"An old cupboard" - Master 38 RG

40 replies

This thread was initially started in the old Beoworld forum where it can be found in the archives.
Like all other threads there, it has been made read-only and can no longer be updated so I've decided
to start over here.


An elderly woman put an old cupboard up for sale last december, the story goes like this:
She had it for years and with its suitable height it saw use as the platform for the family telly.
It was empty inside and she thought long and hard about what to put in there. It would be a
shame not to use the considerable amount of storage space it could provide but, knowing that access to
the cupboard contents would be a bit difficult, she decided that the garden chair cushions and carpets
would be about the only perfect things to fit in there since they wouldn't require access more than twice a year.
You see, the problem with this cupboard was that it opened at the top rather than the front so the
big television set had to be lifted off to open the lid and she was not able to do that on her own.
It was a nice looking piece of furniture and it was taken great care of for many years but the day came
when a new flatscreen TV entered the building. With the new purchase fixed directly onto the wall, the
cupboard was now only in the way.
That is, up until now it had served two functions, a primary and a secondary, but from now on it would
only do one, that being the secondary, and that wasn't quite enough to justify its presence so therefore
the garden accessories found other means of winter storage and the cupboard was put up for sale.

I bought it.

The nice old lady asked me what on earth made a person make a roundtrip of apprx 800 Km plus
an expensive bridge in minus 15 degrees C, on extremely icy roads and with high winds to pick up this old thing ?
I told her that the sole reason I did this, was that I have been collecting old radios for more than 35 years.
Not quite understanding the connection, she asked me again: "But why this cupboard, then ?".
I turned it around and pointed at the backside: "You see, it says Bang & Olufsen on the back, it's
an old radiogram cabinet!".
- "Ah..", she said, "- so the heart-shaped cutout with the cloth at the front is where the music would come out?".
- "Exactly!"
She had wondered about that for years and never quite figured it out but she liked the look of it nevertheless.
- "But it's empty", she said, almost excusing herself.
- "Yes, I know", I replied, " - you stated that in the ad, but I hope to fill it up again with what was originally in there".
She wished me the best of luck, surely shaking her head in disbelief as I disappeared around the
first corner, most likely assuming I must be nuts.
Little did she know just how correct her assumption was.

And this is how the story about this Master 38RG project begins. Where it (if it ever) ends, noone knows.

Martin

I may have bought a dead horse.
That is, it really IS a nice cupboard but, honestly, there's not a big hope for this beauty to ever become whole again.
Well, I suppose I may be able to fit something in there and I can probably make it play some sounds but
I would never expect it to be all original again.
Not a huge amount were produced, maybe less than a hundred, so finding correct parts to
complete it will be surely prove very difficult, if not downright impossible.
I will update this thread whenever (if ever) any progress will be made with this project.

Martin

Not a lot of Master 38RGs were produced and even fewer are known to exist.
Actually, I only know of one complete set.
I know who owns it and I have contacted him for information etc. It would be a huge help to me if I could find out
how things once were inside my cabinet.
However, the owner doesn't seem too fond of communication, I never had a reply from him so I suppose
I am left pretty much on my own and I will have to make do with what little info and photos, I can find on the net
and elsewhere.
Yes Mika, I think the chassis is basically the same as sees use in the tabletop model Master 38K, the
original service manual covers both models but gives no info on the fitting etc.
Finding a Master 38 chassis shoudl not be too difficult but even with a good one at hand there will
be lots of details unknown and questions unanswered.

Under the large lid on top, it should look like this (borrowed photo):

Martin

Mine looks like this...

Clearly, I am missing quite a few essentials...

Martin

Will be quite a peice if you can restore it! Love that radio dial!

Down in the dungeons I found a speaker.
This is a Perma Kino I from a Master 38K. If the radiogram version used the same speaker, it
will be useful for the project.
If I look closely, maybe I can spot holes or other traces from the fitting of the original speaker.
I could have wished for a better condition but repairs can be done to it if I can't find a better one.

Martin

I visited a very good friend and fellow B&O collector and picked up this little, sad looking thing.

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Martin

Being a Master 38K, it has a chassis, a nice dial and glass, power plug and a couple of knobs suitable for my project.
That is, I assume the chassis used in the radiogram and tabletop models were identical.
The speaker could easily turn out to be in better condition than the one, I found the other day but I'm
still not convinced that it is the correct one for the radiogram model. I will have to find out.
Not easy to see in the photos, but the cabinet of this Master 38K is completely warped, most of the veneer has gone and
everything is practically held together with scotch tape. In other words; A good parts donor potential for the project.

Martin

I am preparing to be amazed - although knowing Martin, this will exceed even my wildest imagination!

My B&O Icons:

BeoCenter-9500.png BeoCenter-9500.png
Beoremote-Beo4.png Beoremote-Beo4.png
Beovox.png Beovox.png
Beovision-11.png Beovision-11.png
Beotime.png Beotime.png
Beosound-Stage.png Beosound-Stage.png
Beosound-Moment.png Beosound-Moment.png
Beosound-5.png Beosound-5.png
Beosound-2.png Beosound-2.png
Beoremote-One.png Beoremote-One.png
Beoplay-Portal.png Beoplay-Portal.png
Beoplay-Earset.png Beoplay-Earset.png
Beomaster.png Beomaster.png
Beolit.png Beolit.png
Beogram-400x.png Beogram-400x.png
Beocenter-2.png Beocenter-2.png

Great to see this project is still happening Martin.

My B&O Icons:

BeoCenter-9500.png BeoCenter-9500.png
Beoremote-Beo4.png Beoremote-Beo4.png
Beovision-10.png Beovision-10.png
Beotime.png Beotime.png
Beosound-9000.png Beosound-9000.png
Beomaster.png Beomaster.png
Beogram-400x.png Beogram-400x.png
Beocenter-2.png Beocenter-2.png
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