Fisher 500C faceplate

[Deleted User]

Hello,
Would anyone be able to send me a digital photograph of the glass section of a 500C faceplate? I need to be able to clearly see the dial markings and wording of the graphics used. I screwed up and washed off the decals on the inside of the glass. However, with a good digital photo there are companies who make decals.
Thanks much, Ken

mhardy6647

I can certainly try to get you a clean photo of one of mine (either the good one or the not so good one). There were two flavors (at least) of 500C dial glass markings.

A scan would be even better, if someone has a disembodied one floating around...

engtaz

http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?t=48226
Ken.
Here is another person to ask.

engtaz

mhardy6647

...that's the "newer" dial scheme.

[Deleted User]

Hello,
Thanks, a digital photo would be much appreciated.
Ken

mhardy6647

Does this help at all, Mr. Ken?

This is my 'basket case' 500C, which was easier to get to than the nice one. Both have the same, newer-style dial glass markings.





The best bet, I'd guess, would be to remove the dial glass and scan it.

Sorry for the reflections! I can get you a better quality photo, with a ruler for scale, I'm sure... but not at night :-(



For comparison, here's an example of the other 500C "morph", which only had calibrations labeled every 4 MHz (4 MC, as they'd say back then!). I assume these were earlier production models.


http://www.quadesl.com/graphics/500c_pic.jpg

[Deleted User]

Hello,
Thanks much, I'll ask my wife to take a look at those.
Take care, Ken

mhardy6647

My pleasure. I am sure I can get you something at least a bit better in quality.

schwarcw

I like the idea of a scan. Put some white paper behind it, scan it to a file that you can edit (color, smooth the lines, etc.) then get a decal made. Good luck Ken!

Nice Fisher Mark! Have you recapped anything in that beauty?

mhardy6647

That's my basket case 500C! A winter project.
I picked up a 400, a 500B and a 500C recently reasonably inexpensively. All need work, but are believed to be restorable.

the 500B


the 400




I have a nice, restored 500C too, fortunately :-)

schwarcw

Real nice mark! Good luck on those projects. Post your experiences in the Forums. This stuff is fun.

I have a friend who has offered me his KM-60 (no cabinent) for $200, which I think is high. Additionally, I'm not sure of the condition. I've asked him to hook it up so I can hear it, and I'll give it a closer examination. Any tips for looking at one of these old "birds"?

mhardy6647

My tales of Fisher restoration have been posted at audiokarma. The Fishers are fun and easy to refurbish, and well worth the effort. They are good looking and good sounding beasts.

$200 for a KM-60 in fine condition with good tubes sans case sounds OK to me in this day and age. See if they've got original tubes (especially the small-signal tubes), as Fisher used good ones (Telefunken and Mullard). If it's in working order, see (or ask) if the coupling caps have been changed. If that one has a selenium rectifier (e.g., in the bias/DC filament supply), ask/see if its been changed to a silicon rectifier/bridge. Listen for hum. After it has run for a few minutes, see if the P/S cap cans are cold, and see if the power transformer is anything but slightly warm. After longer run time, the P/S caps should stay cool, but may pick up heat from neighboring, hot items (e.g., the power tubes). Does the KM-60 have a tube rectifier? Some of the earlier Fisher gear did. The power transformer will likely get quite warm after it runs for a while, but that's OK.

Here's an early X-100 (7189 outputs) that I redid for a local fellow...

mhardy6647

Just for fun and appropos of nothing...



(from the 1966 Lafayette catalog... the prices were dropping on the tube equipment; the solid state Fishers were also available)

schwarcw

I like reading the vintage audio ads. I bought my first stereo amp and speakers from a Lafayette Electronics store in 1967 with money from my paper route.

Carl