GE S-22-X Tombstone Radio with Clock (1934)

This stately tombstone, with its rare speaker-mounted clock, was another garage sale find. My wife phoned me one day to say that she had seen a "funny old clock radio" at a sale. I was heading in that direction anyway, so I decided to stop by, even though I assumed it was yet another plastic 1950s clock radio, of which I already have too many.

When I spotted this set at the back of the garage, my ears immediately pricked up. I'm a lot more interested in tombstones than in plastic radios these days, and it's unusual to see a clock in any 1930s radio.

The radio was fairly beat-up. Two of its eight tubes were missing, and a quick peek at the label confirmed that they are the scarce, expensive type 45s. I was quick to mention this to the owner, remarking that the previous owner may not have been smart enough to fix it, but at least had enough brains to pull out the two most valuable tubes!

I also pointed out the torn grille cloth, the missing knobs, and the holes in the top of the cabinet where a handle had once been mounted. After a little more tap-dancing over the price, I handed over a couple of twenties and loaded it into my truck.

Getting Started

The picture below shows the cabinet in as-found condition. (Click the thumbnail photo to see a larger view.) The clock is mounted in the middle of the speaker grille, supported by a decorative four-legged cast metal piece. When the radio is finished, I'll include a closeup of the clock and its metal support, which has a pattern of wavy incised lines.

The X in model number S-22-X indicates the clock. GE made about half a dozen S-22 models during the years 1931-1934, including a console set and a tombstone with a removable stand. In the early days, it was not uncommon for a model number to refer to a particular radio chassis, available in various cabinet styles.

As soon as I got the radio home, I inspected it more closely. Although very dirty, everything seemed to be in place, and the six remaining tubes all tested fine. I set the radio aside and powered up my computer in search of a pair of 45 tubes. Within a few minutes, I had ordered a couple of fresh ones, along with the schematic.

Two days later, while pawing through a box of stuff, I discovered four 45 tubes new in their original boxes, mixed in with a number of others I had photographed for my Tube Gallery. Oops! Since I had already sent payment for the two additional 45s, I chalked that boo-boo up to failing memory. No doubt I'll find a use for all of them some day.

If you're looking for a schematic, note that this radio is listed under RCA Model R-7 in Riders. You can find it online at Nostalgia Air. Apparently, the GE and RCA sets used the same chassis.

With fresh 45 tubes in hand, I could check out the set, however. After cleaning all the tube sockets and pins, I installed the 45s and began the process of powering up the radio under slowly increasing voltage. This is done with a variac, and it lets you watch for problems such as short circuits.

Wonder of wonders, it worked! The tuner seemed to be frozen on its moorings, but once the power approached about 95 volts, I could definitely hear the right kinds of noises: background static and a faint station, without any hum. Encouraged by these signs of life, I powered everything down and removed the chassis from its cabinet, to begin cleanup and restoration.

The chassis view below shows a couple of unusual features. Like many tube sets, this one has a pair of tall electrolytic capacitors in metal cans; these serve as filters for the power supply. In modern radios, the capacitor cans are aluminum, or sometimes cardboard, but these are solid copper! By the time this photo was taken, I had polished them to a nice glow.

You can also see one of two large, copper-colored cans underneath the chassis. At first, I wasn't sure what these big cans might be. When the schematic arrived a few days later, I discovered that they hold intermediate frequency (IF) coils, components usually housed in small aluminum cans in later years.

The drive mechanism for the tuner dial is also unique. The dial is a shallow cone of cardboard with printed markings, riveted onto a circular metal wheel that has teeth notched around its inner perimeter. The shaft of the tuning knob goes inside the toothed wheel and has a round rubber washer to grip the teeth and drive the wheel. A novel scheme, which worked great until the rubber dried out and was ground away by the little teeth, losing its grip on the wheel.

Come to think of it, the tuner might be the reason why this radio was taken out of service, even though still basically functional. A radio that doesn't tune is not much use! It should be fairly easy to replace the rubber, though.

Replacing Cabinet Veneer

The only serious damage to the cabinet was a place on top where the handle had been, shown in this top view.

The veneer under the handle was chipped and it had some circular gouges, perhaps caused when the handle was loose.

The easiest solution was to replace the entire rectangular veneer piece. Since some finish in the surrounding area had flaked off completely, I decided to strip and restain the entire top, as well. The outdoor view below shows the cabinet out on our deck, with the materials I'd need for this first step: a new piece of veneer, a jug of Citri-Strip paint stripper, and a small putty knife.

