Restoring a Vintage Record Console

My grandparents had a side table in their living room ever since I could remember (and much longer than that). It wasn’t until I was in my teens that my grandpa lifted the cover of this “table” to reveal a record turntable and radio console. This was around the time that bands started releasing records again because it was v. v. hip. And I wanted to be v. v. hip. Grandpa pulled out some old records, but unfortunately the turntable did not work. However, he did get the radio working and tuned into the Cubs game!

My Grandpa passed away in high school and I didn’t think much about the table until my Grandma passed away a few years ago. My family had the opportunity to keep any mementos from my grandparent’s home. The one thing I had to have was the console. It’s bulky and heavy and dated and I absolutely love it. I’m transported back to my grandparent’s living room whenever I look at it and I feel lucky to have those memories.

The console came with me to my first solo apartment where I made a plan to get it functioning. And by plan I mean I grabbed a couple beers, a hammer and a screwdriver, and started taking it apart. I wanted to save the radio since it was still working, but the turntable side had to be removed.

Here’s a very rough step by step for how it went:

1. Unscrew the back board.

2. Have a beer because there’s a shocking amount of dust and dead spiders to clean out before you even start deconstructing the inside of the console.3. Clean. A lot.
4. Unscrew any screw you see. This will make it easier to remove pieces later.
5. Pull out any pieces loosened by the screws. In my case, most of the electronics popped out. But the wood pieces were glued in.

6. Have another beer because the next step is intense.
7. Using a hammer or your own muscle, remove the wood shelves. I had to position my full body over the shelf and angle jump down onto it. Unfortunately for you and fortunately for me, I do not have video of this. Turns out that people used a lot of wood glue in the 70’s.

8. Use a scraper to get any leftover glue or wood strips off the side.
9. Clean again and fill with a new record player and all your favorite records!

There may have been an easier way to deconstruct the console, but I’m pretty happy with my results. My intention was to keep as much of the original character as possible. That meant minimal changes and no painting! If you’re in the market for a record console and happen upon one that needs some work, don’t be too intimidated. The only cost for this project was a working turntable and some muscle!