Gifted a Dynasty Discolite!

[supramav]

So last week I am over at my sisters house, and my brother in law, who knows I love old school retro stuff, brings out a dusty old boombox. He found it while cleaning out his storage and was going to toss it or use it as a decoration piece. Immediately I'm thinking wow this thing is awesome, but it wasn't until after a quick google search that I realized I has something very special in my hands. At this point I realized that he probably didn't know the value of it, and told him that I can't accept it. He insisted I keep it anyway!

So here I am, clueless about boomboxes, holding onto what is apparently one of the more sought after boomboxes out there! Regardless, it's something that I will cherish forever, and I can't wait to learn more and get this thing back to it's former glory! So far I have taken the back off, and started cleaning it up a little bit.

The issues that will need to be addressed:
-missing "Audio Visual" and "Disco Lite" emblems
-missing button on "Normal/Metal" switch
-tape door hinge broken
-tuning string came completely loose while pulling apart the case, I have no clue how it goes back together
-volume slider is noisy/crackling. It goes from dead quiet to very loud with little movement

Here it is first time firing it up at home.


A little bit of metal polish and a q-tip and the tape deck buttons shined up like new. Left is before, right is after polishing.


Dirty switches. From the research I have done, this is likely the cause for the volume issues, but there doesn't seem to be a consensus for how to clean this. Suggestions?



Thanks for reading. I can already see this turning into yet another expensive hobby!

 

[SpaceLobster]

Wow! What a score. I have one myself but without the speaker light. Very pretty but the sounds is meh. Hope you can fix yours up tho, there is lots of help on this site if you need .
Peace

 

[MyOhMy]

Ha - just like that! Dear me, you did well getting your hands on this gem so I wish you well with the resto and look forward to a pictorial progress report.



BTW:

 

[blu_fuz]

Really awesome box to have gifted to you. Glad to see you aren't afraid to open it up and learn about it. Congrats!

 

[Lasonic TRC-920]

SUPER ULTRA MEGA SCORE!

 

[T-STER]

Daaaaaamn well scored, classic box and such a nice gift, just as you say, you should cherish it

 

[im_alan_partridge]

As a boombox collecting veteran who has had barely a sniff of a decent find in the wild in 10 years of hunting, nothing warms my heart more than a story about somebody having one of the rarest boxes in history just fall into his or her lap.

JOKE Well done mate, that's a hell of a find.

There is a few folks on here with stories similar to yours and most become boombox addicts and now have multi box collections. Hope you stay a while and I look forward to seeing your disco when its all sorted

 

[frontside5]

WOW! I can't believe there are people in the world who forget about having something that big or unique in storage, and also dismissing it as insignificant.
Great luck!

 

[Cpl-Chronic]

Nice score & good work finding this forum & the info about Disco-Lites. It's good you didn't overlook this beast as valuable as it is. Now, get yourself the De-Oxit F-5 Fader lube & cleaner to work out the volume & EQ issues you will have after sitting for a generation...Its the FADER in the name that's important...it's specifically made for sliders & the contact cleaner is NOT the same as this stuff...Contact cleaner & volume pot cleaner(De-Oxit D5) will kill the sliders if you use that instead...

Lots of folks will help you out over in the Resto threads. Hop on over there & open a restoration thread on your new patient if you haven't already. There, lots of OG knowledge is lurking, ready to help.

I could never afford a 1000 dollar Disco-Lite so I made my own from a Sharp 777 with new speakers...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUiKqCfHk4Y


Cheers,
Cpl

 

[supramav]

Thanks for all the kind words!

Cpl, I'll definitely open up a restoration thread, and thanks for the advice. I just ordered Deoxit D5, F5, and the 100% fader lube. The volume seems to be working a lot better by just blowing away some of the dust and dirt with compressed air, so hopefully the Deoxit will get it the rest of the way. Awesome job on retrofitting lights into your box btw!

I contacted some 3d printing shops to see about replicating the missing button and emblems. Second look at the tape deck door seems like it should be a simple fix. Only thing I'm really scratching my head on is how to route the tuner string.

 

[Radio raheem]

Great gift, but as one member said the sound is mehh, sell it and buy something much better haha, just an idea

these used to sell for £50...madonna has a lot to answer for because of her cat

 

[ford93]

NICE!!!!