My local lumberyard sells veneer in 4 x 8 foot sheets, a lot more than I needed for this job, so I had gone to a local furniture restorer and convinced him to sell me a little scrap piece for a couple of bucks. Anticipating the usual mishaps, I made sure to get a piece more than twice as large as I thought I'd need.

The next photo shows how I removed the old veneer, slipping the putty knife under a loose edge and taking it off in strips. This took less than a minute.

Once the veneer was gone, I cleaned the bare wood underneath with paint thinner, to prepare it for gluing. Then I made a paper template for the new piece, using a pencil and scissors. The next photo shows the pattern on top of the veneer sheet, ready to cut. I traced around the pattern with a sharp pencil, then carefully cut the veneer with a craft knife, using the steel straightedge to ensure a clean cut.

True to Murphy's law, the first piece of veneer that I cut didn't quite fit! No matter which way I turned the piece, it was just a smidgen too small. I cut a second piece, leaving a little more elbow room than before.

The second piece looked much better. Removing the backing from the self-stick veneer, I carefully lined it up and pressed it in place, then laid a heavy book on it for a few minutes, for good measure. Self-sticking veneer is very convenient, but you'd better make sure to get it on right the first time. Once stuck on, this stuff stays where you put it!

I used a fine straight file and sandpaper to smooth the edges of the veneer, matching its edges precisely to the underlying piece. To avoid scratching the cabinet top, I laid a thin piece poster board under the file and sandpaper as I worked. The sanding also removed a few tiny bits of glue peeking out from the edge of the new veneer.

Now I had a nice piece of unfinished veneer glued to a dark, unrestored cabinet. I sanded the new piece with very fine paper, then cleaned it again with paint thinner. (In the next photo, the darker spots on the new veneer are some paint thinner that hadn't quite dried when I took the shot. I'm fanatical about keeping things clean while refinishing furniture.)

To lend some character to the new piece, I gave it a couple of little dents and dings, using the blunt handle of my old putty knife. When the whole cabinet is done, the new veneer won't stand out by appearing quot;too perfect.quot; The next step was to finish the replacement veneer and refinish the cabinet top.

Refinishing the Cabinet Top

As you've seen in the photos, the color of this cabinet is extremely dark brown, almost black. Close inspection also showed that the various parts of the cabinet were not all the same kind of wood.

It's common in cabinetmaking to put expensive veneers only on the prominent surfaces and use cheaper woods for other areas. That's exactly how this cabinet was made. The beautifully grained front is made of two matching pieces of veneer (probably walnut). A single sheet was split in half, then the two halves glued side-by-side to create a symmetrical grain pattern. Other parts of the cabinet have nondescript grain and appear to be an assortment of woods.

The old cabinetmakers used colored lacquer to give the whole piece a uniform color and mask differences in wood types. I would use colored toning lacquer, too, after removing the damaged finish on top. Only a light stripping job was needed. I wanted to remove the damaged upper layer, but leave as much of the original color and character as possible.

Citri-Strip is a comparatively new stripper product, which I like a lot. It is an easy-to-control gel which does not contain environmentally-unfriendly methylene chloride or give off harsh fumes. To use a gel-type stripper, you pour a small quantity in a clean can (catfood cans are ideal for small pieces like this), then brush it generously onto the victim and wait for it to work. The gel stays pretty much where you put it, and remains liquid for a long time.

After the stripper had worked for a few minutes, I checked with my putty knife to see if the old finish had loosened. Then, working very gently to avoid scratches, I removed the old gunk. This is the most critical phase in this type of stripping. If you start scraping too soon, or scrape too hard, you can do more harm than good.

As soon as most of the gel was scraped off, I switched to paper towels dipped in paint thinner. Working quickly, I mopped away of the remaining stripper and loosened finish, then gave the whole top a final wash with paint thinner on a soft, lint-free rag. When I was done, the top was smooth and blemish-free, and it retained much of its original color.

The next step was to match the colors. I began by wiping a coat of walnut stain over the entire top, including the new piece. This evened out the color of the stripped area and made the new veneer somehat darker. With only one stain coat, it was still too light, of course. After the stain dried, I masked the area around the new veneer with paper and tape, and sprayed on brown toning lacquer until the color looked right.

As the above photo shows, the toning lacquer made the veneer very dark indeed. When I removed the masking, however, I could see that it matched the rest of the cabinet just right.

The new piece blends right in! Most folks will never notice that a repair was made.

Restoring the Cabinet Body

The main body of the cabinet looked pretty decent, without major scars or chips in the finish. A lacquer finish in this condition can often be restored by rubbing it out with a rag dipped in a mixture of lacquer thinner and retardant. The thinner softens the original finish and the retardant keeps the thinner from evaporating too quickly. This gives you time to respread the softened finish, eliminating surface chips and scratches.

