Ferguson 201

[ed731pdh]

Not too much of a challenge this one, so I thought. Obtained from a house clearing auction for a silly price, this 201 showed great promise. Overall examination showed a mostly intact set with little missing. The case was scratched and damaged, on the very top somebody in the past had used the case as a writing board to the effect that the pen used had marked the veneer. Inside, the usual cloud of cobwebs and dead eight legged residents. The set had been recapped in the past at some point, the dual can being replaced with a pair of 16uf 400v Dubilier axial caps (sadly deceased). The mains cord was of the cloth variety, it was so rotten it crackled when flexed so new required there. All of the felts under the knobs bar one were missing with the result that there was severe wear under the knobs. Once the chassis had been removed it was found that the primary drive cord had perished.

The case was pretty easy, a complete strip back and sand in order to remove as much of the gouge damage as possible. There was some veneer damage on the black bottom section so a new piece was grafted in, sanded flat and painted with satin laquer. The speaker cloth was rotted and faded, it just fell apart. A new plain brown fabric was sourced and will surfice until I can source a proper cloth with the white pinstripes. The back panel was warped but intact and clean, little work to be done here, but the mish mosh of securing screws would have to be corrected.

Inside, a large speaker being driven by a two valve powered push pull stage. There were a couple of splits in the cone of the speaker, these were fixed by a gentle finger application of resin W wood glue (flexible when dry) and left overnight for a permanent repair. Inside, other than dust, a mixture of waxies and tar pot capacitors, all replaced as standard plus a re-stringing of the primary tuning cord. A quite pleasant surprise by restoration standards. A couple of tuning indication lamps needed replacement, the usual issue of blackened or silvered bulbs. On re-assembly, new felt disks cut to go under the tuning knobs.

Sound quality, excellent, these sets at near on £50 in 1948 were the equivalent of a years salary for some people and output from the dual EL34 powered speaker does not dissapoint. A very nice set.

[Andrewausfa]

Look at that veneer glow in the piccies, lovely!

Very nicely done

Regards - Andrew

[kalee20]

YES!

A good job done to a decently designed radio. Sit back and enjoy!

[Radio_Dave]

It looks fantastic, well done.

The Veneer really stands out, I'm guessing you used Danish oil for the finish?

Regards
David

[SeanStevens]

Lovely looking beast - well done, you must be very happy with the result.


SEAN

[ed731pdh]

David. No, not Danish Oil, this was a simple sand to a smooth surface, re-stain to bring the colour up, then successive coats of varnishing to build the layers up with a light sand between coats.

[mark pirate]

Nice work, i used to have one back in the 70's, these sets do sound good. Nothing like a p/p output & big speaker

[neil29]

That is a nice result . cheers neil.

[yestertech]

Loooks fabulous - an excellent job
Unusual to see EL32 in any radio, let alone in push pull.

Andy

[Heatercathodeshort]

What a cracker! Ferguson manufactured some of the very best products and these radio/grams produced in the late 40's early 50's were some of the very best. [Go cry in the corner RGD and burn that smoking jacket Dynatron] Twin EL32's produce a super sound and were probably used due to the enormous quantity of these valves left over from WW2. Nice job! Regards, John.

[ed731pdh]

Sacrilige moment coming up. Knocked up a lead to connect an old MP3 to the gram port. Cranked up the volume and twiddled the bass.

You really need to listen to Bee Gee's "You Should Be Dancing" in the workshop on a valve powered set with the pots on the shelves dancing in tune to the bass. There's nothing like it.

[vinrads]

Wow that's a lovely looking radio very clean chassis i have never seen the chassis before , does it have a gram input , i bet a record deck would sound like a Duke box , very nice , Mick.

[Wellington]

Good job, Paul - that looks impressive. I remember my Dad having one of these standing in his shed. He did get it going, and I remember being fascinated by the way the separate sections of the dial lit up depending on which waveband was selected!

But I have a question - I hope it's OK to ask it here rather than in a new thread.

Originally Posted by setsappeal

...Unusual to see EL32 in any radio, let alone in push pull...

Originally Posted by Heatercathodeshort

...Twin EL32's produce a super sound and were probably used due to the enormous quantity of these valves left over from WW2...

Why is it unusual to see an EL32 used in a radio? And why were there loads left over after WW2? A brief internet search indicates that it was used in car radios, so did it serve in radio equipment in military vehicles?

[kelvinmunson]

Very nice looking set.......... excellent job

[howard]

That looks very nice now well done It probably has a bit more grunt than the RGD I did recently with a couple of EL34s in it.

Howard

[Heatercathodeshort]

The EL32 was used in low power transmitters as well as car radio due to it's modest power requirements. It is a very efficient valve but I guess makers preferred the 6V6/EL33 route as it probably provided a higher output for a similar cost. I think Ferguson were the only company to use the valve in a radiogram if not any receiver. It should sound great with 78's of the period. There were generally thousands of all types of valves left over from WW2 the EF50, SP61 and many more. J.

[Tim]

I have loads of the "uniformed"-(CV1052?) EL32's. They are perfectly respectable output valves, but only used in a very few sets. They also have a top cap which might put some people off.

[ed731pdh]

I don't know why the issue of a top cap should put people off, it keeps certain voltages away from other areas which could become an issue when all of the pin outs are in one area a la 6V6 types.

As to wartime surplus, another of my sets here, a Pilot SH545, has nothing but wartime american type valves of the 6xx variety. I guess at the end of WW2 it was a case of getting the economy back off of a wartime footing and not wasting all that kit lying around. If you was getting your business going and you could get crates of the stuff for a cheap price, you was onto a winner.

[davegsm82]

Originally Posted by ed731pdh

Sacrilige moment coming up. Knocked up a lead to connect an old MP3 to the gram port. Cranked up the volume and twiddled the bass.

You really need to listen to Bee Gee's "You Should Be Dancing" in the workshop on a valve powered set with the pots on the shelves dancing in tune to the bass. There's nothing like it.

I don't think its sacrilige, its just another way of keeping valve equipment alive.

I have to confess, there's not a lot on the radio I listen to, possibly Radio1 because i'm a "young'un", but even this is tiresome, so I tend to resort to piping my usual flavours of music through them, those being of the 'Dance and Trance' Variety. Even though this isn't the usual accepted norm, again it means my sets are still in regular use and still sound fantasic.

Dave.

[Welsh Anorak]

Hi
Dave - nice to hear valves being used for dance music that isn't the tango or cha-cha!
Glyn