This Silvertone tombstone was refinished at some point. It looks like a heavy stain was applied, and then covered with some sort of clear finish. It's not the worst looking job in the world, but it isn't even close the original lacquer finish. The grille cloth is almost certainly a generic replacement as well.

The radio emitted only a loud hum when powered up - the classic signs of blown or shorted filter capacitors. This one sat on the shelf for awhile, but I eventually went ahead and replaced all the capacitors in the radio. Once that was done, it still didn't work! Then I noticed a loose wire coming off the grid cap of one of the audio tubes - it needed to be attached to the tuning condenser. Once that wire was in place, the radio worked fine!

I've decided to put this radio in the gallery with the finish "as-is". I'd really like to refinish this radio, but I've been unable to find a picture anywhere of what it should really look like. The problem is exacerbated by the fact that I don't have the model number - the paper label from the back has long since disappeared. The best I can do is guess, based on the number of knobs, tubes, etc. It appears to be a Silvertone 1743, which Bunis describes as "..lower front round dial, upper grille cloth with cutouts, 3 knobs, 5 tubes." The 1743 is the only Silvertone tombstone listed in Bunis with 3 knobs and 5 tubes. The 5 tube lineup of this radio is 80, 42, 75, 6D6, 6A7. Do you know what this radio is? If you can identify it, e-mail me.