I just found a 301 and brought it for maintance to a singer dealer who's been in business for 0/40 yrs. I mentioned my next will be a featherweight and he said they were "overrated"...nice because they are light but that's as far as they go. White featherweight according to him has 2 belts and totally unreliable...black ones only one belt. He insisted that the 301 was their best machine and once greased and oiled and kept up they will last forever.
So I've put the featherweight on the back burner and found another 301A in a diff color...I love my 301's