Sea Green 1957 Motorola Model 56H Vintage Vacuum Tube AM Radio Iconic Turbine Design!
DESCRIPTION: One of the most sought after mid century radio designs. Nicknamed the "turbine" Motorola for obvious reasons. The cabinet is factory original urea plastic which is a hard inflexible plastic that predates polycarbonate and styrene based plastics found everywhere today. These turbine models were very susceptible to heat cracks along the top. This vintage tabletop tube AM radio, manufactured by Motorola in 1957 is in excellent working condition.
CABINET CONDITION: The top has a diagonal heat crack on the left side. There are repaired cracks on the back left side corner. This turbine example is sea green which is more rare than the aquamarine turquoise.
WORKING CONDITION: Picks up AM stations clearly and loudly up and down the dial without need of external antenna attachment. Nice deep rich tone. This radio is over 60 years old!
CONE: The clear cone is shiny and securely attached no broken attach tabs no scratches no chips no inclusions. The golden tuning dial metal cone is in good condition but with some oxidation spots. Numbers are clear and readable, no missing material.
LOGO: M logo is in very good condition.
KNOBS: The knobs are in excellent condition.
LETTERING: No missing ink, smudges, or rub-off on tuning dial lettering. The tuning dial works fine and smooth no slipping. Gold tuning cone rotates as you turn the tuning knob! Classic.
DIAL LIGHT: No dial light, not designed with one. But can b added for an extra charge.
SOUND QUALITY: There is no loud or pervasive hum. There is no loud or pervasive static between stations unless you operate near modern megahertz devices. The set has been aligned according to factory specifications.
INTERNAL ELECTRONICS: All out of tolerance paper and wax capacitors have been replaced with modern equivalents so this radio has another 50+ years or more of playing time! The tubes are working fine. All out-of-spec resistors have been replaced with modern correct value and voltage equivalents. The radio has been thoroughly cleaned and inspected. All wiring has been thoroughly checked for possible bridging and weak solder connection.
BACKING BOARD: Backing board is in excellent condition with crisp square corners and clear readable printing.
POWER CORD: The original power cord and plug are in very good original working condition with no cracks, or splits. No exposed wiring.
FACTORY LABEL: No missing factory labels.
COLOR: sea green
YOUTUBE VIDEO here
DIMENSIONS: Approximately 15" x 5" x 5.5" (l x w x h)
WEIGHT: 4lbs 3oz
ADD BLUETOOTH MP3: See info here
ADD SMART SPEAKER: See info here
ADD DIAL LIGHT: See info here
Product: antique radio, vintage radio, retro radio, vacuum tube radio, AM radio, art deco, mid-century product.Category: radio
Cabinet construction: plastic
Period: 1950s
Country of manufacture: USA
Electronics: Mounted circuit board or chassis. Vacuum tube circuit.
Vacuum tubes: tested and working. Amplifier, converter, detector, pre-amplifier, rectifier