Belmont 638

Belmont 638

1941

Bands: AM

Tube Lineup: 12SK7, 12SA7, 12SK7, 12SQ7, 35L6, 35Z5

This stylish art-deco Belmont was purchased at a VRPS meet. The cabinet originally had an unsightly hole that was drilled about an inch to the left of the volume knob. The hole was filled in with resin and painted to match the rest of the case. There were prewar and postwar models, the earlier was labeled as the model 638 and the later as the more familiar 6D111. There are no differences in the cabinet design. The schematics for the two models show only one subtle difference, a 25 ohm resistor for the pilot lamp in the 638 and a 22 ohm resistor in the 6D111. Alas, this resistor along with the pilot lamp was missing on my example when I purchased the radio. However, the 638 schematic mentions "Ser. No. 403200 up" and mine has serial number 412211, and also superficial clues such as body-tip-dot resistors and green Solar sealite capacitors indicate the age to be from the mid-30s to early 40s, which suggests the prewar model 638.

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