Tom,
I would not put a new electronic vibrator in a set that hasn't been done over. If you can get a working mechanical vibrator it would be worth trying it in the radio. If you are bypassing the switch and the vibrator is not buzzing, you probably have a bad vibrator. It is possible in some cases to take the vibrator apart and clean both sets of points and make it work again.
I am a fan of replacing all the paper capacitors as a first step with these old radios. That is pretty standard procedure.
Fred
