Radio album, page 13

Radio album, page 13

A 1933 Grigsby-Grunow Majestic model 461 Master Six, 6 tube AM chrome-grille tombstone radio undergoing restoration

This is a 1933 Grigsby-Grunow model 461 Master Six, 6 tube AM receiver in a then-ultra modern cabinet. Probably one of the first tombstone radios. This radio was one of the last of the original true Grunows. This model is very desireable because of it's chrome grille. Several models were made with chrome grilles, and was so eye-catching that later several other companies began making chrome grille models themselves, such as Zenith. The Grigsby-Grunow company was formed in Chicago, IL in 1928, and sales were extraordinary due to the superiority of their speakers over that of others on the market. Soon, however, the depression caught up with them, and they went bankrupt in 1933. For the 5 years they were in business, Grunow did make some of the most beautiful, up-to-date, high-performance radios then on the market. The Grunow name was bought by the General Household Utilities Corp. (they went bankrupt themselves in 1938), and the Majestic name was bought by a holding company that was renamed the Majestic Radio and Television Corp., which closed their doors around the late 1950s. General Household Utilities did continue with original Grunow chassis and case designs for 1934, as with the purchase of the Grunow name, they also picked up the new designs for the 1934 model year. The Grunow chrome-grilles would live for one more year.

This radio is one of the rare and highly sought after Majestic chrome-grille radios. VERY EXPENSIVE if it's not beat up too much. As you can see here, mine truly is a "basket-case". There is nothing here that isn't broken, torn, rusted, fried, rotted, mouse-eaten, or self-dismantled. Fortunately, all the parts are here except the square wood knobs. Will make them later in the restoration process. Most people would tell me to just use it for firewood, but I love watching them eat crow (uncooked, without the benefit of Tabasco sauce) after I'm done with the restoration.

Here is the underside of the chassis after replacing all of the capacitors. Am going to place the capacitors inside the capacitor boxes on top of the chassis a little later. Some of the wiring was also replaced, along with the line cord. Will probably go ahead and replace all of the resistors and the rest of the wiring, too. I use the same type cloth-covered wire as the original. The chassis now works great! Will polish and clean the chassis later in the restoration. Need to repair the speaker cone, as it has a couple of small tears in it, but nothing serious.

This is what it will look like (hopefully) when finished.This picture came from the Radio Attic Archives. Sure is a beauty! The owner, Mark Toppo, did a fantastic job on this one.

O.K., the case is next. Have to reassemble this wooden jigsaw puzzle. Took a while, but here it is assembled, and partially refinished. Just got a new grillecloth (original pattern, too!), and polished and rechromed the grille and dial windows. Will install those next. Won't be too bad, will it?