This past week I drove 505 miles from my place in Southern California to my brother’s house just outside of Reno, Nevada to spend a week for Thanksgiving. Of course I had to take some radio’s with me to show him what I have recently collected. My dad and his girl friend also flew in.
I took the Victor RC 838 I got from Japan. I also took the Sharp GF 777z and the Lasonic TRC 975. All three radio’s were loaded up with batteries and with my daughter (who was visiting me from Alaska) we made the drive up scenic highway 395 through the snow capped mountains of the Sierra Nevada. It was just breath taking.
I thought these three radio’s would be good enough, no need to freak him out by bringing all of the collection!
Of course I am met at the door with all the normal jokes about my radio’s, my age, the 1980’s and so on (my brother is 9 years younger than me). My dad has seen my “Boombox Laboratory†and knows I work on them and do repairs.
As the week went on, we listened to some great music that I had brought with me on both cassette and mp3 player. I tailored the music to fit the Thanksgiving theme and all was good.
On Thanksgiving day I was asking my brother if he ever used the old console stereo system he got from our grand father. It's a 1959 Admiral AM / FM turn table. A beautiful piece of furniture. He told me he does from time to time, but the knobs crackle when you turn them, only one speaker works and the turn table stopped working.
I asked him if he wanted me to take a look at it. He said yes and in a few minutes we had the back off and we were peaking around. The inside had an 8th inch of thick dust with spider webs everywhere that we had to vacuum out. It is a tube amp with fragile wires running between the amp and the control panel. It took some time to get the control panel out and cleaned. Thankfully I had my trusty can of DeOxit with me (HEY, You Never Know!) and after I had the control panel out, I was able to spray the knobs and switches. I pulled the tubes, cleaned them off and plugged them back in and then reassembled the system.
I took a look at the turn table thinking it might need a new belt, but it was a belt less drive with a large wheel with a rubber tire that contacts a spinning metal rod. They were both covered in dust. I cleaned them both and the tire once again made good contact.
I put the platter back on, reinstalled the back cover, plugged it in and when the tubes began to glow we put on a Frank Sinatra LP and to every ones delight, it played flawlessly.
The turntable loaded the LP automatically, and it played at the proper speed. None of the knobs crackled and sound was coming from both sides in stereo!
The warmth coming from that unit was just amazing. True, pure sound. Just incredible. This stereo was something my grand father loved and it was awesome to work on and get up and running again!
It’s been the only time since I’ve been collecting Boomboxes that I didn’t mind putting them aside to let another stereo take the spotlight!
I guess sometimes, it’s not just about BLASTING!
I took the Victor RC 838 I got from Japan. I also took the Sharp GF 777z and the Lasonic TRC 975. All three radio’s were loaded up with batteries and with my daughter (who was visiting me from Alaska) we made the drive up scenic highway 395 through the snow capped mountains of the Sierra Nevada. It was just breath taking.
I thought these three radio’s would be good enough, no need to freak him out by bringing all of the collection!
Of course I am met at the door with all the normal jokes about my radio’s, my age, the 1980’s and so on (my brother is 9 years younger than me). My dad has seen my “Boombox Laboratory†and knows I work on them and do repairs.
As the week went on, we listened to some great music that I had brought with me on both cassette and mp3 player. I tailored the music to fit the Thanksgiving theme and all was good.
On Thanksgiving day I was asking my brother if he ever used the old console stereo system he got from our grand father. It's a 1959 Admiral AM / FM turn table. A beautiful piece of furniture. He told me he does from time to time, but the knobs crackle when you turn them, only one speaker works and the turn table stopped working.
I asked him if he wanted me to take a look at it. He said yes and in a few minutes we had the back off and we were peaking around. The inside had an 8th inch of thick dust with spider webs everywhere that we had to vacuum out. It is a tube amp with fragile wires running between the amp and the control panel. It took some time to get the control panel out and cleaned. Thankfully I had my trusty can of DeOxit with me (HEY, You Never Know!) and after I had the control panel out, I was able to spray the knobs and switches. I pulled the tubes, cleaned them off and plugged them back in and then reassembled the system.
I took a look at the turn table thinking it might need a new belt, but it was a belt less drive with a large wheel with a rubber tire that contacts a spinning metal rod. They were both covered in dust. I cleaned them both and the tire once again made good contact.
I put the platter back on, reinstalled the back cover, plugged it in and when the tubes began to glow we put on a Frank Sinatra LP and to every ones delight, it played flawlessly.
The turntable loaded the LP automatically, and it played at the proper speed. None of the knobs crackled and sound was coming from both sides in stereo!
The warmth coming from that unit was just amazing. True, pure sound. Just incredible. This stereo was something my grand father loved and it was awesome to work on and get up and running again!
It’s been the only time since I’ve been collecting Boomboxes that I didn’t mind putting them aside to let another stereo take the spotlight!
I guess sometimes, it’s not just about BLASTING!
, which just reminded me of the simular console stereo my parents gave me as a kid, used of course, 
WOW those stereo's could crank 
