Cool? Oh hell yeah. I just snagged one locally. Gotta do a little work on it as the reject mechanism is a little gummed up, but it'll be a nice piece
I think they are hard on records, as the tone arm has to have extra pressure to reduce skipping in a moving car.
This style plays upside down with a spring loaded stylus. I'll put a gram scale on it to check, but I don't think they track much harder than a jukebox. Regardless I won't be putting anything precious in it. I make records for a living so I can cut anything I want for it. If I wear it out I can just make another.
What do you cut on? I had a bunch of albums pressed last year and I'm gonna do a short run of 45s soon.
Hello, Well, nice find and good luck. It definitely, is a custom addition to any build. But, they take up a lot of floor hump space. Even if you install it under the passenger side of the dash, it definitely, is a knee knocker at the most inopportune time. From the time we all saw the first all chrome one sitting inside of a custom car at an early car show, we all wanted one. Our 45 record collections were handy and it was the perfect addition to listening to some cool music. We all went to the car stereo installation shop(s) to look at the ones in stock. They looked good, access to our own 45 library was the best, but it was way beyond our measly budget. Those that installed them, wowed everyone at the drive-in restaurant parking lot gatherings, but they had drawbacks. One major one being they all skipped when driving. Despite the suspension system some of them had, it did not matter as they played a 45 rpm record, any snail on the road made the whole system move and the needle skipped a few lines. Not good… XXX. Braking and odd cornering also contributed to the “Big skip.” But, for car show custom displays, they looked top notch and with a 45 record holder on the floor with records splayed out and one sticking half way out of the opening, they were impressive. We were all smiles as we walked away knowing how they acted in our daily drives and cruising scenes. Jnaki Since we had a 1/4 inch, reel to reel tape player/recorder in our house stereo system, we made tapes of our 33 1/3 rpm albums songs plus our 45 records. But, we could play them in someone’s household system, but there was no way to be portable in a car. We even got a portable reel to reel tape player/recorder, like the ones at our schools. Hooking them up was not a problem, the space involved was the key. It was larger than the under-dash record players and the trunk was not reachable for exchanging the tapes at will. So, we just accepted the AM radio and teen conversations until something better came along. YRMV
At work we use 4 Vinyl Recorder T-560s for lathe cuts, a Neumann VMS 66 for lacquer masters, and a Presto 8N in the sound truck for live to lathe recording. At home I've got a presto k10 and a Rekokut m5
I have a old console radio/record player that has a second turntable in it that is used for recording from the radio? Apparently it records what's being played on the radio by cutting it on to a blank record disk? I don't know if it can record from another record or not ,I have never checked it out close so I'm not really sure what it does ,it's been sitting in my upstairs/attic for many many years. It's probably going to be thrown out in the next clean out day coming soon.
Hello, Your dual record player is unusual for a consumer hi-fi/stereo unit. Our home Hi-fi/stereo unit was an early model all built in one single cabinet. Inside and below the components were three speakers, two base units about 12-15 inches in diameter. Then a metal horn tweeter in the middle space. The components were all lined up and connected to each other. So, when we wanted to listen to any one component, like the reel to reel tape recorder/player, the knobs were turned to the tape player designation on the dials. The same thing for the record player. Now, the cool part, if we wanted to record to tape from the record player, there was a switch just for that purpose. Also, the ability to record music from the radio to tape was also built in, with a flip of another designated switch. We were building a great library of 45 records and from our LP albums. All geared for long, uninterrupted music play without any disc jockey talk or commercial noise. So, a 6 inch reel to reel tape full of music was great for hours of uninterrupted music for parties or just studying for tests. Our hope? Being able to play the reel to reel tapes in our cars. We tried the portable reel to reel tape players and they worked when set up correctly, but they were too bulky and a trunk mount was not handy for changing tapes at will. Jnaki We continued to record our record collection music on reel to reel tape recorders and continued to have the ability to listen to or work with uninterrupted music while we worked on our hot rods. But, in moving cars while cruising, we still had to use the simple AM radios. Those under dash record players were a losing proposition all around. They were nice in a drive in parking lot stationary position, but did take extra battery power for continuous run time. ( Those 6 inch reel to reel tapes? Still sitting in box for the next long term project, along with 40 year old cassettes of our toddler son, too.) From an old post: "Unobtanium: A Good Working Alternative Sound Player For Our Own Music…” Well, if Cassius Clay could not figure out that those 45 record players did not work well in moving cars, at the time, it was up to all of us to experiment with those funky players. Ever try to listen to them while trying to get up and down in the local drive-in bumps? Or even driving down the normal street and a small hole jiggles your wheel/tire? Or the smooth sound coming out of the player into those awful factory speakers and then accidentally kicking one on the side? These are all faults of the early try of a "cool accessory." Even during the late 50s and early 60s, we had to listen to the only thing available, an AM radio. So, these record players were purchased with glee as it was a new way to listen to what you wanted to hear and not from the AM radio. The little, fat, flip, album inserts got full fast and were also a problem for storage. It could not just sit around on the seats during any time, let alone the hot summers. At the time, those 45 record players, as small and large, were tried and looked good at car shows with the accessory panels chromed. But, in reality, they were failures. Skips and bumps and skinny needles did not go together, that is for sure. We even went as far as trying to modify a Reel to Reel Tape Recorder/player to fit on the hump. At least, they would not skip as much as a rotating 45 rpm record and a needle. Most of the Reel to Reel Tape players/recorders were too large to fit nicely under the dash. But the idea of recording your own music at home with the 45 record player directly into your own Reel to Reel tape was fascinating. Trunks had unlimited space, but no direct access to change the tape or fast forward to the next popular song not in the playing order. No such thing as remote controls, back then, either. By 1958, our dad bought his own early stereo unit. Since he had it in our study den, a couple of teenagers took over the daily usage for our experiments. As nice as the record player was, it could send music directly to the built-in side by side Reel to Reel Tape Recorder. We could listen to our own 45 rpm records. The advantage to this unit was that along with the record player to tape, the built-in recorder activity included recording FM and AM sounds from stations we could tune in and find, with clarity of the sounds. So, yes, as teenagers, we did have an UNOBTAINIUM CAR ACCESSORY that we could not get locally at the stereo store or car radio shop. Quality music of our own choices in a player small enough to fit under or inside of the glove box. Jump up 60 years and a small Apple IPod music player does the thing we have always wanted in our cars from the way back time machine. No skips, pops or bad fuzzy music was the result. The ability to drive anywhere, at anytime listening to cool music without the worry of the dreaded sound of a needle scratching across the big hole 45 rpm record. If possible, it was “Back to The Future” for us…YRMV
In 1963,I got a small portible that was battery powered,not for car,but was the right size an voltage,so I mounted it in the glovebox,good on a date parked for sub=races. Too much skip if driving. Thought it was cool though
that would probably be a General Industries turntable, used in most of the consumer level disc recorders (Wilcox-Gay, Meissner,Silverstone,etc). I'd check the cutterhead before you toss it. If it's an astatic x26 it's crystal and needs to be rebuilt, but if it's an M41, you could get a couple hundred bucks for it.
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