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Who's looking for a "Candlestick" phone? Buyer special inside

Started by BDM, March 17, 2014, 02:25:00 AM

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BDM

Not really, repop Frankenphone for a modest $1.860.00 hard earned beans.......... "Stunning show piece and allot of fun to use."  ??? :o


http://tinyurl.com/mg8nm2v
--Brian--

St Clair Shores, MI

JubileeCompact

LMAO- Obviously I would send my latest addition back and get this instead!!!
Ok maybe not...
Seamus
Seamus

TelePlay

Seller had a typo, right?

He really meant to say 30 seconds and not say "To hook up and use takes only about 30 minutes!", right?

Kenton K

" 20 heavy multi-lacquer oven baked clear coats! "

No wonder it looks so wavy! Probably a full inch of lacquer.

K

tallguy58

Look at the other stuff he's selling. This guy's delusional.

Everything way overpriced.
Cheers........Bill

BDM

Quote from: tallguy58 on March 17, 2014, 03:18:30 PM
Look at the other stuff he's selling. This guy's delusional.

Everything way overpriced.

Better yet, check what has sold for him/her within the last few months. One "rare" (it's all rare) Grebe radio and a couple of stereo/radio schematics. But in general, I really will not knock a seller too hard. Hell he/she isn't forcing anyone, they're just casting out their fishing line hoping for a bite. If some poor sucker (fish) bites without researching, shame on him/her.

But and I mean but, I do not care for misrepresentation which this is in subtle ways. I'll have one hell of a time believing the seller doesn't know this. With that in mind, the seller can then kiss my ar$$! Some say again shame on the buyer regardless, but deception is just that, deception, lying. And it says plenty about those employing it's use to snag a silly fish.
--Brian--

St Clair Shores, MI

Slal

Sorry if this is getting OT, but Wow! 

That's pretty scary.

Could he be reported for false advertising?  I collect antique fountain pens too & in the 'pen community' legit sellers would run someone like that out of town on a rail!

Since I'm a novice at phones-- this topic has me curious.

Is any part of this phone authentic or is all of it assembled from reproduction parts?

Was wondering about what kind of network & ringer he'd be able to fit in there.  That led to a search & finding a store where I could buy all the parts to make a reproduction candlestick except maybe the dialer.

And that has me wondering if safe for a novice to buy or bid on almost anything on the bay!

AEC 1A monophones... WE models 102, 202, etc.  'Restored' or 'found as is'.... How does someone who's learning know if the seller hasn't just cobbled some parts together for a 'franken-phone' that's not worth the price of shipping?

Like I say... Scary....

--Bruce

BWT:  why would anyone pay 45 bucks for a receiver's service manual when you can just download it free from HiFi Engine? 

rdelius

I see no origional WE parts on this set.The dial ia an AE and is likely 40s-50s.This set does seem to have better reproduction parts than others

BDM

Slal no it's not safe so to say. But that goes with anything you purchase, cars, food, you name it. This is why one must study research and ask questions regardless. I also dabble in the antique radio market and have for over 30 years. I can tell you that's an even tougher subject to understand and make sure you're not getting the screw put to you. Now reporting, that's something I would rarely comment on and is up to you. This person could claim total ignorance or even that they never make the claim that it is totally authentic, nor any particular manufacture.

Ultimately it is up to the buyer, pure and simple. DO YOUR HOMEWORK before you hit that "buy" button. One more thing I will add. I sometimes see comments over the years against certain collectors/sellers, about their perceived over pricing. Well some may ask top dollar but, several of these seller/collectors are also honest and you can bet you're getting what you pay for. Two edged knife that cuts both ways.
--Brian--

St Clair Shores, MI

Scotophor

As a new member of this community I want to add my 2 cents here. IMO, lack of self-policing in the community, and sellers offering stuff like this, that a beginning collector is likely to get burned on, will probably lead directly to the numbers of collectors dwindling through attrition. If I were to buy that piece then learn what it really is, I would likely never buy another "collector" phone again, even if I found a holy grail selling for a song (and about to go in the dumpster if I don't buy it). I doubt that I'm alone in this sentiment.

