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Philco Model 20 Baby Grand Deluxe Cathedral Radio (1931)
Philco upgraded their hugely popular model20 Baby Grand in
January of 1931. A fancy arch of "quilted maple" was added to
the front, along with fluted columns at the sides. The purchase
price remained at $49.50, less tubes. This set has become
known in today's collector circles as the Model 20 Deluxe.
The upgraded set continued to use the same 7-tube screen-
grid chassis design that was used for the original model 20.
It's a socket-powered Tuned Radio Frequency (TRF) receiver
covering the standard broadcast band from 550-1500kc. The
tubes are:- 24 (1st RF), 24 (2nd RF), 24 (detector), 27 (1st
AF), 71A *2 (push-pull audio) & 80 (rectifier). The schematic
can be found here courtesy of NostalgiaAir.
I bought this in 2002 at the NEARC show. The grille was dam-
aged (see photo below) but the cabinet was otherwise in good
shape.
It is fairly common for model 20s to turn up with damaged
grilles. This one was no exception, as seen below. The good
news is that they can often be repaired with a little time and
patience. I replaced the wood missing from the grille with
pieces carefully cut to shape and repaired the veneer using
patches donated by a junker cabinet that was a close color
match. I lightly touched up the veneer using toning lacquer,
applied using an artist's brush, so as to blend the repairs in
with the original grille.
I later gave the chassis a complete electrical restoration, so
that it now plays like new.
January of 1931. A fancy arch of "quilted maple" was added to
the front, along with fluted columns at the sides. The purchase
price remained at $49.50, less tubes. This set has become
known in today's collector circles as the Model 20 Deluxe.
The upgraded set continued to use the same 7-tube screen-
grid chassis design that was used for the original model 20.
It's a socket-powered Tuned Radio Frequency (TRF) receiver
covering the standard broadcast band from 550-1500kc. The
tubes are:- 24 (1st RF), 24 (2nd RF), 24 (detector), 27 (1st
AF), 71A *2 (push-pull audio) & 80 (rectifier). The schematic
can be found here courtesy of NostalgiaAir.
I bought this in 2002 at the NEARC show. The grille was dam-
aged (see photo below) but the cabinet was otherwise in good
shape.
It is fairly common for model 20s to turn up with damaged
grilles. This one was no exception, as seen below. The good
news is that they can often be repaired with a little time and
patience. I replaced the wood missing from the grille with
pieces carefully cut to shape and repaired the veneer using
patches donated by a junker cabinet that was a close color
match. I lightly touched up the veneer using toning lacquer,
applied using an artist's brush, so as to blend the repairs in
with the original grille.
I later gave the chassis a complete electrical restoration, so
that it now plays like new.
..new cabinet in genuine American walnut and quilted maple in tones of
honey & brown
honey & brown
newspaper ad March 20th
1931
1931
photograph showing damaged grille on set as found
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