Always listing top quality restored tube radios with many, many more to come! Stay tuned by adding me to your favorites list. 1939 Stewart Warner 03-5B1′Senior Varsity. Stewart Warner took a bold and new approach with this bakelite gem. Featuring a truly classic and timeless art deco cabinet design with other subtle machine age design elements. The uniquely magnificent visual appeal of this set easily sets it apart from so many other cabinet designs of the same era and is one that no collection should be complete without. Packing solid audio and great selectivity, this tube radio measures 7″ tall X 12 1/2″ wide. This is a fully restored and working radio that is ready to play, display and enjoy for years to come in the comfort of your home or office. In the interest of safety, performance and reliability ALL paper, wax and electrolytic capacitors have been replaced with modern day equivalents. Any resistors testing out of their allotted tolerance have been replaced. Every tube was tested and replaced if found to be weak or under performing. Voltages are checked against the manufacturers specs. All moving parts are lubricated for smooth operation. A brand new power cord is added to replace the unsafe and brittle original. The signal strength is then aligned to factory specs to provide peak performance. Lastly, the set is then put through its paces by bench testing it for a minimum of 48 hours (sometimes even longer) to ensure reliability and to allow for a proper’burn in’ period for new components. As a result of this entire restoration process, the set sounds very warm, clear and plays strongly with that unmistakable tube driven sound. Very striking mirror-like dark chocolate bakelite cabinet with hints of darker brown smokey swirling and marbling. There was one crack on the right side of the cabinet that needed to be addressed. It was first secured together on the inside of the cabinet with a very strong high quality epoxy and then filled where necessary. Then through much time and effort, abrasively polished by hand with a 12 step dry abrasive system (no auto waxes or liquid polishes). The end result is completely seamless , very smooth and polished to a mirror shine. It is completely undetectable by touch having no gaps and no raised ridges. As you can tell by the before and after pics it has now been reduced to nothing more than a very faint blemish with some lighter blond/cream colored bakelite areas around the repair. Overall, what you are looking at is the original hand polished bakelite with all of its natural qualities and textures retained throughout the body of the cabinet. No’quick shine’ tricks are used. No oils, lacquers, or gloss coats are ever used. With each of my hand polished radio cabinets I invest significant time and attention to detail in order to bring you a set that is worth displaying in your collection or accenting your home or office decor. No dirt or grime in the lines or curves of the cabinet. No shortcuts are ever taken. Quality is the end goal. Knobs & Dial Scale. This set comes complete with the original butterscotch colored hen beak push buttons and each one of them work as intended. The original volume knob was missing so a newer one was found and painted to color match the natural color of the cabinet. The back board is a reproduction and is true to the original in every single way. Very cool and unique’film strip’ style dial scale which is nicely illuminated when the set is powered on and warmed up. All numbers are easy to read with no flaking or fading. Please view all 12 photos. Thank you for your interest in my items. The item “Very Striking Antique Vintage 1939 Stewart Warner Varsity Bakelite Tube Radio” is in sale since Saturday, May 13, 2017. This item is in the category “Collectibles\Radio, Phonograph, TV, Phone\Radios\Tube Radios\1930-49″. The seller is “wintergarden-antiques” and is located in Farmington, Michigan. This item can be shipped worldwide.
- Country/Region of Manufacture: United States
- Brand: Stewart Warner
- Model Number: 03-5B1
- Available Bands: AM Only