Honking one's own horn (not political, just peaceful)

It's something I was raised to never do...

[snowman]

A hobby I used to do was repairing and restoring vintage radios and the occasional bit of entertainment equipment.

I came across something that evoked a rememberance of something I did quite a while ago. I just felt like sharing it.

Before (it was given to me, it was burned up badly). It's a 1948 Seeburg model 148.
[www3.sympatico.ca...]

After, took me about 2 years to get it up and running to this point.
[www3.sympatico.ca...]

[lawman]

Looks like it would make a good Gizmo Quiz.

[snowman]

Oh, it's no gizmo. It's a 1948 Seeburg model 148 jukebox. It played 78 RPM records, many of which were still inside when I got it, some of which were melted.

Well, at first it was a new jukebox, living somewhere in Boston from what I could read from the still-attached warranty cards inside. Then it became a useless burned up piece of **** after the fire.

Then it became a restored jukebox.

[kevinpate]

nice work!

[Automan Empire]

My first thought (as one who began fixing radios and TVs culled from the trash around age 9): Wow, nice restoration of a neat machine!

My second thought (as a net surfer): Wonder how much it would fetch on Ebay? (grinning devil emoticon)

[snowman]

I have a few things I would like to sell on Ebay but apparently for Canadian residents a valid credit card is required for selling on Ebay. :(

I have no credit cards, having declared full bankruptcy in 2002.

That said, I got $400 for the jukebox. I was pressed for time because a job was waiting for me out west and I had to take what I could get for it.

[grandpa]

You know, they say it's the thought that counts. I'm thinking that someone thought they got a really sweet deal.

Nice work.

[tbear]

Amazing work.....
Possibly, as grandpa says, "It's the thought that counts". Seems like an awful lot of thought and energy went into that jukebox! Well done!

Did you restore anything else? Any future restoration plans¿

[rocknbil]

That said, I got $400 for the jukebox.

I can believe you SOLD it! That was an awesome resoration! :-(

[snowman]

rocknbil - yea, I had no choice. Since 2001 work has slowed to a nothing. There are few or no jobs for anything remotely supportive in electronics.

In 2002 I tried to grasp at a work opportunity in northern Manitoba, seeing how my skills would be valued so far away from any large centres. I needed the money for gas to get out there, so I sold most of my furniture and belongings, my wife borrowed the rest from two of her brothers. That opportunity didn't work out at all and when I came back to southern Ontario looking for work I've had to try and rebuild from scratch. Work still isn't available. I've been out of work since October 2003. I was called into a couple of agencies over the last two or three weeks for interview and the agencies are impressed with my experience, etc.....but for every 1000 people looking for work there's maybe one job once in a while.

I've tried applying for what jobs are available here in town but I have no retail experience and these jobs only hire women.

Yea, life's not always fair. Not much anyone can do about it though. My wife has a part time job so I'm depending on her.

tbear - I have always kept photos of my past work, for insurance purposes. I have yet unscanned old (1930s and earlier) receivers I restored and sold during the 90s.

When I found out I was going to be a father in the spring of 97 my wife told me to clean them out. They were taking up almost all of the free space in the apartment after all, including my work room which was to become the baby's room.

Vintage 1920s-30s radio receivers are what I work on best as well as the occasional vintage guitar amp. My son, now age 7, is interested in the look of these old receivers since they are so far out of what is commonly available in today's disposable low-value household electronics.

A friend of mine is sending me his Aunt's old Crosley Super Trirdyn Special.

A fine looking example of this receiver at:

[crosleyradios.com...]

Technologically it's not any terribly superior design. It uses a string of '01A's and maybe a '71A in the final stage. The cabinet is very nice though, as you can see.

That is something modern electronics manufacturers fail to appreciate and their products do not possess - furniture value once the electronics cease to function. :(

The one I'm being sent, well from my friend's description it's seen better days after being stored in an attic for the last 70 or so years. But it's far from being a basket case and shouldn't take more than a year to restore if one goes into every possible detail.

Sometimes for value's sake it's important to recognize when it is better to leave imperfections and age-related flaws alone. I will probably take that approach on this receiver and only consider a bit of cleaning just to bring out the original finish.

In the past I've had to give up on some gorgeous examples of receivers in the past when the damage to wood and contents was so utterly severe (shipping damages where someone dropped it off a truck or the worst, long term, deep and extended salt water damage to the cabinet). At that point then all you end up with is a salvage operation.

I'm also considering prototyping a compact two tube guitar preamplifier/distortion system for use within solid body electric guitars. I know many musicians prefer the sound of tube distortion and it should be possible to incorporate this inside a solid body guitar. It's just a matter of design and choosing the right parts.