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WE 3 slot payphone - your thoughts please

Started by FABphones, July 29, 2018, 09:31:28 AM

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FABphones

I can see nothing much is left of this internally. Converted for home use.

It says Western Electric on the front near the bottom vault... And the rear looks different to others I have seen photos of.

They do come up in the UK occasionally - but I need a bit of info on this one please. Anything will help.

Many thanks.
A collector of  'Monochrome Phones with Sepia Tones'   ...and a Duck!
***********
Vintage Phones - 10% man made, 90% Tribble
*************

twocvbloke

It's a mish-mash of WE and Automatic Electric parts, and of course gutted, think there's a few threads on the forum on these "converted" (aka stripped out and modified) payphones... :)

poplar1

Very few AE parts: the dial and the handset.
No Western Electric parts.
This phone was manufactured by phoneco  (phonecoinc.com) in Galesville, Wisconsin. The chrome back, lower housing and upper housing are all new.
"C'est pas une restauration, c'est une rénovation."--François Martin.

HarrySmith

I wish Phoneco would stamp or otherwise mark all thier stuff as reproduction. They sell it as repro but once it is out in the market a lot of people have no idea.
Harry Smith
ATCA 4434
TCI

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

FABphones

Firstly, thanks everyone. Everything you have said helps make sense of my thoughts on this.

To me, it looked unoriginal but nothing I could place - the rear inparticular struck me as not right. I could see the AE style dial and the WE name, but thought the whole thing does not sit right. But at the same time it's not quite the Wild and Wolf repro which is so common.

Phoneco - I've read the name on here many times - now it has become clearer and my little grey cells have a bit more knowledge to retain.

As ever, phones on that side of the pond are a huge learning curve for me so I appreciate the chance to learn more. Thank you.

:-*  :)
A collector of  'Monochrome Phones with Sepia Tones'   ...and a Duck!
***********
Vintage Phones - 10% man made, 90% Tribble
*************

Fushigi Ojisan

Bummer shipping to the UK is so expensive, lots better stuff this side of the pond.

Fushigi Ojisan
Otaku with interesting hobbies

FABphones

I'd like an original 3 coin in the black colourway. They come up on eBay UK occasionally but none so far have been right for me.

I'd consider buying from your side of the water even with the shipping, but the phone would have to be right and complete as besides shipping, there are also customs fees to pay on top.  :(

A collector of  'Monochrome Phones with Sepia Tones'   ...and a Duck!
***********
Vintage Phones - 10% man made, 90% Tribble
*************

Payphone installer

100% fake except for the dial. There is no need to get burnt by a bad payphone purchase ask before you buy. There is plenty of knowledge out there to prevent this. Just to give you a example all you had to do was ask the seller how much the phone weighted on a bathroom scale. The repros are half the weight of a real one.

FABphones

Quote from: Payphone installer on August 19, 2018, 03:35:35 PM
....ask the seller how much the phone weighted on a bathroom scale. The repros are half the weight of a real one.

Very clever  ;D  I'll remember that... But first, how much should one of these weigh?

I did ask the seller for more info at the time. He said said it was a gift years ago and he knew nothing about it. He thought it was original. I wasn't so sure so asked here. It would def only weigh half - nothing in it. It sold for £100 plus shipping.

I'm still looking tentively. The right one will come along...  :) and in the meantime I'll keep learning.
A collector of  'Monochrome Phones with Sepia Tones'   ...and a Duck!
***********
Vintage Phones - 10% man made, 90% Tribble
*************

Key2871

I don't remember exactly what they weigh, but it's in the neighborhood of 50+ pounds for a three slot.
And about 95+- for a single slot.
KEN

RotarDad

I just weighed my WE 191G, which is complete and correct for 1951.  It weighs 29.4 pounds (just the phone; no wood backboard or 531A ringer box).  The 191G has a cast iron backboard, versus the lighter cast aluminum of the later 2XX models.  I think a 233G would weigh a bit less.   I don't have info on AE versions to share.
Paul

FABphones

#11
Thanks for weighing yours, very helpful. If you get a mo, a pic of the front and rear would be good, I'd like to see how the real thing compares. Sounds nice.




A collector of  'Monochrome Phones with Sepia Tones'   ...and a Duck!
***********
Vintage Phones - 10% man made, 90% Tribble
*************

rdelius

Armoured handset cords were an option earlier sets did not have them. Sets on the street and sets in multiple boothettes needed them. You did not want somebody to drop coins in an adjacent paystation and hold the handset over it to pick up the tones.A beauty parlor with a colored set might have a coiled cord -not likely to be abused.I think Phonecos reproduction back boards were aluminum instead of cast iron, steel or zinc alloy.Phoneco usually used real handsets,coin gauges,anti stuffing coin returns dial  plastic shroud and mount. Dial might be a later one from a type 80-E with a plastic fingerwheel painted black. Phoneco also liked fantasy instruction cards with Bell logos and dial stickers with Bell on them even on mostly AE sets

RotarDad

#13
Fabphones - Here is a link to the thread of my 191G when I finished the build project:

http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=15688.0

Also, here's a couple new pics of the the front and back of the 191G.  Keep in mind that the earlier (pre 2XX series) payphones are not commonly found on EBay.  For WE, the 233G is probably the most-produced model and much easier to find (233Gs will have a pull-bucket, coin return button, and nearly always an armored cord.  Inside 233Gs will have a single-coil relay and no network or ringer). Late AE models seem to be very common as well, but they were more often reassembled with repro or aftermarket parts.  I also included a pic of my WE 236G as well, as it looks identical to a 233G on the outside (no back photo as it's on the wall 😎)....

Payphone Installer is correct - be sure to ask the forum about any phone you are considering bidding on.  Many here can chime in and help you make a good choice.  There is a lot of junk on EBay, but many nice ones as well.
Paul