Working AE 34

[Doug Rose]

Janet found this on Facebook! Seller was handicapped and did not want to ship. Four days later he said his friend would help him ship it from NY

I was very nervous about shipping this beauty, but is was packed to perfection at my request.

This still has that new bakelite sheen. Wired it up and ir rings, dials out and conversation is good. Geat original cords

My dilema is do I swap out finger finger wheel for Chrome or leave it as is? Chrome would match the handset, but it was like this all its life.

I forgot how heavy these AE 34s are.

This is phone has style!...Doug

[tubaman]

That's a lovely phone. I'd leave it all as is because it's likely to be original (and it's only original once!).

[.....]

Very nice Doug. I would leave it as is, the black dial looks good.

CDN Doug

[RB]

Tubaman is right about original. however...
I like chrome. It already has accents.
If my 34 HAD a dial, it would be chrome!
and besides, it you don't like it,
a 2 min swap can have it back to original

[phonetech87]

Doug;

I have and AE 34 but not seen it this shiny. Looks great.

Ben

[Doug Rose]

thanks folks....I guess I will keep it as is. I honestly can't decide and it did come this way. There is no wrong answer.

I look at the pictures as see the pollen sticking to it just after being wiped down for pictures....Doug

[oldguy]

I love the looks of those phone. I'd put a chrome finger wheel on it but keep the black finger wheel handy so you know you can make it stock again at the drop of a hat. Just my opinion.

[JorgeAmely]

Doug:
I have one similar that today makes it 80 years old. Does your phone work on POTS lines still? If it does, we should call each other to check out the sound.

[Doug Rose]

Jorge...I tested it on my Panasonic 616 and the sound was good, not great but surely passable. I sure doesn't look like this got much use as there are no signs of wear and the Bakelite has that wonderful "new" bakelite sheen that cannot be replaced once it is gone.

There was no gasket on the bottom, but when I opened the phone it looks like there never was one. I had a gasket from a damaged AE40 and stretched it on. I was nervous the gasket would break. 

Very eloquent phone....Doug

[JorgeAmely]

Post pictures of the insides. Mine has nickel plated bells and rings on today's modern phone lines.

[Doug Rose]

Jorge ...it does ring, paperwork states it is a frequency ringer....Doug

[tubaman]

...it does ring, paperwork states it is a frequency ringer....

Luckily it actually has a straight-line ringer.

[HarrySmith]

Your ringer must have been changed at some point. While the wiring diagram states frequency ringer the ringer itself is clearly marked SL for straight line. It should function fine.

[JorgeAmely]

Doug:

Your ringer is slightly different from the one installed on my phone. Yours has a mounting block, perhaps used to secure leads inside the housing. You never know what they were thinking. I know based on the part number printed on the base of mine that is was supposed to be used inside an office building (behind a PBX) and not to be connected directly to the local town central office. But it works fine if I connected to my landline. One interesting fact is that the network is all contained inside the handset.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/WQzFuM8QzfaPaSGf1

[Doug Rose]

Beautiful phone Jorge, it is exceptional.

On my phone, Harry/CM...I agree ringer must have been changed at some point, but the frequency ringer specs left. It does ring loud....Doug