Treble Clef Wall Clock Refurbished

People toss out clocks when they quit working such as this Treble Clef Wall Clock. But let me point out something, they're cheap and relatively easy to fix. How easy? Let me walk you through this one and you'll probably find yours even easier.

Before I get into the repair on this one I have to say people... I find it somewhat rediculous what they're asking for this particular clock new... Let alone that someone would actually pay these prices for it.

And granted one store had just dropped the price to $25 dollars from $49.99. but to think this has a $90 plus tax original price on it.. Seriously someone bought this for that price? Wow! I need to raise my prices way up if people are willing to pay that for this! Lol

Sure it looks cool, but it's made of junk materials. Except the glass.

I don't know people, buy what you want but to spend that kind of money to begin with on this thing and then just toss it because the movement quit working is... Just more foolishness added on top of the price if I'm being nice about it. But they did and now it's in my hands. So let's take gander at it, and the condition this one was in when I received it shall we?

The movent hand tips had been cut to pass by the standoffs which, were not placed correctly to match the holes in the glass I might add. The standoffs are cheap plastic with gold chrome finish. The only thing real the front glass.

The actual Treble Clef is not even solid wood as you can see from the chip area on the back, it's just some cheap wood fiber board.

The clock movent isn't a Seiko though it claims to be quartz.

The hanger had some surface rust.

So free isn't a bad price as it's closer what I would consider it's real brand new retail value, say $15, even if it doesn't work because they're so cheap and easy to fix. And you can put a better movent in it to boot. Not that I'm going to on this one.

Additionally this one had overspray all over the front including the glass along with nicotine or some kind of oily yellow residue. I smoke, I don't smoke in the house just for that reason. It gets on everything. Even if you Vap.. actually more so since that's vaporized oil.

So let's fix this thing up. Start to finish took an hour and that includes going to the thrift store.

Off to the thrift store and buy a cheap clock with the same size movement, that works, and hopefully fits. I picked up this one for $2.50. The logo face had been smashed forward restricting the hands from moving which could've been a very easy fix but my only concern was the clock mechanism worked properly. Don't buy a clock you'll want to keep is key as we only want the parts.

On this particular clock, unlike the G Clef Clock, the clock mechanism snaps in place in the back. There wasn't a threaded through metal piece with a nut as the G Clef Clock has. But don't fret if you run into the same issue. The main thing is where the hands attach are the same size and are long enough or short enough depending on the clock you're fixing. I got lucky to a degree. But I'll show you how to over come no threaded through metal piece in a minute.

I dismantled both clocks keeping the parts separate. I prepped and painted the G Clef with Krylon's Fusion Satin Black both front and back and let it dry while I worked on the rest.

On to the clock works. As mentioned, on the thrift store clock there wasn't a front through threaded thing with a nut used to secure it. It snapped in place.

Since I'm tossing out the original clock works on the G Clef Clock I'll use the one from that. Opening up the new clock movent you can see there's a place for that threaded through thingy, I don't know what it's called. Any way, see the hex area, that's where one would go.

On the G Clef Clock, opening it up you see the brass threaded thing. So I removed it. And yes there's a problem. This one has extra points all around it used to keep it from spinning and hold it in place I presume.

Here it is removed with the front nut.

I didn't take a picture but I filed all those points off down to the hex shape. I also had to scrape just a tad off the plastic where it inserts as it was a fraction larger than the hole.  We're talking 5 minutes and it was done.

Here's the clock movement reassembled.

A couple dabs of glue to hold it square in the cut out of the G Clef Clock and nut put on front. That parts done. Just a matter of putting the hands back on. I tried the original hands and though one fit the other was too big. So I went with the hands from the thrift store clock. Which lead me to see why they cut the hands on the original clock. They were too long.

I'm curious if you noticed I painted the second red in that last picture. 😀 I used an oil paint marker to do so.

Given the minute and second hands are too long, I finally had a second use for some new tin snips I bought. I snipped off a straight cut on the second hand. And cut a new point in the minute hand.

Put it all back together. And though I did like the black on black with the hands and G Clef body as there was just enough contrast to see them, at distance you couldn't see the time clear enough. So...

I took it back apart and masked off the tips so it would look like they're floating. Painted them with Krylon Automotive White Primer which is the only flat white I had on hand.

I painted the wall hanger hook as well in Satin Black while I had it off. Put in a new battery and I have a clock that works.

Reassembled again, and you have what you saw at the beginning of this post. Seen again below.

I have maybe $5 in total out of pocket invested and an hour's worth of time. End result is something no one else has. And I believe I know a musician or two that's this would make a perfect gift for.

And since I spent some time on it, I feel it means more than just going to the store and buying something like this for someone. It's a good looking clock. Not $50-$100 worth of clock in my opinion as they're asking for them new, but it is worth restoring, and will make a nice gift.

That's all for today. I'm almost finished with another project I've been working on. I'll be posting on that next week.

Till then,
Stay creative, and as always, stay Happy my friends.

Cheers...

Update June 3rd, 2019

As mentioned it would make for a great gift...
Or I'll just sell it. Which it did for $15 on Craigslist just a couple days after posting about it here on blogger. It actually surprised me at how quick it sold.

It was mentioned to me by another I didn't ask enough for it given the work I put into it. And true enough, it's better paint, a custom look, but it's still made from cheap materials. The $15 covered my cost of materials with a little pocket change on top. It's saved from the landfill, and should last year's to come. So it's still a win-win in a way.

Till the next post, take care.

Cheers....