I thoroughly enjoyed the Louisville hamfest Saturday. The crowd was fair and I suspect they had about a slightly greater number of tailgaters outside this year. Inside they laid the tables out so they were perpendicular to the entrace doors. In years past, it seemed like the aisles closest to the doors seemed to get most of the traffic. Some vendors along the wall felt ignored, or that's what I heard last year.
There were a few CW keys for sale, but nothing I didn't have or at prices I wouldn't pay. There was some intersesting classic tube gear, a couple of Hallicrafters receivers for sale caught my eye but the prices were too high. I wouldn't pay $145 for a S-85 receiver that looked in decent shape. I've got my share of mediocre tube receivers.
There really wasn't much on my shopping list anyway, so I suppose its no big shock I came home with nothing substantial.
I have been keeping tabs on some eBay auctions, naturally. I've missed out on a couple of very rare keys — one sold very high, the other sold very low.
A woman listed a McElroy Mac Key DeLuxe with a terrible photo and poor description. After studying the photo I realized what it was. I was going to buy it, but the auction ended while I was at the hamfest. The key — which typically sells for well over $200 — brought less than $40. Grrr!
Another listing that I found that wasn't listed correctly was a Vibroplex Original. It was listed as a 1945 key, and it had been repainted brown. All-in-all, it looked pretty bad. The truth is the key is a second-year-of-production 1906 Martin Vibroplex key, which was built during the period Horace Martin built the keys in his own shop and prior to forming the Vibroplex company. It's in relatively good shape, and the seller has (or had) no clue as to its value when it was listed.
Naturally, I was hoping the key wouldn't attract attention — what a score it would be to snag it for less than $100! That, of course, did NOT happen. Collectors everywhere jumped on the key, sending the final price into the stratosphere.
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I did pick up (off eBay) another forlorn and forgotten Vibroplex that was begging to come home with me.
This key is a 1927 Vibroplex Original which has had the base repainted a tan color with what looks enamel paint. I had hoped it was latex, but the paint is adhered quite well to the base.
You can see the original pinstriping marks through the tan paint. I wish I could get the refinish paint off the key without destroying the factory jappaned finish.
In the photo, the key looks a bit of a mess, mostly due to the oddball color of the base and the funky acrylic paddles. The good news is the key is in fantastic shape. The nickel plated upper parts are all in very, very nice condition. There's a little wear-through to the brass on some of the sharp edges, but for an 80-year-old key its not bad.
This key, like some of my others, was apparently dropped at some time in its history. The pivot frame is bent slightly to the rear of the key, which is fairly typical of a key that fell off a desk. It's enough to notice when you look at the profile of the key, but doesn't affect its operation.
The key is also missing its feet. This isn't surprising, as the original rubber feet — even if they're present — are usually so brittle they shatter if hit very hard. A previous owner removed the feet and glued some pieces of very thin rubber backed carpet padding to the bottom of the key. The guy had a good idea — sitting on my desk, with all that surface area, this key won't move no matter how aggressively you slap it around.
Before I decided to sand or strip the paint from the key base, I think I'll try simply soaking it in some very very hot soapy water. Who knows, it may soften the tan paint enough to permit stripping it without removing the original finish.
In looking at my list of Vibroplex keys, this new Original fills in part of the gap in my collection. In the list of keys I own, there's a large gap between about 1922 and 1939. I have a key or two in between, but I have a great many keys dated 1911-1922 and from 1940 to present. The period from the mid-1920s to WWII I don't have much, for whatever reason. I'm not trying to collect a key from every year, but I suspect that for whatever reason, fewer keys from this period show up on eBay. I'll have to check my archives. Maybe its just my cheapskate habit of buying mostly scruffy looking keys? I dunno.
73 es CUL … de KY4Z …. dit dit …