My first stereo

[jfalberti]

I was trolling on Shop Goodwill a couple of weeks ago, and came across this Capehart stereo record player. This was the first stereo I ever had as a kid, and I've halfheartedly been keeping my eyes open for one, but never expected to find one. These are the listing pictures from the site I bought it from, and it is in awesome condition.  I need to get a new stylus and 45 rpm adapter, but that can wait until next week.  Have you ever stumbled upon a favorite possession from when you were a kid, and just had to have it?

 

[paulg]

Yes I did buy something from my childhood...

I stumbled upon the game "Shenanigans" and had to buy it. The game was complete and so (gasp), the price didn't matter. My sister and I had absolute loads of fun with that game as kids. I gave her the vintage game as a gift a few years ago. The card I gave to her had a quiz to see if she could guess the gift. She did!
That being said, your Capehart is a classic BSR changer with a transistor amplifier. Very fixable if something were to go wrong. You can keep that unit working for a long time to come.
That will be a very fun project. Good catch. Enjoy playing your estate-sale records on your Capehart!

 

[marks_here]

Yes from school

I found a blue Califone record player on ebay, good price as the picture was not very clear but when I got it, it was in pristine condition, needle was good & played records very well. I don't use it much but I think I should. I'm trying to find the cassette recorders they used & for the life of me I can't remember the name of them, they were grey, small not long & had a round dial you turned, the only button was the red record button, volume was on the side, cord tucked away in the compartment on the bottom, even had a battery place for it. Cheers! Mark D.

 

[jfalberti]

I remember school record players

My school music teacher, Mrs Nelson, had a Mono Newcomb record player that had tubes. I loved the way that record player sounded. When I was in fifth grade, the school bought her a new stereo Newcomb that was pretty cool. I always wanted one so I found one of each on eBay a few years ago. If anyone is interested, I'll post some pictures of them this weekend.

 

[paulg]

I remember those cassette recorders.

Your description is good however the brand name escapes me too.
However, if they weren't commercial-grade, I recall brands such as MAYFAIR and MILOVAC being popular at one time.
ROSS was another vendor using a single-knob control.

 

[ultimatevacman]

That's a lovely stereo, enjoy!

 

[MikePdx]

Very nice little stereo...

A lot of my friends had similar models, usually with the Sears or Montgomery Ward brands on them. They were a bit hard on records, but otherwise they were rugged as all get out! I had a small VM suitcase style. I learned to love music on these little phonographs.

 

[nycwriter]

Cool!!!

Back in the '70s, stepping up from a "record player" to a "stereo" was a major life milestone, almost akin to becoming a man.

In 1978, I saved up my grass-cutting money and bought one of these. A "Dorchester". I saw it on display at G.C. Murphy and HAD to have it. It was entirely plastic (even the speaker enclosures). Each of the speakers had only one tiny three-inch transistor radio full-range speaker hidden inside their deceptively-sized enclosures. The turntable platter was solid steel, but slightly warped. Despite the tonearm weighing a ton, it would skip without a couple of pennies taped to the pickup head. You could not lower the dust cover when playing an album on the single-play platter. The radio was AM/FM. The volume control was two faders -- one for each speaker. There was no tone control.

But I absolutely loved it. I loved how "space age" it looked, and I loved that it was MINE.

Unfortunately, it really was quite cheap and didn't last even a year. The tonearm was actually damaging my records.

The next Christmas, Santa surprised me with my first *real* stereo.

 

[nycwriter]

My SECOND stereo ...

After that Dorchester from above ... Santa surprised on Christmas morning 1980 (more like SHOCKED) me with this stereo.

FULL-SIZED grown-up record changer!

WITH AN 8-TRACK TAPE DECK!!!!

The speakers again were deceptive -- just one four-inch full-range driver. But surprisingly warm and rich sound.

After I started earning some real money as a teenager and started upgrading, this stereo went to my Grandma who used it every day (at least the radio, sometimes records, but never 8-tracks) until she moved in with my parents and it disappeared with all her other "good" possessions when my aunt and uncle sweeped in).

One really handy feature: The "power" button did not have to be depressed to play records; the record changer automatically powered up the whole system. And as long as you didn't push the power button down, once the records were done playing, the changer shut the whole system off, too.