There are several styles of old phones that I would love to have, such as a wooden wall phone, a "candlestick" desk stand, WE "B" and "D" desk mounts, an authentic rotary pay phone, etc. But in the short time I've been here and browsing on eBay I see such a large volume of adulterated phones as well as reproduction and franken-crap, and the learning curve is so steep to be able to tell the real from the fake, that I would probably never buy ANY of those, whether on eBay, Craigslist, or at a flea market, at any price. The few sellers that I believe to deal in quality merchandise are mostly priced out of my budget. So I'm left buying inexpensive unrestored phones that are unlikely to be too badly faked, but at least I know I won't get severely burned if I buy one that is bogus in some way. Once I have my fill of phones in that category, and have refurbished them myself to a level that I'm satisfied with, I'll probably be done collecting phones.
Name: A.J.   Location: LAPNCAXG, EDgewood 6

HarrySmith

Scot, I understand your feelings here, I went through the same thing when I started with phones. I was not a member here as I had not found this wonderful forum yet, but I was on the lists. I bought what I thought was a great phone at a great price and posted my find to the list only to be told it was not what I thought it was and was barely worth the $10.00 I paid. There were some helpful people who posted suggestions for me and there were some who were not so helpful or nice. It takes time and patience. I also could not afford the phones I wanted so I bought cheap dirty or broken phones and restored them to sell at a profit so I could! Don't get frustrated, this is a wonderful hobby and you haave found the best people on the net to help you ;D
Harry Smith
ATCA 4434
TCI

"There is no try,
there is only
do or do not"

Slal

Glad Scot posted his thoughts.  They're similar to mine!  Also thanks to 'BDM' & Harry for their thoughts & encouragement. 

Still, the learning curve for this hobby might be a little expensive when I could be buying other antiques, or simply leaving the money in savings.

Do my homework is sound advice but *where* !?  (Do have a book on order, but have feeling it will probably be an overview & not deal with specific parts questions.)

Anyway, a couple of examples on why I won't be buying any more telephones for now.  : )

Paid too much for a brass candlestick, but believe seller is honest.  We simply had a communication gap.  He was probably being very up front in saying, "I built this phone for a serious collector.  It has a 2AA dial, original receiver, etc. etc."

What I should've picked up on (but didn't) was his word choice.  He didn't say 'restored'; he said 'built.'  Lesson learned.  Am told phone is mostly legit-- just needs to be painted & have 'correct' transmitter installed.

Next purchase was either an AE-1A or AE-11A.  Dial reads "24" on the bottom.  Is that from the 20's, 30's, 40's, or could AE have been making that dialer up into the 1960's?!  Simply don't know!  Catalog 4055 refers to it as #24 while catalog 4055-D refers to the dialer as model 24A36.  Even when I have information-- what to make of it?

Main thing though, is its AST-- if it had one-- doesn't seem to be working.  When dialing, hear a loud 'tonk' sound after every #.  When talking-- voice = very loud!

So measured a part labeled "205 RES" on a diagram.  Safe to assume this means a resistance of 205 ohms?  If so, then it might be shot.  Resistance = 10.4 ohms.  Yes, my multi-tester is calibrated. : D

Tempting to put a 'modern' wire wound 205 Ohm Resistor (3-Watt 1%) between #2 & #8  and see if solves problem.  But I don't consider myself a 'Guess & Hope' tech for vintage electronics.  Troubleshooting is 99.99% of the challenge.  Replacing something's the easy part.  Am not about to go 'tinkering' with an antique either! 

So I think Scot's a far wiser man than I am!  My paying > $100 for phones is stupid.  I simply don't know enough about the parts or the electronics.  Am probably throwing my money away!  Probably wise to cut any losses & take Scot's approach.  Five bucks for one at a flea market & see if can get it to work.  Hold off on the 'nice' ones until I know my kiester from a hole in the ground... : 0 !

fwiw!

--Bruce