Crosley 03CB Floor Console Radio by Adam Guha

A few days ago, Mr. Adam Guha sent me a short note along with a couple of photos of a vintage Crosley Model 03CB console radio that he refurbished for a friend. Note that unlike the Crosley 03CB that I refinished, Adam's still has the striped burl trim pattern on the chassis and dowels in front of the speaker - very nice! They appeared to be plastic decals because when I stripped the varnish off mine, they melted away. It would have been nice if it was actual wood veneer with that pattern.

Said Adam:

"I found your website upon searching to see who else had a Crosley 03CB and what issues they had with it. Very nice job on the cabinet on yours, it's tough to deal with photo finishes and making what's underneath look good isn't easy!

I just finished repairing my Crosley, I replaced all paper and electrolytic capacitors as well as several resistors.  I also replaced the rubber wiring to the tone control.  Mine must be an earlier production and doesn't have the massive amounts of rubber interconnect wiring that most do. It plays beautifully and really has nice sound with the 4 audio output tubes.

The knobs on all of these Crosleys end up the same way, they're actually not melted, they're rotted.  The knobs are tenite, a type of plastic made from organic materials that tends to warp and disintegrate over time. This is a common problem with Philco dial escutcheons from the same period.  There is a company, renovatedradios.com, that now sells reproductions of these items.

I've attached a couple photos of mine.  I may touch up the cabinet slightly, but don't think I'll refinish it completely."

- Adam G.

To which I replied:

Greetings Adam:

Wow, that is a nice looking radio; you did a great restoration job! You even managed to retain the striped trim areas. Mine was too far gone to try to salvage it. Only true Crosley aficionados would notice it gone. I did not know about the nature of the dials and pushbuttons being the cause of what appears to be overheating. I did buy a new set of knobs because mine were utterly deformed and cracked. The pushbuttons were fine.

Would it be OK to post your photos and note on RF Cafe? A good number of radio restorers visit and would definitely appreciate seeing your handiwork.

- Kirt B.

Adam then replied:

"Sure, feel free to post them. I restored the radio as a gift for a friend. He has not seen it yet but I am hoping he will respond positively! It is a very nice looking, and sounding radio."

- Adam G.

I have done very extensive Google searches looking for advertisements showing the 03CB model, but to no avail. The Crosley 03CA does appear, though. I have spent many hours looking a newspaper ads from the 1940s (on Newspapers.com) to see whether local electronics shops featured the Crosley 03CB, but nothing has shown up other than a short text mention of it.

Related Pages:

- Crosley 03CB Floor Console Radio by Adam Guha 

- 1941 Crosley 03CB Floor Console Radio Restoration Project

- Radio Chassis Work Fixture

- Tesslor R-601S Vacuum Tube Radio Teardown

- Tesslor R-601S Retro Vacuum Tube AM/FM Radio w/Bluetooth 3.0 Modification

- Crosley 03CA Floor Console Radio for Sale

- 1941 Crosley Model 03CB Radio Photos (Tim O.)

- Radio & Electronics Restoration Projects

- Vintage Ads with Science / Technology Themes

- Vintage Magazine Ads from Duke University's Ad*Access Website

- Vintage Radio Control Systems

Posted November 30, 2017