A kind reader shared his comments and photos of his restored Synchrophase MU1 Grebe Radio. He put a lot of effort into restoring the finish “with several layers of Cordovan shoe polish, which has a perfect match to the Mahoganite color. I finally built up the wax until I had a level and flat finish (took many weeks because shoe polish is very slow to dry), followed by 4 or 5 layers of Johnson Paste Wax.” It’s always interesting to get a report from the field and know that Grebe radios are out there and still appreciated.

Here are the Grebe Radio photos of my restored MU1.

Really, it is a marvel of engineering, electrically, mechanically, and artistically. I recently showed it to an old German Scientist (WWII vintage) who by the expression on his face, seemed a bit reluctant to head over to my office ‘just to see an old radio’ but followed me on over.  When he saw the Grebe he was completely silent, then he said ‘my God, this belongs in a Museum’ followed with expressions of amazement and questions about the restoration process and so forth. That says everything about enduring beauty and function.

The underside of the top lid, shown in the pictures, is the original finish and dark Mahogany color. All the cabinet exterior is refinished to an exact match of the original. Also, the Tower ‘Adventurer’ Cone Speaker in original, untouched, colors.

The Grebe family has a great heritage. I thank you and those from the past, for this wonderful Radio and keeping the history alive through the on-line information.

I discovered that the escutcheons were made by the D.L. Auld Company, Colombus Ohio. With minor name change they are still in business. It appears the design was a collaboration of Auld designing to compliment the tuner knob design.

I just might have uncovered the ‘code’ used for the serial numbers, which yields the year of manufacture and, just possibly, the work week thereof.  I had noticed much discussion about not being able to crack the code.

This last photo is “Before”, the of the front panel of the Grebe Radio before being refinished and restored.