The friend of an acquaintance, who knows I'm into this stuff, has offered me a Motorola SK29M phonograph console for a modest price. He's sent me some very grainy pictures of it, and between those and some stuff I found online, I have a basic sense of what it looks like (fairly plain cabinet, swing-out speaker doors), but I'd really like to get a better sense of what this unit looks like and what it might sound like before I commit to driving a couple of hours to get it. Radiomuseum says it's a 9-tube 1960 model, but not much else. Has anyone out there owned one of these at some point? If so, might you have any good pictures of it inside and out that you could post here? Was it a higher-end unit in its time? Any idea how it might sound all fixed up? And are there any potential issues I should be aware of? I recall once reading about another Motorola of this era that came with a dead pickup that was, for some reason, almost impossible to replace; I'd certainly like to avoid that if it's lurking out there.

Thanks!

Restored properly, it kicks azz.
Cartridges are replaceable.

Is the turntable original to the unit? This sounds like the typical scenario where someone replaces the original ceramic based cartridge turntable with a magnetic based cartridge turntable. If this is so, you'll need to preamplify the output of the turntable before going into the radio's amplifier. If not, it's a simple matter of troubleshooting from the cartridge output to the amp input for low signal.

I was a Motorola service agency in that era. I cannot honestly say that I remember that model but I can say that they did make some very nice product. You can still find most parts with a little patience.

Motorola SK29M is a 2-tube stereo preamp and 7-tube stereo amp with a changer "similar" to VM 1201 according to SAMS 491-11. I don't personally like the swing out speakers type sets of any manufacturer, especially if on legs like this one. But I'ld take any early 60's set if the price is right. Most any of the sets from this time period with or without swing out speakers but with separate amps are worth far more parted out. This set has 4 EL84/6BQ5. Chassis easy to remove. Including the controls would make it very attractive to the folks who fix these as stand alone with tubes glowing. They don't have to figure how to on/off, vol, etc. Motorola is good stuff. I've had these three channel before, even my SAMS notes on this indicates I've done a couple models. Had the later larger long style with tubes too. My problem is I fixed them first, got tired of them, couldn't sell, then parted out. I could have got just as much if I had not worked on it. You fix it up and it's a very good sounding set, Motorola is good stuff. Wouldn't worry about record changer problems, just pretty much common VM, parts availble.
Bill J.

I have the service manual for my parents SK28B stereo pt# 68P645909 and it covers the Sk28b through SK31m. The tuner was a model# HK43, only a mono FM in our stereo console.
It says these models use the VM29RC record changer. Refer to the VM17RC-VM30RC service manual and supplements (Motorola PT # 68P643068 and 68P645913) for service information and changer operation. These I don't have. The service manual only shows the stylus and cartridge replacement.
In the model # the b is for blonde, m for mahogany , w for walnut , cw for cherry wood and mc for california mahogany
The Sk28-31 were all 3 channel stereos with varying sizes of midrange and tweeters but all had a 15' woofer.
In the Sk29 the electrical connections were made through the hinges and it says to made certain they are tightened securely.

I hope to get where I can scan these as pdf's and make them available.

Just about ALL those 3-channel chassis are the same, guts-wise.
Motorola hardly varied designs, like other manufacturers such as Zenith & RCA Victor.

Ya got one print, you can use it to troubleshoot many other models.

I have this model in black. It was my first foray into consoles and still really enjoy it. The radio sounds great; I need to do some more work on the turntable. I replaced the needle when I bought the unit but not the cartridge. Will probably do so at some point as I think the sound could be made a little better. But overall I like these. I actually like the swing out speakers, although mine stay open most of the time!

How difficult was it replacing the old capacitors in the chassis?

I wonder if he did.

I do need to go through and replace a few caps in the chassis and pre-amp. This one seems to utilize more of the ceramic type caps instead of the wax covered ones, like my RCA Victor sets. But there are a few in the Motorola that could be replaced. Will get to that soon hopefully!