I recently acquired a Bush BR 5902 B at a very low price, advertised as GWO & clean but................it wasn't. It almost was except for a layer of light dirt with a dash of grimey crevices, fluff inside speaker grills, tuner window adrift, crackling controls and tape deck not working but, at the price I paid I couldn't complain as it was a snip at about £15! Underneath it looked almost new, I'd say close to 99% so it must have kept it's slippers on but elsewhere on the outside there were a few quite minor scuffs and a mark on the tuner window. It's not a Major League box but this handsome chap will serve well in my kitchen.
The Culprit:
After removing the rear case screws I had a problem trying to remove other sections of the four-part case as the were no more screws remaining to remove. Sneaky ol' Bush has designed hidden clips to find and release in the correct order, this alone took about an hour to figure out but I got there in the end - next time it'll be a one minute job.
Stripped down to major component parts:
The box was surprisingly clean inside although there was just a little easy-to-remove fluff in the areas under the top panel controls, I think it had been kept in a box in granny's cupboard for the last 30 years! Tape counter belt and main belt both looked in good order but I think all the moving parts suffered from a touch of arthritis so a clean and re-lubrication was swiftly carried out. I also think someone had recently changed the belts but had screwed the flywheel cover plate down to the point it held the flywheel with a vice-like grip impairing free movement. However, now sorted.
Two views of the tape deck:
So, all in all a good result after a wash behind the ears, a little refreshment and a good cheer-up, everything works just as it should and it now 'looks very young for it's age'! A Grail Box this is not but it sounds good and does exactly what it's supposed to do so I'm happy with this. I particularly like the 'off silver' colour with the nicely contrasting black, it makes a welcome change from silver.
On the downside, it's a 'tone' box, no RCA Line In and headphone socket in the rear - but it'll be just fine singing to me in my kitchen. Total time spent was about three hours although next time (!) it'll be so much quicker now I've worked out the ol' 'hidden catches routine'!
The Culprit:
After removing the rear case screws I had a problem trying to remove other sections of the four-part case as the were no more screws remaining to remove. Sneaky ol' Bush has designed hidden clips to find and release in the correct order, this alone took about an hour to figure out but I got there in the end - next time it'll be a one minute job.
Stripped down to major component parts:
The box was surprisingly clean inside although there was just a little easy-to-remove fluff in the areas under the top panel controls, I think it had been kept in a box in granny's cupboard for the last 30 years! Tape counter belt and main belt both looked in good order but I think all the moving parts suffered from a touch of arthritis so a clean and re-lubrication was swiftly carried out. I also think someone had recently changed the belts but had screwed the flywheel cover plate down to the point it held the flywheel with a vice-like grip impairing free movement. However, now sorted.
Two views of the tape deck:
So, all in all a good result after a wash behind the ears, a little refreshment and a good cheer-up, everything works just as it should and it now 'looks very young for it's age'! A Grail Box this is not but it sounds good and does exactly what it's supposed to do so I'm happy with this. I particularly like the 'off silver' colour with the nicely contrasting black, it makes a welcome change from silver.
On the downside, it's a 'tone' box, no RCA Line In and headphone socket in the rear - but it'll be just fine singing to me in my kitchen. Total time spent was about three hours although next time (!) it'll be so much quicker now I've worked out the ol' 'hidden catches routine'!
Certainly a shrub or 2 growing on the cassette keys! 