I was over-the-top in love with this stereo!!

 

[nycwriter]

And since I've already gone there ...

It was the summer of 1983 when I bought my first grown-up stereo component: A Zenith. 40 watts per channel. Capability of hooking up TWO turntables. Hi AND lo filters. Front mic jack! TWO ac outlets on the back panel -- one switched (for a tape deck) and one unswitched (for a turntable). And the capability of hooking up two tape decks for dubbing!

And, of course, true FLYWHEEL tuning!

It's quite a heavy beast, too ... nearly 18 inches deep.

The high-end stereo store in my hometown had it discounted by 75% that summer because that year (1983) no one wanted analong tuners (with or without flywheel); it was all about digital.

They also wanted *black* fronts with tiny pushbuttons; the gleaming metallic trim and toggle switches were seen as SO old-fashioned (but of course, in the end, last so much longer).

Back in 1983, even the 75% off price was way out of my reach ($175), so they let me put it on layaway. Each week I rode my bike down to the store with that week's grass cutting money (usually $40 or so). Paying that last installment and bringing home that beauty in September 1983 was one of the proudest days of my life. In fact, it's still one of my "daily drivers". It was the first major purchase of my life -- something I worked very hard for -- and will always be a prized possession.

 

[paulg]

That Zenith was a great purchase

I certainly remember those Zeniths. They were made well, easy to service - but not much ever went wrong with them.
And they were handsome. I thought they were a great value.

 

[nycwriter]

Yep ...

... I think the Zeniths were quite underrated and eclipsed by the Pioneer and Kenwood powerhouses of the day.

They were solid, very well made (still made in America), and had great sound.

 

[arh1953]

I like all three of the last stereo pictures, especially the Zenith. The post Allegro receivers really kicked butt, I don't know how well the speakers or turntable did though. My "good" receiver is a 1980 Sherwood with small Infinity loudspeakers. 


 


Our first stereo came here in 1965, from the Sylvania dealer. It was their least expensive portable, but we loved it. Don't know where that went. One Christmas, I got a Singer battery portable, which I still have, box and all. My first stereo that was all mine was the 1969 Magnavox similar to the pictures here, but mine had the silvery colored paint scheme. It retailed for $119.90. 

 

[anthony]

i got this

back in 1971 its an ITT 2010 with all of 12 watts per channel and theres a tuner as well its still working well all these years later and it sounds great and the bonus is it also plays 78s

 

[nycwriter]

How many of us ...

... grew up in an era where one of these was in every classroom?

 

[MikePdx]

Classroom Record Player

I was born in 1968, so yeah, those were everywhere when I was growing up. That's how I learned not to play my records on mono machines that didn't say "stereo compatible cartridge." 

 

[nycwriter]

Those classroom players ...

... were actually VERY well-built.

Very little plastic, mostly-metal construction.

Solid knobs.

Solid electronics.

VERY large oval speaker in the front.

 

[tolivac]

Remember classroom record machines were designed and built for the long haul--they are going to be used by people who aren't their owners and often missused.Really liked the older tubed Califone and Newcomb players.Those had the BEST sound-esp if they were stereo.These were also popular with square dance callers in the early 50's-60's.Remember square dancing to these in those old days.Was fun and those players sounded really good-even at high volume.And you could see the glow of ther tubes under their TT motorboards-and thru the vent grills.Want one of those today-but rare.Those square dance machines esp had the more powerful amp-detachable stereo speakers and the speakers were larger-often 12-15" and even had tweeters with them.So they were really Hi-fi units.They had a mike input for the caller to use.and often line inputs to play a tape recorder or other device thru.And these were used in school auditoriums for dance classes and Phys-ed classes.

 

[nycwriter]

OMG!

I remember in 4th grade -- it was the year of "Saturday Night Fever" -- and my homeroom teacher was teaching us disco dancing during recess (in the classroom during winter months). Because she was the "cool" teacher, she managed to always requisiton the school's one and only **stereo** from the A/V department. We thought we were SUCH bad-asses! LOL!

 

[nycwriter]

OMG ...

... and I forgot some of them had lighted pickup heads!

