PYE radio archiving

[GoodWassabi]

I just picked up a Pye radio that I confess I am acquiring for completely non restoration purposes. I play guitar and my plan is to convert this to a speaker cabinet. The wood and construction of the cabinet seem pretty ideal for this purpose. I hate the thought of losing a piece of history though. I've tried to research the model but find there is not a lot information available on the internet for these old radios. With that in mind I'm trying to archive everything I can and post any pics that people would like to see. I've posted what appears the max number of pics allowed for the initial pose but have a good 20 more of all the internal components. I have not started disassembling and would appreciate guidance or requests if there pics that would be good to get for posterity. And where they can be posted. If I'm overthinking this need to archive it and should just convert it for my purposes please let me know. I'll move on!

[paulsherwin]

I'm not a Pye expert and can't identify it, but it's an early 30s battery set and quite rare. It may be the only example of that model in the US. It's a great pity to wreck it for relatively trivial reasons.

[Edward Huggins]

I would not have thought this is really suitable for housing a guitar speaker with all the dynamic range it needs in a suitably designed (vented) enclosure. At best it will just have a retro-rendy look, but is liable to resonate/rattle like mad. Best to leave the set as it is - it may sell or can be passed on.

[Scimitar]

Originally Posted by paulsherwin

I'm not a Pye expert and can't identify it, but it's an early 30s battery set and quite rare. It may be the only example of that model in the US. It's a great pity to wreck it for relatively trivial reasons.

Quite. Why not built a similar cabinet for your project?

[60 oldjohn]

If you unfortunately do decide to disassemble this set please note that the white metal is "Monkey Metal" sorry I forget the proper name. After nearly 90 years is very brittle and self destructs, and a lot of restorers need these metal parts in good condition. As others have said might be the only Pye Model Q in the USA.


John.

[Kentode]

Hi John, is monkey metal another name for Mazak?

I'd just copy the style of the radio, but make it bigger to take a good quality 12inch speaker.

[paulsherwin]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pot_metal

[GoodWassabi]

Well now you have me wanting to preserve the history! I have to say opening the back was the first moment I had pause to convert this. The original Cossor and Mullard tubes (sorry I’m a yank��) valves are sitting in their sockets probably since 1931. Just connects one to another time. The schematic for the battery connections is a pen and ink hand written tag. Again the personal touch of it handwritten connects. I was initially thinking these may be fairly common but I’m guessing not now. So, I guess I need to explore how to restore it.

I’ve come across the term monkey metal a couple times and understand it is a zinc alloy that time is not kind to. I know the speaker is shot. The grill cloth and speaker have a hole where it appears a child pushed a hot wheels car through, evidence being a yellow Ferrari found inside! I’ll need to remove the chassis to replace them. Any suggestions on dealing with monkey metal? I have a number of photos when I opened the back and I’ll take more as I disassemble it. What’s the best way to post all these for forum use? I’m brand new to this forum and this is my first post so learning the ropes.

[GoodWassabi]

I was going to use it as an open back cab so the interior specs are not important for sound. The dovetail construction is tight so it would have great sound. But I do think preserving the history is more important here. I can use the rising sun grill as a template and create a cab of my own. My wife is already shaking her head w the new projects!

[Hartley118]

Hi GoodWassabi,

Congratulations on acquiring this rather rare Pye Model Q battery radio. In its day it was one of the best in the world. I have one rather similar which still works well after one or two repairs.

As you'll have already gathered, the response you can expect from this forum is similar to what you'd hear from a Classic Car forum if you were proposing to convert your 1957 Chevrolet sedan into a farm pickup truck!

I guess that much depends on how much of the set is actually still present. Does it still have its four valves present? If so, they may well still be in working order and worth a few $$. Then, as John has indicated, there are other parts that would probably be of interest to an enthusiast.

You'll find details of your set on the Radio Museum site: https://www.radiomuseum.org/r/pye_model_q.html

As Edward has indicated, these cabinets are not ideal for modern-day guitar amplifiers - rather too small and vulnerable. As far as I recall, the cabinet rigidity depends on some internal partitions, which would need to be removed to fit a big modern speaker. The 'rising sun' design is a quintessential relic and would be worth copying, perhaps painting or printing in a larger version on the cloth front of a bigger dedicated speaker cabinet.

Your decision!
Best of luck with it,

Martin

[60 oldjohn]

Originally Posted by Kentode

Hi John, is monkey metal another name for Mazak?

Thank you Ken, Mazak, it was on the tip of my tongue, just trying to get my grey matter in to gear!

John.

[paulsherwin]

If you have just had a rethink about preserving it, you could sell it on to an experienced restorer and buy/build something else for your own use. You don't have to restore it yourself if that side of things doesn't interest you much, and this will be a challenging job for a first restoration.

These radios are quite rare even in the UK, as many were junked as people bought new sets after WW2. As far as I know, Pye never sold domestic radios in the US, so this must have arrived with an expat or immigrant and may be unique there. It may be worth your while gauging interest on one of the US radio restoration forums.

[dallaslaff]

Hi Goodwasabi,
I've posted a thread in the "Wanted" section of this forum, requesting if anyone has a speaker for this model Pye for sale, or has any information about them. It does look like a model Q, there should be a serial number engraved/stamped into the aluminium chassis.
If you decide not to restore the set, I would be interested in buying the speaker from you. I would also like to know any information that is on the speaker, maker, model number, etc. It would be great if you could post a photo of it.
Les

[GoodWassabi]

it appears all the internal electronics are intact. I note the 4 valves are present and appear to be the originals. The readily apparent issues are the speaker and grill cloth. I’ve gotten a good light inside and it appears the speaker leads were clipped as well. I’m wondering if the speaker was damaged and the owner tried using an external one. I note a couple of old cyclindrical capacitors that actually appear to be intact with no signs of leakage. The right knob on the control panel is frozen, not sure what these knobs do. Tone controls? The tuner fly wheel works and the tuner display moves which I would think is a big plus. The cabinet is solid but does have a number of scuffs so I would think it needs to be refinished. Paul to your point this may be more of a project than I want to take on, but I’m thinking it through. I feel like fate has entrusted me with this and I want to respect its rarity. I’ll let the group know how this progresses. I wish I could post the pics of the interior as it really is a time capsule looking in there!

[GoodWassabi]

Ok I see why I couldn’t post pics I was using the quick reply option. With the permission of the forum I’d like to post what I have so this Model is documented.

The serial number is FJQ2771. I’ve read there was a “P” option for the Model Q with a different circuit but the serial number seems to indicate this is the “Q” Model Q. I don’t see markings on the speaker yet but I’ll see if u can any.

[GoodWassabi]

Here are details on the valves

[GoodWassabi]

Some pics of the interior. Note the green capacitor w orange dot.

[GoodWassabi]

Last set for now. Some details of the cab and the aforementioned offending Ferrari! I’m happy to take any other pics that may help anyone with questions about this model.

[paulsherwin]

Originally Posted by GoodWassabi

Some pics of the interior. Note the green capacitor w orange dot.

Are you sure that's a cap? It looks like a resistor.

It doesn't look in bad condition internally. I've seen much, much worse.

[HamishBoxer]

That green dot is indeed certainly a resistor.