[Boatanchors] 51J's vs R-338's?

[Al Parker]

Hi folks,
    I'll jump in on Grant's pricing thoughts.  I recently sold, privately
with no shipping involved, an R-388 that I had been thru completely.
Including cabinet the selling price was $495.  I don't approach the fine
quality cosmetic work that Howard Mills does, and don't try to.  He does a
beautiful job, and if you want that it does cost.  It's notable that the
buyer of mine only wanted the cabinet (I knew that) and he subsequently
sold the R-388 on ebay for more than he paid for the whole thing.  He used
my description of the work that was done.  I sold it willingly, knowing
that I could go the auction route and get more $, along with shipping &
"normal ebay" hassles.
    You may see that description and account of much of what is entailed
to do a creditable job of refurbishing an R-388 electrically and
cosmetically.  Note that I do not say "restore", in my book that's what
Howard does.  Take a look at:
http://www.thecompendium.net/radio/R388sn58.htm
    If you back up  to the home page you can see other R-388, 75A2 and
SP-600 work I've done.
    So, I guess what I'm saying is in agreement with Grant;  if you can do
the work yourself, you can end up with an R-388 worth $400+, after buying
one in unknown, or "works some" condition for 'maybe' less than $200-250,
spending 15-25+ hours and ?$? for parts.  That doesn't pay much for labor.
"Unless you're into pain, of course :-)"  -  if you want it done by
someone who has invested $ in equipment, and time in learning the
techniques, you'll pay up to 'much' more.
73,
Al, W8UT
New Bern, NC
BoatAnchors appreciated here
http://www.thecompendium.net/radio/
http://www.hammarlund.info


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Grant Youngman" <nq5t at comcast.net>
Subject: RE: [Boatanchors] 51J's vs R-338's?


> > saw an r-388 on ebay BIN for $600 and I thought that was a
> > great deal because I was (incorrectly) comparing it to the
> > 51J-4's that have sold. Now I see that wasnt the great deal I
> > thought it was (some 51J-4's seem to sell for $1200-$2000!)
>
> My two cents ...
>
> The 51J-4/R-388A radios tend to sell for way too much, IMHO.  At least
> relative to the 51J-3/R-388.  I've had several of both.  My interest is
in
> AM reception, and in that mode, the R-388 is a much better radio because
it
> does NOT have the mechanical filters.
>
> $600 wouldn't be a bad price for an R-388 that has been fully restored,
and
> is in extremely good working and physical condition.  And you probably
> couldn't touch one that had been restored by Howard Mills even for that.
If
> you purchase one for less that needs a lot of work, by the time you're
done,
> including pulling the PTO and calibrating the endpoints (if they can be
set
> at all, even after doing the usual mod to the endpoint adjustment
coil)you
> may wish you'd purchased one that someone else had already been through.
> Unless you're into pain, of course :-)
>
> Grant/NQ5T
>
>