Meek...factory custom or prototype?

[KeysReels]

It's always exciting to find a reel that stumps you and this reel does not disappoint. At first glance it looks like either a Meek & Sons No.25 Bluegrass or Horton No. 25 Simplex. An important design element of these two reels is that both can be taken apart quickly by unscrewing the main bearing cap allowing the head cap to be easily removed. This is important function as this reel is does not share this design. Upon closer inspection one starts to notice different features not found on either the Meek and Sons No.25 or Horton No.25 Simplex. The reel does not have a maker's name on it. It does however have the 2 Carter patent dates on the tail plate. Knowing Horton often modified reels I sent photos to ORCA's Horton Guru, Bill Lemay. He confirmed it was not a Horton product but felt it had been made with factory parts so that sent me into the direction of it being made by Meek and Sons. I wanted to rule out it perhaps being a Heddon product. Knowing there is a connection between Meek and Sons and Heddon I reached out to advanced Heddon collector Stephen Hays to see if the reel might be a Heddon product as the head cap very closely resembles the Heddon No.40. His opinion was it was a Meek and Sons product that had been modified but could not determine if it came from the Meek factory this way or was modified later.

Here are features of this reel that set it apart from the Meek and Son's No.25 Bluegrass.
1. Top pillar and foot pillars are of the fancy type found on the higher quality Meek reels. (The Meek No.25 has
smooth pillars.)
2. The head cap has slanted edge knurling that matches the back plate. A dash and dot design runs around the flat
rim section of the head cap. (The No. 25 Bluegrass lacks both edge knurling and band ornamentation.)
3. Head cap is attached with 3 screws that screw directly into the top pillar and foot pillars.( Meek No.25 is quick
apart design where cap is held on with main bearing cap.)
4. Head cap has a fixed bearing that matches the one found on the back plate.
5. The head cap has a front sliding click disk which is absent on the No.25. This is found on the higher
quality Meek and Son's reels.
6. Main gear cover has cross hatch knurling. (Meek No. 25 is plain)
7. No serial number on either the bottom of the foot or inside edge of inner reel frame.
8. No maker name or model name stamped on the head cap.
Here are photos of the reel showing it complete and apart.





With so many different design elements one has to ask, is this a reel that was factory modified and if so why. It is
strange that it has not only the front click but the back plate click as well.
Could it possibly be a prototype for the reel that would eventually become the Meek and Sons No. 25 Bluegrass.
If so perhaps it was determined that a quick apart design would be more cost effective then using 3 screws to
attach the head cup.
I welcome hearing what others think...especially input from other Meek collectors. A handle for a Meek No. 25 would also be welcomed... Thanks for letting me share this reel. Bill Graves, Key Largo

[KeysReels]

Here are additional photos.

[KeysReels]

One last photo.

[KeysReels]

I owe a giant apology to Bill Muth as he is the ORCA Horton Guru. Bill Lemay is a great collector as well...but it was Bill Muth who helped me with my reel.

[john elder]

Neat piece and well done, regardless of how it came to be! For me, the giveaway for Frankenreel is the presence of two clickers. I think the back and from plates are from two reels. You don’t show a face view of the face plate. Is there any evidence that writing has been removed from that plate? Any ghosts? If it has never been stamped, that would suggest it might have been something put together at the factory. But i believe Meek did also make some generics that would not have had their marking's on the face. I seem to recall some company out of Chicago selling such reels??

[KeysReels]

John, Thanks for weighing in. I understand your reasoning behind it being a Frankenreel, but I believe the reel came out of the factory like this. Here are additional photos...one of a Meek and Sons No.25 Tournament Bluegrass and the mystery reel. These photos show the difference of how the caps are attached to the reel .
You can see that the head cap was never stamped with a name..nor were numbers stamped inside which is the usual practice with these reels. That in itself leads me to believe this cap was set aside to be used on a project reel. The fixed bearing looks also to have been factory installed. The main gear does not have a stamped number while the Meek Tournament No.25 gear does have a stamped number found elsewhere on the reel.
You can see how the head cap of the Meek and Sons reel is held on by a cap that threads onto the brass piece on the
inner plate while the mystery reel has three screws which screw into the 3 extended pillars.
The measurements of the reel are as follows. Diameter is 1-7/8", pillar length is 1-1/2". I feel these fancy style pillars were specifically machined for this reel's width. Fancy pillars on both the Meek and Sons # 2 and #3 reel are 1-5/8".
These pillars are not only 1/8" shorter but they also have extended shoulders which butt up to the back of the head cap. The head cap definitely was made at the factory as is has the same knurling as the back plate and 3 holes were drilled for this reel. Meek and Sons head caps have 4 holes so this cap wasn't taken off another reel..is was made to fit this reel.
While I agree that having 2 clicks is strange I think the factory used a No. 25 Bluegrass reel for convenience and was experimenting with attaching the head cap with screws. However you look at the reel the head cap and shorter pillars did not come from any models of Meek and Sons reels that were available so I lean that they were made just for this reel . It could be that this reel predates the No.25 Bluegrass reel and was an experimental model with Meek coming up with the quick take-a-part design and shelving this particular style.

[john elder]

Bill, i like most of your arguments. One point to consider is that the internal face plate is drilled and tapped for the drag spring and the hole for same is in place to accommodate the brass drag post that rides against the spool; ie, it doesn’t agree with the face plate configuration, which only has the clicker. Note also that the holes for the spring are plugged using non-matching screws:




Also, i wouldn’t put a lot of stock in comparing pillar lengths. I recently had the experience of trying to cobble together a Meek 3 from parts. A satellite view of the meek, Horton and Bluegrass #3 reels might leave one to think they were using the same parts bins as the years passed, but they were not!

[KeysReels]

John, Good eye seeing the hole for a possible drag and the 2 mounting screws for such drag. I had expected the sliding button to have been for a drag so I was somewhat surprised finding it attached to a click block. The inner plate with the drag hole and 2 screws is of a diameter not found on any other Meek reel other than a No.25 and those do not have drags. The Meek No.2 and No.3 both have larger diameter caps...so that inner plate seems to have been reconfigured for this reel alone. The spool flange is gouge free so unlikely that a drag had been installed . I feel the fact that the head cap, inner plate, main gear, spool and click block have not been stamped with the same repetitive number suggests this is an experimental reel. That variations of reels are found helps substantiate that reel makers often were customizing or tweaking their reels so I can only surmise this reel may be one such example.
John, thank you for your valuable and insightful input.
Bill Graves
ORCA member