New Member's Zenith Console - and One Question

I was thrilled to find PhonoLand over the weekend, and have been lurking, reading through the various posts. Got the bug this afternoon to dig out a few photos of my Zenith, register as a member, and post my first message.

My Zenith is the exact model (sorry, never got around to taking the back off to see what model number this is) that my parents owned back in the late 1960s. Three years ago, I tumbled upon this "stereo" when it was listed on CraigsList, and in a weak moment, made arrangements with the seller and 72 miles later, let it take pride of place in my TV room. While it was a purely sentimental purchase, I haven't regretted buying it for a minute!

The Zenith was owned by a little lady who's husband purchased it new, in Pittsburgh. She sold it to a guy who was furnishing his apartment in Danish Modern (the place was a showplace), but he had to sell off most of his collection because he was getting married and his fiance didn't care for his furniture. He was happy that the Zenith was going to a good home.

All in all, the "stereo" works well - it gets fairly heavy use when the days grow short and the winter winds howl, but it does have it's age-related issues. For safety's sake, I never leave it plugged in. All functions work, though there's a trick to getting the "stereo/mono switch to work. The phono plays, though the stylus/tone arm picks up a rumble that I am guessing is caused by the hardened rubber of the idler wheel.

My one question (actually, two in one) is: Does anyone know of a reputable repair person or persons in the western Pennsylvania area who would be able to go over the amp/tuner electronics and also get the rumble out of the turntable?

I appreciate any and all thoughts, advice, and info that you can provide.

Joe

Gads! Sorry for the huge photos - I'll do better next time!

I'm a restoration professional from Philadelphia, but if that chassis & Zenith/VM changer came in the shop here tommorrow, I wouldn't even be able to get into servicing it till Sept at least, I'm backlogged here with vintage stuff.
I do them in the order they come in the door, but once I finsish one, two more come in.
But, I keep churning them out, one at a time - I like to make sure they are perfect.

Seems a lot of people are demanding my services these days. (where are all the good techs?)
I haven't been able to take a vacation in years.
LOL

By the way, that short metal shaft near the tonearm/needle - it's missing the little soft brush that wipes the needle clean as it passes over it.

WELCOME TO THE BOARD, JOE!!!

I'm glad you did your homework and were able to be more specific about your issues. These consoles are great, aren't they? I had a similar model that had the adjustable louvers in the front, but got rid of it...just too many consoles. I'll try to find a pic.

You got a VM changer, and I think I have a pic of the missing brush that Matt is refering to. I apologize for grainy pics, some may be from my old camera cell phone.



MATT: Don't you have some reliable apprentices who can fill in if/when you take that much needed vacation? I don't know how old you are (what's age got to do with it?), but burnout can really wear on a person.

"Love what you do and do what you love" --BB

Bobby Basham
Tucson, Arizona

BB:

The actual meaning of my "where's all the good techs?" basically means that from what I hear, there just arn't any good, caring service people in the area here besides me that do what I do.

While I really don't mind the backlog so much, indeed it results in turning down some vacation time, but hear this....

And not to sound snotty but...
I simply cannot train, nor have the time to train, anyone to do things with the level of skill, perfectionism, and detail, that I do, at 58.

This is what my customers expect, particularly if it's a family heirloom, or a high-end vintage piece.
And if I was the customer, I'd want that too.

So far, they're willing to wait a while, 'cause they know it'll "be good".

-M

Well, patience is a virtue, and if your customers are willing to have something serviced correctly the FIRST TIME, then it is worth every penny.

I work in the Legal profession and come accross so many cases where the unlicensed, knucklehead, contractors constantly rip people off. The dumb victims go by a referral from one of their satisfied friends, and then wrote checks up front for thousands of dollars, and the "contractor" abandoned the job, leaving them with spending thousands more to find a licenced person to clean up the shotty, incompleted work.

The stupidity of people amazes me these days..."Don't call a professional...My uncle's nephew's ex-wife's boyfriend's son can do that for you...cheap, too!" You get what you pay for.

With money tight these days, make the sacrifice (not really), spend alittle more and get it done right. That way you don't have to spend MORE money getting patch work done on something that should have been done correctly the first time. And there may be a free estimate and warranty included in the repair.

We had a nasty storm blow through here July 4th weekend. A few of my tiles were ripped off from the pitch of my roof and several others were loosened. Some older friends and neighbors offered to do the repair, but I declined. Some of them are knowledgeable and have done repairs in the past, but I want a true professional to protect my new investment.

I'm sure folks wouldn't take their prized Corvette or whatever to some chickenhead greasy garage down around the corner for servicing, when all they have is a battery charger and a few tool boxes.--BB

BB, one of my good customers is a lawyer too, and on occasion brings me an antique radio he found and liked.
After several radios, he knows my work, and that's why he comes to me.

