carpentry project to build. (The grid also revealed that the 560's width is somewhat exaggerated in this rendering.)

Next I reversed the image to match my living room, removed the table and replaced the 510/610 with the Contemporary II. Then I went completely nuts and overlaid a scale grid over a scan of a floor plan of my living room. I created a dozen or so separate additional scale overlays for all existing and contemplated pieces of furniture so I could re-arrange them at will. This is all in the way of a proposal I can set before my wife should I ever come across a Contemporary II with a matching Stereo Companion. I like to be prepared.

Proposed view from the big chair:
ME-3.jpg
Click to expand...

What components were used in the Contemporary II? I have a line on the cabinet with the turntable and speakers, but the tuner/pre and amp are gone.
 
Sam, I believe it was the R-30-S which was very similar in concept to the 610-ST, an all-in-one tuner/stereo pre-amp/mono amp. Not terribly common but very likely the same sized face plate as the 610 and Fisher's older mono tuners and receivers (the '58 Contemporary used the R-20).
 
If I get it, I'll figure out what I want to do with it. The main goal of the chase is the GE VR cartridge on the headshell...
 
It's not in my possession yet, but another AKer picked up the Contemporary cabinet for me today. Now to figure out what to do with it. The Contemporary came with the R-20 chassis, and the II came with the R-30-S. Anyone know what else would physically fit in the opening?
 
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Was anyone else following this 1959 Fisher Console (Model 320) on EPay?

Did an AK'er win?

It ended up going for an awful lot of money....!

Here are the pics taken from the listing ....
 

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visman said:
Was anyone else following this 1959 Fisher Console (Model 320) on EPay?

Did an AK'er win?

It ended up going for an awful lot of money....!

Here are the pics taken from the listing ....
Click to expand...

Just a minor clarification - model 310 was the 1959 version, 320 was 1960. The companion speaker was 130 in 1959 and 140 in 1960. No idea what practical difference there is, if any.

http://members.cox.net/fisherconsoles/Promenade.html
http://members.cox.net/fisherconsoles/PromenadeII.html
 
Here's the '59 Promenade for comparison:

1959Promenade-1.jpg


Note how the lid does not cover the controls as the much larger and taller lid on the '60 Promenade II does. Otherwise, I believe they are identical. The specs in the catalogs are the same, word for word, for both models.
 
According to Sam's link the 1960 Promenade II - model 320 also has an AM/FM Radio and a 610 Chassis. But this one (labelled as a Model 320) clearly has no AM/FM Radio.

Looks like a 59/60 Hybrid - 60 cabinet with 59 phonograph.
 
visman said:
According to Sam's link the 1960 Promenade II - model 320 also has an AM/FM Radio and a 610 Chassis. But this one (labelled as a Model 320) clearly has no AM/FM Radio.

Looks like a 59/60 Hybrid - 60 cabinet with 59 phonograph.
Click to expand...

My apologies to the Fisher community: that is an error on my website. There was no Promenade model with a radio as far as I know. The '59 and '60 catalogs list phono-only Promenades exclusively. I believe I was under the impression that the 310/320 models were with and without radio similar to the 510/610 consolettes.

I hate to tinker with HTML because I have forgotten most of the codes. I'm a quick study but I forget just as fast. I will certainly try to correct the error as soon as the wine wears off - perhaps tomorrow. It is my hope that AK member Jonboy will be able to launch a new and improved version of the Fisher Consoles website in the not-to-distant future. I have pledged to provide as much content as storage and bandwidth will permit.


EDIT: 6/12/10 - Corrected file uploaded. http://members.cox.net/fisherconsoles/PromenadeII.html
 
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The 1958 Contemporary is in the house. This is probably the most odd console situation ever - I don't have the R20, but I have every bit of paperwork - including the hang tags from the knobs. It needs a tiny bit of veneer repair and some touch up to correct a few dings and scratches. I'm a bit confused by the model number - it says C800P, but according to TheRed1's site, there was no C800P, just these four:
C-800M - Mahogany
C-800W - Walnut
C-800T - Teak
C-800C - Cherry

"P" on most Fisher consoles stood for "Provincial" - a cabinet style, not just a finish color. I think it must mean "Pecan" in this circumstance. I wonder if it was a special order?
 
That is odd, Sam. A Provincial Contemporary would be somewhat of an oxymoron. Perhaps, since the Provincial models almost universally used cherry wood, someone at Fisher's cabinet works mistakenly used the "P" on what should have been an C-800C. In which case it might be fitting to install an 800-C in a C-800C . . . if only it would fit.

Speaking of which: Now that you have the cabinet, what are the dimensions of the cut-out for the R-20? It's my impression that the chassis sizes for Fisher's squarish tuners and receivers in the mid-to-late 50s were all over the board. I wonder if a TA-500 would come close to fitting - they seem to be fairly plentiful and comparatively inexpensive.
 
The finish doesn't look like Cherry at all. Pecan or Teak, maybe. Rather light for Walnut. There's a decent picture in my thread about the cabinet.

I'll measure the opening tonight. I was thinking that a TA-500 might be a decent replacement, though I'd rather love to find an R-20 (and comparatively, I'd figure that it should be even cheaper than the 500). This thing is super complete, except for the rather glaring exception of the receiver and back plate from the speaker cavity. Every scrap of related paper is here.
 
For those of you interested, there is a Fisher Custom Electra chassis listed on E*** going for $150.00. It is the 3rd time the owner has listed it. It originally started at $500.00.

This chassis uses 4 x 6V6 outputs which makes me think it is the Custom Electra I (K14 chassis).

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110548472332

My concern with it is that he powered it up but made no mention of connecting speakers.

This is not my listing and I have no involvement with it.

Jon
 
Sam, while I didn't cast a jaundiced eye on the grain, my presumption was it was a tawny walnut finish, like what McIntosh did with some of their 50s cabinets. It ends up looking like a light teak or slightly darkened pecan.

However it falls, it falls pretty. :thmbsp:
 
jonboy55 said:
For those of you interested, there is a Fisher Custom Electra chassis listed on E*** going for $150.00. It is the 3rd time the owner has listed it. It originally started at $500.00.

This chassis uses 4 x 6V6 outputs which makes me think it is the Custom Electra I (K14 chassis).

My concern with it is that he powered it up but made no mention of connecting speakers.

This is not my listing and I have no involvement with it.

Jon
Click to expand...
That's the same chassis in my Custom Electra. :yes:
 
Jon, since you are the de facto expert on Fisher consoles from this period let me ask you if the following jives with what you've found in your consoles.

My database indicates the K-15 and the K-100 chassis were introduced during the 1957 model year on Fisher's Custom Electra and Custom Electra II consoles, respectively. Both were discontinued by 1958 which would tend to make them rarer than the K-14 which ran from 1955 through at least part of 1957 on the earlier Custom Electras.

Which of these chassis do you have in your collection and what are the differences?
 
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