Restorations: A Vintage GE Radio
Okay, I’ll admit it – to call this a “restoration” is indeed a bit of a stretch.
But I had a whole thing going on.
So for the sake of continuity, I’m sticking with it.
On a recent thrift trip to my local Goodwill,
I spotted this rad radio.
At a glance – it looked cool; it appeared to be in great condition – it was six bucks.
But – did it work???
I plugged the cord in to Goodwill’s handy dandy outlets
so conveniently made available in their electronics section and –
it worked!!!
BUT –
I spotted it –
I found the Achilles’ heel.
The radio was missing its volume knob.
Yet, I couldn’t leave the thing behind.
I carried it awkwardly around the store.
(Always grab a cart, folks – take it from me.)
I went back to the electronics section.
I put it back on the shelf.
I picked it up yet again.
I took it home with me.
I was DETERMINED to make it work.
When I got home and plugged the radio in,
I realized the volume was actually stuck at a decent level.
Maybe I could have accepted the radio, flaw and all,
but I couldn’t stop thinking about it.
I couldn’t stop myself from researching and trying to come up with some sort of a solution.
Eventually, after having researched radio parts (expensive!)
and attempting to brainstorm (more like a brain fog!),
I Googled “Makeshift Radio Knob”.
I found this YouTube video where this dude
replaces his car radio knob using rubber Vacuum Caps.
I wondered if I could apply the same concept to my radio.
I took a trip to AutoZone.
I didn’t know if it would work –
I knew I needed the Vacuum Cap to be considerably long to actually stick out of the radio,
and to get technical – the diameter of the hole on the Vacuum Cap
needed to be approximately two tenths of an inch.
I picked one out randomly,
stuck it in where the radio knob should go,
and voÍla – it fit perfectly.
And it WORKS perfectly.
I can achieve background noise.
Or, I can let my neighbors listen in on my radio jam sessions if I ever choose to do so.
That’s all there is to it.
While I can’t claim complete originality for the idea,
I really do think more people need to be aware of this ridiculously easy fix.
There is a solution to every problem.