I get a lot of "repeat" business like that, and while keeping things professional, I also become friendly with the customer.
In my book, it's just a good business practice. (kinda the Old School way of being)

This week a few more "pieces" came in, furthering my struggle to "catch up", but all my customers know and understand my "backlog" and the fact that these jobs cannot be rushed.
They're patient, thankfully.

Good for you, MattTech, your reputation and word-of-mouth speaks for itself.

I just loathe the predators who take advantage of unsuspecting newbies embracing this old technology, or any technology, for that matter. You seem very thorough in what you do, and probably give, right on the nail estimates, minus any unexpected surprises that may pop up.

The repairs I do are for my own stuff. If one of my coworkers or friends are looking for a console, I' freely give them away and only charge for a new cartridge where needed. The Maggies don't leave the premises. No profit here for sure, after testing and replacing caps, resistors, other out-of-tolerane semiconductors, checking voltages. I don't wanna get into the repair business as an extra income after my approaching retirement. It would be a fun "hobby+, but I don't guarantee the work that I do even though they work fine when they roll out the door.

In all of my years of doing self-repairs, maybe only two people have asked me to repair something. Even though I think my soldering skills, reading schematics and testing voltages etc. are good, I don't like working on "other people's
stuff. Don't need any liabilities here in case I screw up.

I feel the same way about cooking...I think I'm a damn good cook, but get nervous when preparing food for others, potlucks or whatever and don't participate for some reason.

Sorry to go on ad nauseum again, but I don't want to give the local and elsewhere folks the impression that I'm a technician, but managed over the years to gain alot of knowledge and successfully done my own repairs.

MattTech, you must be worth your weight in gold since you have a good track record and your new/repeat customers are patient, knowing that they will have a job well done. Okay, I'll shut up.--BB

Bobby Basham
Tucson, Arizona

Oh, trust me, I find "surprises" in virtually every unit I work on.
Old, ratty repairs done decades ago...
Recent DIY mess-ups.
And the natural aging process, signs of neglect.
This is why I hesitate to give an estimate "up front".
The time invested in doing normal restoring is substantial, but add the extra hassles in, and costs rise.
Sometimes some custom work is involved, machining, special-ordering.
Custom work costs!

But in the end, it's the satisfaction of having a properly working unit that counts.
People appreciate that, and the fact that I insure the safety of these by bringing it up to modern standards with fuses, etc.
I certainly don't need liability issues.

I do my best to keep restoration costs reasonable, but sometimes it's difficult.
I have a choice.... do less, cut corners, or spend the extra time to make sure it's perfect.
I like perfect.
My customers know that too.
The e-mails of appreciation later on are side-benefits.

If need be, afterwards, I welcome "followup" visits, because with vintage stuff it's difficult to predict if something else goes wrong.
And that's thankfully a rarity, even IF the job is done right the 1st time.

DoghouseRiley wrote:In my early twenties I managed a radio/TV/electrical appliance store.

My engineer, who was of a similar age was skilled at his job. I remember him often saying when confronted by a customer's problem radio or TV on his work bench, that half the problem was that it had obviously suffered from the attentions of, "a well meaning friend."

That's why I basically frown on DIY's and strongly suggest a professional go over the unit.
Not that I'm against people doing things on their own --within reason--.

BUT....

But too many people stick their fingers where they don't belong.
This was known from WAY back, thus the infamous label on products "No USER SERVICEABLE parts inside - REFER servicing to QUALIFIED service personal."
There's a REASON behind that message.

Us techs are trained and experienced in repairs - known problems - service manuals, etc.
This helps in the efficiency to troubleshoot and provide a speedy repair.
But when messed-with by backyard mechanics, this NOW adds to the time involved and difficulty of doing such repairs.
Bottom line - if this is the case, the backyard mechanic is going to have to pay MORE in the end.
Better they stayed out of the damn thing.

That's why I don't service other people's units. I could very well be that "well meaning friend" and screw up their stuff. It's better for me to burn up my own crap and learn from that mishap rather than using someone else's cherished unit as a guinea pig.

If it's a simple issue such as replacing a cartridge/needle, or a broken belt in a tape deck, when everything else works perfectly, that's a DIY I can handle. I think that falls into the safe category of "within reason". No mention of a dead/distorted channel, etc.

It may be a challenge, but refuse to take care of more serious issues that folks may try to give me. If my stuff performs well, and you're interested, you can have it. But to have someone bring in something of theirs makes me abit nervous. I think what I do is decent, but don't have that much confidence in myself to take on outside jobs. --BB

Bobby Basham
Tucson, Arizona