This treatment smoothed the finish all right, but it also lightened the color in worn areas a little too much. I got out the spray can of brown toning lacquer one more time, gently hitting the lightest areas until it looked just right. Now the color looks just as it did when I bought the radio. Worn areas such as the top edges still look somewhat lighter, as before, but the rest of the finish no longer has ugly scars or chips.

The last step for the cabinet was to spray on two thin coats of clear lacquer, buffing out the finish after each coat with super-fine steel wool. The result is a deep, lustrous finish. Because the cabinet was never sanded or stripped of all color, it still has plenty of character, showing various wear marks and color variations. But now it looks like an original piece that was very well cared for, rather than the beat-up thing that I hauled home from the garage sale.

Inside the cabinet, on the side next to the hot-running audio output tubes, is stapled a small square of insulating material. In case that pad contains asbestos, I sprayed two coats of clear acrylic finish over it, to seal it and prevent any stray fibers from escaping into our home. Asbestos is nasty stuff, but this pad isn't exposed to any mechanical stress, so sealing it off should take care of any potential problems for good.

Cabinet Hardware and Grille

Polishing old brass parts is just about my favorite part of restoring old cabinets. This radio has a fancy brass escutcheon surrounding the dial opening in the front. The brass was probably shiny when the radio came from the factory, but it had tarnished almost black by the time I got it.

My current favorite for shining up metals of all types is Mother's Mag & Chrome Polish, readily available in auto stores. I used very fine steel wool to help things along in the worst spots, and finished up with a soft rag. Once it looked good, I sprayed on a single coat of clear lacquer to prevent tarnishing in the future.

Many manufacturers used lacquer over brass, by the way. If you have a brass part that polishes up only on exposed worn areas, it most likely has a lacquer finish. The brass can be polished only in parts where all the old lacquer has worn away. If you remove the old lacquer with stripper, you can polish the whole piece and then re-lacquer it. Some people find the resulting bright finish "too new" for their taste. You can buy an aging solution to darken the brass to an antique patina.

I ordered a new grille cloth from Antique Electronic Supply, which happens to offer an exact replacement. You can get an even wider variety of grille cloths from Antique Radio Grillecloth Headquarters.

Incidentally, the plain model S-22 (without the clock) has a different grille cloth, with a fancy floral design in the center. I have never seen a replacement for that unique pattern, so if you have one of those sets, take good care of the cloth!

Another step was to repaint the decorative metal piece that holds the clock in the center of the grille. It had some noticeable noticeable corrosion that wouldn't polish away, so I sprayed on a coat of dark grey paint that matched the original color.

One last touch was to cut small circles of felt and glue them on the cabinet feet, in a couple of spots where the original felt had fallen off. I had already cleaned up the clock, which seems to be in fine working order. As soon as the grille cloth arrives, I can glue it into place and reassemble everything, at which point the cabinet will be well and truly finished!

Electronic Restoration

As mentioned above, this set uses a pair of electrolytic capacitors housed in copper cases. They polished up beautifully, and I also gave them a coat of clear acrylic to keep them shiny. Here is the chassis photo again, for reference. The copper cans have little vent holes on the top, making them look like old salt and pepper shakers.

These are "wet" electrolytic capacitors, consisting of a flat metal coil immersed in a mild solution of boric acid. In many cases, the solution leaks out, rendering the unit inoperative. I honestly didn't expect either capacitor to work, but when I checked them, one tested right at the specified value. Incredible! You can read more about this type of capacitor, and see what's inside one, in my Philco Model 60 Cathedral restoration article.

Here's the tube lineup for this set.

With a radio-frequency (RF) amplifier at the beginning of its signal path, this should be a pretty sensitive radio. The oscillator and intermediate-frequency (IF) tubes show us that it's a superheterodyne receiver, of course. With two 45 audio tubes and a massive eight-inch speaker, it also should have good audio . . . or at least, be plenty loud.

Compared to newer radios, the parts in this one are all quite big. Some look more like auto parts than electronic parts! The under-chassis layout is roomy, too, making it easier to work on. Sold in 1931, this radio doubtless served as the family's primary "entertainment center." People were only too happy to own a large, handsome-looking radio in those days. It wasn't until World War II, which brought technological advances in miniaturization, and the 1950s, when television took center stage, that space-saving became a big factor in radio design.

Stay Tuned!

That's as far as I've gotten at this writing (June 11, 1998). As soon as I finish the electronic restoration, I'll update this page with all the details and a few more photos, including one of the finished set.