 

[jfalberti]

I have two Newcomb record players

One is a tube type from the 60's and the other is a solid state stereo model from the 70's.  Newcomb,  Califone, and Audiotronics all pretty much used an Astatic 89T cartridge/stylus for the mono models.  This is a stereo compatible cartridge that allowed you to play stereo records on a mono record player, and hear both channels. The stereo models used an Astatic 13T which was a true discreet stereo cartridge. Both of my Newcombs  were suffering from bad idler wheels, but I got lucky and found a supplier of them on eBay, so both are up and running again.  Here are some pictures of mine.

 

[DesertTortoise]

Why am I smiling so broadly as I read this ! I have an early 1960's Fisher FM only tuner that belonged to my father. This was from the time when Avery Fisher was building his components in New York. My dad bought it at a discount chain store in the LA area called White Front. They actually sold high end stereo components along with clothes, major appliances, household products and groceries, one of the early predecessors of Wally World and Costco that litter US retail history.

It is all tube (tubes remain the state of the art for high fidelity reproduction of music, nothing yet made beats their sound quality) and sounds magnificent. You have to love that Fisher made this tuner FM only. It is very old and needs a good rebuild as I would love to place it in my stack along with all my other components as the centerpiece of my "stereo".

 

[paulg]

Fisher was fabulous

Fisher was wonderful during those tube years. And wasn't too bad in the immediate years following.
And as far as Newcomb and Califone, I truly liked their stuff. Durable, sounded good.
... I truly liked POWERPOINT cartridges which were often found on scholastic phonos. Yes, young'uns.... POWERPOINT meant something other than a computer program back then. Sooo easy to fix those Powerpoint phonos.

 

[marks_here]

We also had the sony reel to reel tape recorder, it had a built in amp. we used to hook up mics to them, strange thing is they were on these tv stands the the front bent down & had to have a book under the front of it to keep the recorder from tipping over. That was the pride & joy of the music department, also the AV department had a huge video tape recorder that you had to wind the tape around the head, from what I remember everything was in black & white, quite unique back at that time.

 

[DesertTortoise]

I have one of those old Sony reel-to-reel tape decks in a closet and well remember the mics you describe. It has speakers that hinge on the side and can be closed over the tape deck and locked on with suitcase latches. There is a handle on the top so it can be carried like a suitcase.

My dad bought it circa 1965 or so. A friend and co-worker of my dad's who was in the Air National Guard brought it over from Japan in the Boeing C-97 he crew chiefed. My dad hardly ever used it so it is pristine but there are no tapes to play on it.

 

[arh1953]

DesertTortoise

In order to start enjoying that Sony, check out thrift stores, estate sales, and of course, ebay, because there are TONS of reel to reel tapes out there, you can take your pick. Some of the blanks are brand new in package, some "blanks" have music and messages from who knows where. I bought some used Ampex 7 inch reels from Craigslist one day, the man threw in a BASF tape that was recorded off German radio in 1966. I bought some used tapes from ReStore, put an unmarked one on a 1965 Magnavox machine I got off ebay. First thing I heard was a homemade tape of mid '60's Beatles. Here are some ebay pics of Magnavox machines I own, and a couple others thrown in.

 

[tolivac]

Most of the few RR tapes I have came from radio stations-most are full of commercials sent by clients to be broadcast.The commercials would be transferred from the reels to carts.One is full of Coke ads!Not tapes but have several Kasey Kasem AT40 countdown record albums.These could be played as received on a Turntable!!-back in the days when radio stations had them-usually two per studio.

 

[arh1953]

I found a ton of 7 and 3 inch reel tapes in one of the church thrifts earlier this year, they had seminars and some had radio spot announcements, a few had personal things on them, nothing hot I'm afraid. One was marked 1958, some holiday like Thanksgiving. Brands ranged from Allied, Radio Shack, Melody, Montgomery Ward Airline, Silvertone, Scotch, Irish, etc. I really don't need to stockpile those things, but I wanted to make sure I have enough for my collection of machines. I have a few 5 and 3 in reels from years back when I was in my teens. Here's my last 5 inch ebay machine, Magnavox branded, Sanyo built.

 

[tolivac]

Often portable RR machines were used for radio station news gathering and interveiw work in their feild kits.then came the portable cassette machines.