“Meek”Beaver No.3 ?

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Mike N
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“Meek”Beaver No.3 ?

Post by Mike N »

Has anyone seen this trade reel before that’s selling on eBay? I can’t recall having seen one that used (with or without permission) the Meek name.

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https://www.ebay.com/itm/MEEK-Beaver-no ... SwAHBaDidP
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Re: “Meek”Beaver No.3 ?

Post by wrong99 »

Yes, when I first saw it, I just filed in under "How to make a Meek reel out of a Montague".
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Re: “Meek”Beaver No.3 ?

Post by Ron Mc »

bingo

the counterfeit engraving is pretty nasty, too
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Re: “Meek”Beaver No.3 ?

Post by Midway Tommy D »

Ron Mc wrote:bingo

the counterfeit engraving is pretty nasty, too
Jr. High shop class engraving 101, I'd say. :roll:
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Re: “Meek”Beaver No.3 ?

Post by Steve »

Looks to me as if it's been retrofitted with what may be a freespool clutch. If so, the fitter is entitled to engrave whatever he wants, IMHO. Compare with Paul's reel here.

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Re: “Meek”Beaver No.3 ?

Post by spadej1 »

I was curious about that myself. Looks like the seller added some comments about it. A few people seem fooled/interested though!
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Re: “Meek”Beaver No.3 ?

Post by Ron Mc »

no, he's not entitled to misrepresent or lie about a reel.
First, it's not stamped anything, it's scratched meek.
Second, his link locks my browser and I can only escape with task manager.
fraud is fraud
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Re: “Meek”Beaver No.3 ?

Post by Steve »

OMG, the dreaded Link Lock! :shock: But never fear! Task Manager is on his way.



Anyway, maybe the owner's name was Meek. Maybe the owner saw himself as an inheritor of the Earth. The engraving is too sloppy for me to consider it as outright fraud.

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Re: “Meek”Beaver No.3 ?

Post by Ron Mc »

it's most important that internet humor be humorous
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Re: “Meek”Beaver No.3 ?

Post by john elder »

MHO is that there is nothing approaching fraud here. He makes no claim the reel is a Meek and pretty much says it isn't. The only thing more that he could have done was destroy it, which would be a shame, given that it's a relatively neat Montague.
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Re: “Meek”Beaver No.3 ?

Post by Ron Mc »

somebody scratched on that reel with fraud intent.
The seller should state that specifically, whether he did it, or he acquired it that way.
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Re: “Meek”Beaver No.3 ?

Post by wrong99 »

The seller may or may not have intended to sell a fraudulent item, but having the title with "MEEK" as the first word and the only word in capital letters advertises it as a Meek reel, regardless of what he goes on to say in the description. To the uninitiated buyer, of which there are many, that could very well mean an opportunity to get a rare and unusual Meek model for what should end up being a low price. We know it's not a Meek, but most people don't and someone is likely to get stung, intentionally or not. I personally believe the seller should relist it as an altered "Beaver" model or not relist it at all. The seller has been around reels for a long time. Many of us know him. I've purchased from him several times over the years and it's even possible he's an ORCA member. There's no excuse for marketing the reel in this manner. Just my two cents.
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Re: “Meek”Beaver No.3 ?

Post by kyreels »

Surprised no one yet referenced this similar post also. The conclusion was the mod ruined a valuable reel, on that we can agree. http://reeltalk.orcaonline.org/viewtopi ... cky#p91099

Has anyone ever discussed the appearance on reel marks of the odd "." (dot or period)? The older Kentucky reels often were marked "No. 3.", with a dot appearing after the number, but not common on any of the newer Kentucky reels I have examined. Why the "Meek."? Does the dot after any marking lead anyone to believe it is older? Are miscellaneous dots worth more? Is this somehow linked to a dot marking a particular screw?

Discuss.
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Re: “Meek”Beaver No.3 ?

Post by Ron Mc »

you can say that again - seriously
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Re: “Meek”Beaver No.3 ?

