Restoration Of Marsh Special No. 3

This article was written by Bill Marsh (Jnr) in June 2015.

Unlike the first two “Marsh Specials” restored in 2010 the ownership of this receiver can be traced. This particular receiver was built about 1952 for Bill Thomson a DXer from Bluff. It later passed on to Eddie MacAskill who owned it for many years. When Eddie passed on, it was gifted to Paul Aronson. In 2014 Paul offered to return it to the Marsh family, a gesture gratefully accepted. Restoration of this receiver was undertaken by Bill Marsh (Jnr) in 2015. These receivers were designed by Bill Marsh (Snr) following the completion of a high performance prototype about 1948. Each recipient assisted with the construction of their individual receiver but given the technical complexity the bulk of the construction would have been undertaken by Bill himself. This particular receiver seems to have undergone some front panel changes in it’s lifetime and possibly during the ownership by Eddie MacAskill. When built it would have had a reading light centrally located at the top of the front panel. Some of the mounting holes for this light were still visible in the original front panel at time of restoration. It would have resembled the photo below.

Marsh Special c. 1952

It is very likely the reading light was removed to facilitate fitting it into a wooden cabinet. Probably at this time the front panel was painted green, a bezel light fitted and lettering added to identify the controls as per photo below. A replacement knob for the “ZC1 type” on the original dial plate (less holes) had also been fitted along with a replacement dial plate.

Marsh Special 2014

The restoration process in 2015 included; the repaint of all the outer chassis surfaces, the replacement of all capacitors & resistors, the replacement of the front panel and dial plate. As this receiver was going to remain in the Marsh family for heritage reasons it was thought appropriate to have the replacement dial plate engraved professionally. Original looking knobs were also fitted along with a front panel bezel light (as fitted to a number of the other models built). A flexible arm light to illuminate the dial was located and fitted to make it more original. To enable the receiver to be reinstalled back in it’s original cabinet the arm light was fitted adjacent to the panel light. The layout of both was made similar to that of the Marsh Special (Bradionx) built for Merv Branks. A new set of valves was also fitted and the receiver re-aligned. The receiver is once again performing like new.