Hi,

After reading the posting about the AK5 reproduction being auctioned on Ebay, I came across this listing. Might this radio also be a reproduction?


http://www.ebay.com/itm/Working-Atwater ... 5685691487

Thanks in advance!

Who is reproducing them? Chinese? I am sure that alot of these have been "restored" or enhanced or such, just due to the value, but I have no idea of someone building them up from scratch. And any collector that knows his breadboard AK's(I am not really one) would rip the crap out of someone selling a fake. Add: I see nothing in his description or feedback or anything to make me overly suspicious.

Here is a link to the posting concerning the AK5 breadboard listing on ebay.
viewtopic.php?f=11&t=195267

I am not sure if the term "reproduction" was totally correct, but apparently there were some individuals who "assembled" or "created" some reproductions of the early AK breadboards in the 1980's?

Apparently there are some details concerning the knobs which is useful in determining or ascertaining whether the radio is totally original, or contains more modern or recently manufactured components.

At any rate, any additional input or information will be sincerely appreciated!

I personally know this seller. He is honest and straight forward.

If this were a modern assembled breadboard or there are/were any reproduction pieces to this radio, he would point them out - "The only non original components are the two bypass capacitors on the underside of the board. Both capacitors were replaced since they exhibited excessively high leakage which made the Radio malfunction."

BR,

Terry

The set you linked to is a genuine 4340 that has been messed with at some time in it's past. It could have been a rusty barn find, and the current owner may not know the previous owner went to town on it.
Components were removed, along with the wiring, and the board was refinished on both sides.
The metal TA base and the condenser cans were *sadly* painted the wrong color.
Staples securing the underside wiring are some odd broad style, and nothing like the arched copper plated originals.

There really isn't a financial justification in reproducing AK model 10 components. These items are far too common.
The only reason some component parts were copied was because of their rarity.
And the model 5 you noted is a good example of that.
The TA5 island used on the model 5 breadboard is an exceptionally rare item.

Thanks Jeff, we were just curious!

I was ready to yell FAKE! when I glanced at the pictures. It sure didn't look right...




Sadly, that doesn't mean much. Look what happened to this guy:

http://www.antiqueradios.com/forums/vie ... 96&start=0

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dl ... true&rt=nc

The market is flooded with all of the variations of the Model 10; no one will be reproducing them.

The paint used on this Ebay listing is appalling! It's so easy to get the right paint.

AK advertised a "dull, polished finish" for their breadboard, not high gloss. But a high gloss is what some buyers want!

Pete

Seems the popular view among most beginners is try to make everything look new and shiny again and the result is usually something that looks like a training radio which practically screams from 50 feet: "I've just been restored." Unfortunately there is no governing body in the old radio hobby to establish recommendations and guidelines for what "restoration" is and we have a myriad of differing opinions and a lot of ruined equipment. Over-restoring is far too common and seems to be standard operating procedure among the less experienced.

I am also involved with the old Corvette hobby where this problem was prevalent and is changing but there is still work to do. The inexperienced will take a valuable car and put a $10K showcar quality multi-coat paint job on it and produce a finish Chevrolet never offered on that car. They never look right because the originals had thin paint and only the major appearance areas were buffed to a high gloss, not buffed at all below the belt line and paint inside the door jambs was near flat. It takes far more skill to reproduce results faithful to the original. Not that the money side is important to everyone but you destroy potential marketability for an item when you do this should it ever become necessary to liquidate the item.

Greg

This is why I'd like to slap some sense into all the people that go around yelling "STRIP!! REFINISH!! MAKE IT SO BRIGHT AND SHINY YOU GO BLIND!"

It is highly amateurish at best. One could equate it to divorcing and re-marrying. It's a lot easier to get a new partner than it is to repair a relationship gone wrong.

The greatest restorations are the ones that make people say "Wow, that thing is in amazing original condition!"... you can then reply "No, I actually refinished it"... and enjoy their jaw hitting the floor.