Values are estimates from recent comparable sales — condition, accessories, and included extras vary. Always compare before buying.
Selling your Drake R-4B? Run its Rig Check → Answer the questions a sharp buyer will ask and get a condition report for your listing — a fully answered report lets a truly nice radio demand a good price.
Median sold price per month, trailing 1 months. Roughly flat over the period.
Based on classifieds listings marked SOLD — asking prices sellers marked as sold, not confirmed sale prices. Refreshed daily from our deal-scan comp checks.
| Date sold | Item | Price | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Individual sold records for this model are still being compiled — the fair-value estimate above is based on 8 recent sales. | |||
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The Drake R-4B (1967-1973) is boatanchor royalty -- the receiver half of Drake's legendary 4-line, built in Miamisburg, Ohio, when radios were furniture and built like it. This is a hobby within the hobby: tuning is by PTO, a permeability-tuned oscillator you spin by hand, and a healthy one glides like it is on ball bearings. Spin one that has been sitting for thirty years and you will feel the famous gravel -- dried lubricant and end-play that a proper servicing puts right, and the first thing any buyer should check. The R-4B covers HF in 500 kHz slices set by plug-in band crystals (80, 40, 20, 15, and part of 10 meters came standard; the rest is a scavenger hunt, with new crystals costing real money today). What it does not need is fear: the old hands love how easy these are to work on, and unlike some collectible receivers it does not suffer the dreaded 'deadly cap' syndrome. Assume it needs a capacitor recap unless the seller documents one, listen for hum that says the filter caps are done, and zero-beat the 100 kHz calibrator across the bands to check the dial. Originality matters -- extra holes and mystery jacks kill collector value. Pair it with a T-4XB transmitter and the MS-4 speaker and you have the classic American station, glowing warmly and pulling signals like it is 1970.
The permeability-tuned oscillator is the R-4B's VFO -- a precision mechanical assembly you tune by hand. When the lubricant dries out and end-play drifts, tuning feels gritty or gravelly instead of silky, and it is the number-one thing to check on a used unit. The good news: it is a documented, doable service, not a death sentence. A silky PTO is worth paying for; a gravelly one is a bargaining chip.
The R-4B only receives the 500 kHz slices its plug-in crystals cover, so check which crystals come with it -- tune to each band's edges and listen. Dead or missing crystals are a classic gotcha, and replacements from crystal houses cost real money each today. The stock set covers 80, 40, 20, 15, and part of 10 meters; WARC bands and shortwave segments mean buying more. Factor missing crystals into your offer.
Less than you would think, and that is the R-4B's reputation: straightforward circuits, no unobtainium parts, and a design the old hands call easy to work on. Budget for the standard age items -- electrolytic recap, contact cleaner on every switch and pot, dial lamps, maybe tubes -- and bring it up on a variac if it has been stored for years. Ask the seller what has been done; a documented recap and alignment is worth real money. What kills value is not age but hacks: drilled holes and clipped leads from decades of mods.
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