Suitability of Lakeshore Phasemasters for AM?

Hi Everybody,

We all seem to be inverterate collectors. I don't have a lot of room, but could possibly squeeze in another transmitter. This is sort of a down the road project (when time and funds allow), but after an e-mail with another member of this forum, I've been toying with the idea od getting my hands on a Lakeshore Phasemaster II or Phasemaster Junior). The the Central Electronics rigs, these rigs (which are contemporary to, or predate the CE rigs by a few years), not only do SSB by the phasing method, but also AM, and and NBPM.

Why am I interested in this semi-obscure rig you ask? I have a small
incidental personal history with these rigs. Back when I belonged to
MANCORAD (club callsign, W9DK - been a club since 1946), in my hometown of
Manitowoc, WI, we actually had a Phasemaster II (along with an HQ-170, which
was auctioned off when I got the Swan last year), sitting on the shelf in
the vestibule for the club room (which was located at the time, in the
basement of the old city hall building). It was missing it's cover, but
looked to be pretty complete. I used to occasionally look at it when I went
to club meetings. During one of the meetings (in the mid 90s I think), an
old timer who looked to be in his late 70s or early 80s, saw me glance at
the Phasemaster. He asked me if I knew anything about it. I told him I
knew (via some of our DXing kings), that the Lakeshore rigs used to be made
in Manitowoc, after WW2. The OT then told me that he was the designer of
the Phasemaster series of exciters, and that he had owned Lakeshore Industries
(other club members verified that I wasn't being given a line of bull [he
was also one of the founders of the club, but very seldom went to club meetings by the time I met him]). Cool! The Phasemaster II was sold some years back, and Lakeshore Industries is long gone. The building Lakeshore Industries was in, is still up, but has been a vegetable cannery (named Lakeside Packing) for at least 30 or 40 years. About the name Lakeshore - my hometown is located on the shore of Lake Michigan. Where Lakeshore Industries was located, is within about 100-200 yards of the shore of Lake Michigan. Hence the name.

I wish I knew the name & call of the gentleman (he's been a Silent
Key for about 10 years) who I talked to (and designed and built the rigs). I
sent off an e-mail to Fred, W6BSF, who was the MANCORAD club president
during this time period. He may have known him, since he knew this guy's
friend, Erv Busse, W9OMO (who's also a Silent Key). Does anybody have any experience with these transmitters, and if so, are they decent AM rigs? It would be cool to pursue this as a future project, in order to have a piece of my hometown's history, that's ham radio related.

73,
Ellen - AF9J