Just bought a General Electric 3-5259 Blockbuster!

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Deadweight

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On Etsy.

Been there a while, I'm surprised.

Got price knocked down from $140 to $120.

Radio works, sound on both channels.

V.U. meters unknown.

Cassette not working, of course.

Some cosmetic flaws.

Can't beat the price.

Now to see if it lives up to the hype. :lol:

One reason I really wanted this is this particular box, along with a few other 80's G.E. radios, have an excellent a.m. tuner.

One of my hobbies is a.m. DX'ing, that is, trying to receive a.m. broadcast stations at a great distance.

One of the top 3 radios for this purpose is the G.E. Super radio, models 1 and 2, these were from the same era and sported a 200 mm ferrite antenna rod!

I own a restored Super 2.

So this box, for me, suits my needs quite well.

Hopefully someone here can guide me on the meter and cassette problems.

Now I "wait for delivery, each day until 3", as Janis Joplin put it so well.



I am proud to be part of the large and diverse family of Boombox lovers!
 

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D

Deadweight

Member (SA)
By the way, I ran across this 3D printed headstock replacement to fix the tape deck in this box. I can not vouch for it's authenticity or effectiveness.

www.shapeways.com

Shapeways 3D Printing Marketplace

Shop the Shapeways 3D Printing marketplace for Jewelry, Accessories, Gadgets, Miniatures, Home and Lighting, or various unique pieces of Art.
www.shapeways.com www.shapeways.com

"The cassette player of the GE (General Electric) Model 3-5259 Blockbuster "boombox" and Realistic SCR-8 (14-778A) which is 40-50 years old are usually not working anymore. Even with new belts installed and properly lubed, you may find that the cassette deck just won't play and upon further investigation, you'll probably find that the heads simply don't raise high enough to contact the tape media sufficiently to produce audio. The cause is almost certain to be due to the black plastic head carriage mount has cracked where a high tension spring seats. This crack enables the spring to become loose and not develop the necessary tension to raise the heads to the proper play position. Due to age, the plastic becomes brittle and we estimate that all or nearly all examples of this model probably already suffers from this issue. We recreated this product to be a drop in replacement. It is exactly like the original except that we added a little more material above the pocket that houses the short spring tail, which is subject to enormous forces. We have installed and tested this in over 1/2 dozen cases of broken head mounts, and it fits properly and restores function to the mechanism."

I missed the edit deadline apparently, so I had to add a p.s..

I would be most interested to read comments and opinions on this 3D fix.
 
D

Deadweight

Member (SA)
samovar said:
It's always good to exert some caution, unless you're talking to top notch boomboxery member caution !
Click to expand...
Thanks for letting me know!
I'm hoping I didn't violate any rules here by posting that.
i haven't bought anything from them (yet) and I would certainly check them out before buying.
My concern would be, how old is the ad and are these still being made?
if legit, it is certainly a great item for anyone who owns one of these boxes.
 
D

Deadweight

Member (SA)
caution said:
I can vouch for it, I drew it LOL
boomboxery.com

New project, GE 5259a tape repair

I just bought one of these with tape deck issues and this is some great advice! Hope I can get it to play and record tapes smoothly with a proper belt and new capstan roller. 8.3 right?
boomboxery.com boomboxery.com
Click to expand...
That took some brain power and hard work!
My hat is off to you!
Should I order from the website I posted, or can I order direct from you if you have your own business?
 
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