Thirty-four years behind one counter
Most CB guides come from the bench.This one comes from the counter.
What a vintage set is worth, what to check before you pay, and which ones to walk past, from a man who priced every radio that came across a shop counter in Seymour, Indiana, from 1974 to 2008.
A 148 GTL that somebody has opened and turned up sells for the same money as a clean one, and you only find out which you bought when it is on your bench. A tube base switched straight on after thirty years can take its power transformer with it. This manual is the checks I made at the counter, in the order I made them, with the real sold prices next to each class of set.
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Get the book · $29.99See the pages first
68-page PDF · 83 chapters · 6 printable cards · on your screen in a minute · 7 days money back, you keep the file
Three of the eighty-three
Every one of them you can do with what you already own.
The swap-meet minute
Turn it over. The bottom screws and the antenna socket tell you more in a minute than the front panel ever will.
Do not just plug it in
Thirty years in a closet, then straight into the wall socket. What to check first, and what to plug it into.
What a legend costs
The radios people paid the most for, what they bring now, and the questions to ask before you pay legend money.
From the videos
Saw it on the channel? Here is the page.
Every video on the channel is written out properly in the book, with the checks and the prices underneath it. Here is exactly where.
| 5 Vintage CB Radios Nobody Wants Right Now | Why good sets go cheap | ch 32 · p 30 |
| The Only 5 Vintage CB Brands Still Worth Buying | The Ledger Card | card 3 · p 64 |
| What Really Killed the CB Boom | The bust | ch 73 · p 57 |
| The 5 Most Expensive CB Radios of the 70s | What a legend costs | ch 38 · p 35 |
| Why People Are Buying CB Radios Again | How I'd spend a hundred dollars | ch 21 · p 22 |
Look inside
Real pages, from the real book.
This is exactly what opens on your phone. Every page prints on plain paper.
How I'd spend a hundred dollars
The sets nobody wants right now
The Ledger Card
All ten parts
Eighty-three chapters, in the order you will need them.
Before you pay first, then what it is worth, then the first hour it is in your house, because that hour is where most old radios get hurt.
And the chapters people ask about, with their page.
The math
Four common mistakes, costed both ways.
Not a promise. The left column is what each mistake typically costs, using recent sold prices for the set and a rough figure for the part. The right column is what the check in the book costs. Your radio and your repair man will set your own numbers.
Found out on the bench
Checked at the counter
Figures are illustrative, from recent completed sales and typical part costs. They vary by set and by repair man. This book is about buying and owning vintage radios; it is not technical or legal advice.
The card pack
Six pages to print. One goes in your shirt pocket.
From the comments
What people wrote under the videos.
"This is a great history of CB"
@CharlesLoukas-d3k · under What Really Killed the CB Boom"My radio is still on Mike Mike 46. 73 Good job."
@Lymansradio · under What Really Killed the CB Boom"Great report, Thanks much!"
@skiphamblin2185 · under What Really Killed the CB BoomBehind the counter
I was the counter. Never the bench.
I ran the counter of a two-way radio and CB shop in Seymour, Indiana, from the spring of 1974 to the autumn of 2008. I sold new sets through the boom, took them back on trade through the bust, and bought and sold the same models again and again as they went from wanted to unwanted and back.
Carl Pruett, my brother-in-law, ran the bench in the back room for twenty-nine years. I am not an engineer and I never held a commercial licence. Where a chapter needs the inside of a radio, it says what I watched Carl do, and where to find somebody like him.
What I had was the counter, and the green ledger under it. Every set that came in, what I paid. Every set that went out, what it brought. That ledger is why this book exists.
Seymour, Indiana · MMXXVI
Before you decide
The questions I get asked first.
How do I get it after I pay?
Through Gumroad's checkout, and the PDF opens on your very next screen, about a minute later. The same link comes to your email, so you can open it again any time. I never see your card number and there is no account to make.
What format is it, and can I print it?
One PDF, 68 pages. It prints on plain paper at home, and the six cards at the back are made to be printed on their own. The Counter Check folds into a shirt pocket for the swap meet.
Is the type big enough?
Yes. It is set big on purpose, because I need it big myself.
Are you a radio technician?
No, and I say so on page one. I ran the counter, never the bench. Carl Pruett, my brother-in-law, ran the bench for twenty-nine years. Where a chapter needs the inside of a radio, it says what I watched him do, and where to find somebody like him.
I've owned CB sets since the seventies. Is there anything in here for me?
Probably Part Two and the Ledger Card, with recent sold prices next to each class of set. Most people who have owned radios for years have never priced them against real completed sales, and the numbers surprise them both ways.
I've never owned one. Is it too much?
Start with Part Three, the first hour home, and chapter twenty-one, how I'd spend a hundred dollars. That is the order I would give it to you at the counter.
Is this a subscription?
No. One payment. The file is yours.
What if it isn't for me?
Write inside seven days and you get every dollar back, and you keep the file.
One more thing
If it isn't for you, I would rather you had the money.
Read it, print the Counter Check, take it to the next swap meet. If it changes nothing about how you buy, write inside seven days and you get every dollar back, and you keep the file.
$29.99$49.99
Code HANK40 · 40% off, already applied ·