Post by Paul M »

I doubt it was even a production Montague Beaver to begin with. The Beaver mark is pretty poor compared to my example, referenced above.
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Re: “Meek”Beaver No.3 ?

Post by sdlehr »

Steve wrote:Looks to me as if it's been retrofitted with what may be a freespool clutch. here.
There are multiple pictures and after I view them all I believe that is a drag.
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Re: “Meek”Beaver No.3 ?

Post by Don Champion »

I don't believe the name "Beaver" or "Meek" are original to the reel. It is a Montague and they did make a couple of styles with a free spool button like that one. But what is the sliding part at the top of the front plate? It is not the click or drag.
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Re: “Meek”Beaver No.3 ?

Post by Steve »


No. 1 indicates the main gear and its bearing post.
No. 2 probably is what remains of a click.
No. 3 is the sliding button that operates the curved brake spring.
No. 4 is the position of that button under "Beaver." I can't see what it does.
I suspect that the rim button (No.5) slides over that thing (5?) above the pinion and may or may not shift the pinion out of gear. The Beaver button may activate or inactivate whatever 5 does. Hard to believe all that stuff would be there for a drag, but who can tell from 1 pic?

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Re: “Meek”Beaver No.3 ?

Post by john elder »

Yeah, can't figure mission for that post below the "Beaver", which (Paul!) is virtually identical cursive writing to my Montague Beaver. Note also that there is some dead-end post on the back plate, about where a level wind gear would attach. No sign of that on my Montague version. The foot screws on the back plate of my reel are also not countersunk like the ones on this reel. Regardless of the stamped Meek mark, the reel has several modifications compared to my reel. Either it's a prototype they played with or someone talented in arts other than calligraphy have been busy with this one! Worth buying, just to see what's up inside. The wild guess re the button on the face plate rim would be a control to limit the amount the drag can act on the spool when the button is pushed forward.
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Re: “Meek”Beaver No.3 ?

Post by john elder »

Steve, had to open mine for a look. Thats a fully functioning clicker... it just acts on a dedicated gear under the internal face plate instead of with a spring wire against the spindle:


That extra protrusion on the face of the ebay reel would be directly over the drag where it goes thru the the internal face plae to make contact with the spool, so i think it acts as a pivot or the sliding adjustment on the face plate rim... sets the range forvthe drag:





No witness mark on this main gear... what a wonderful Montague baitcaster that conpetes for quality with any of the real meeks!

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Re: “Meek”Beaver No.3 ?

Post by Steve »

That extra protrusion on the face of the ebay reel would be directly over the drag
The protrusion (positions No. 4) is on the opposite side of the headplate from the drag spring. Your spring is positioned differently from the ebay reel's.

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Re: “Meek”Beaver No.3 ?

Post by john elder »

Yeah, see what you mean. The protrusion would be at the location where my drag goes through the inner face plate, but not clear what it does. Looks like his drag arm is leading to nowhere unless there is another hole thru the inner wall underneath the end of it.
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Re: “Meek”Beaver No.3 ?

Post by Mike N »

Most followed reel on eBay with 63 watchers.

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https://www.collectorsweekly.com/fishing/reels/auctions
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Re: “Meek”Beaver No.3 ?

Post by GLD56 »

The old Meek Beaver is taking off. At $255.00 My brother used to deal in lightning rod balls and they started reproducing them. He quit collecting when the repros started bringing more on Ebay than his originals he was selling.
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Re: “Meek”Beaver No.3 ?

Post by Mike N »

I feel ya, but this reel is not a reproduction. It’s simply a trade reel with an unknown MEEK stamp and an etched outline.

You cannot “reproduce” a Meek reel, unless you want to pay a master machinist a few thousand. That’s why I stopped collecting wooden lures and fish decoys 30 years ago and started collecting finely-machined reels. As Benjamin Milam said, “if a man can make a reel equal to mine, he is entitled to all the profit he can realize.”

This reel would not fool anyone who has been an active ORCA member for a few years. That’s about $80 in dues. Fools rush in...
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