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#1
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What to do with an old Wollensak?
My father passed away in '08 and I'm still sorting through his things--one
of which is a fairly fancy Wollensak 7-inch real to real recorder that worked wonderfully well in the 70s. Since then it sat in the garage for 30 years and has now come back to light. I haven't bothered to dig all the dead bugs and spider webs out of it. Even in its best days it was poor compared to today's devices. Where can I send this thing? Would someone like to scavenge the motors and other electrics out of it? I don't think it has any tubes in it. Comes with a pair of high impedance microphones and a dust cover. |
#2
Posted to rec.audio.pro
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What to do with an old Wollensak?
On Sat, 05 Mar 2011 16:47:10 +0000, Carey Carlan wrote:
My father passed away in '08 and I'm still sorting through his things--one of which is a fairly fancy Wollensak 7-inch real to real recorder that worked wonderfully well in the 70s. Since then it sat in the garage for 30 years and has now come back to light. I haven't bothered to dig all the dead bugs and spider webs out of it. Even in its best days it was poor compared to today's devices. Where can I send this thing? Would someone like to scavenge the motors and other electrics out of it? I don't think it has any tubes in it. Comes with a pair of high impedance microphones and a dust cover. The mics can be fun. I've been converting my junk mics to be balanced with XLR outs over the last few months. They make interesting noises on guitar amps and drums, as close or ambient mics. I build a little box with a transformer in it to step the impedance down when required, though it doesn't always make much difference except on the piezo ones. It's definitely not the same as eq'ing or distorting the sound from higher quality mics. |
#3
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What to do with an old Wollensak?
On 3/5/2011 11:47 AM, Carey Carlan wrote:
My father passed away in '08 and I'm still sorting through his things--one of which is a fairly fancy Wollensak 7-inch real to real recorder that worked wonderfully well in the 70s. Since then it sat in the garage for 30 years and has now come back to light. Where can I send this thing? Would someone like to scavenge the motors and other electrics out of it? I don't think it has any tubes in it. You could put it up for sale on eBay as a vintage analog tape deck, but I'd recommend that instead you buy a small boat. Tie a rope around the carrying handle of the recorder, and use it as an anchor. It isn't heavy enough to anchor a very large boat. -- "Today's production equipment is IT based and cannot be operated without a passing knowledge of computing, although it seems that it can be operated without a passing knowledge of audio." - John Watkinson http://mikeriversaudio.wordpress.com - useful and interesting audio stuff |
#4
Posted to rec.audio.pro
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What to do with an old Wollensak?
Carey Carlan wrote:
Where can I send this thing? Would someone like to scavenge the motors and other electrics out of it? I don't think it has any tubes in it. Put it up on Ebay. There are people who collect that stuff. Not a lot of people and not very rich people, but people. Comes with a pair of high impedance microphones and a dust cover. The microphones may turn out to be fun, though. Give them a try on a guitar cabinet and see what you get. --scott -- "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis." |
#5
Posted to rec.audio.pro
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What to do with an old Wollensak?
"Carey Carlan" wrote in message
... My father passed away in '08 and I'm still sorting through his things--one of which is a fairly fancy Wollensak 7-inch real to real recorder that worked wonderfully well in the 70s. Since then it sat in the garage for 30 years and has now come back to light. I haven't bothered to dig all the dead bugs and spider webs out of it. Even in its best days it was poor compared to today's devices. Where can I send this thing? Would someone like to scavenge the motors and other electrics out of it? I don't think it has any tubes in it. Comes with a pair of high impedance microphones and a dust cover. There was a time, when every advertising agency producer in every major ad agency had a Wollensak on the credenza. That in addition to the thousands that were sold to companys to run sound for the slide shows and more thousands sold to schools. It may have been the single most successful r to r made. I don't have the numbers to back this up, but.... They were pretty heavy. They wouldn't anchor a destroyer, but ;-) Steve King |
#6
Posted to rec.audio.pro
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What to do with an old Wollensak?
"Carey Carlan" wrote in message ... My father passed away in '08 and I'm still sorting through his things--one of which is a fairly fancy Wollensak 7-inch real to real recorder that worked wonderfully well in the 70s. Since then it sat in the garage for 30 years and has now come back to light. I haven't bothered to dig all the dead bugs and spider webs out of it. Even in its best days it was poor compared to today's devices. Where can I send this thing? Would someone like to scavenge the motors and other electrics out of it? I don't think it has any tubes in it. Comes with a pair of high impedance microphones and a dust cover. I have nostalgic memories of my dad listening to r2r tapes on his of Dr. Dirty (In China they do it for Chile) the Irish Rover's Unicorn album and Johnny Cash Live at Folsom. I used to play with it for hours. Now I do the same thing with a computer. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. m |
#7
Posted to rec.audio.pro
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What to do with an old Wollensak?
Carey Carlan wrote:
My father passed away in '08 and I'm still sorting through his things--one of which is a fairly fancy Wollensak 7-inch real to real recorder that worked wonderfully well in the 70s. Since then it sat in the garage for 30 years and has now come back to light. I haven't bothered to dig all the dead bugs and spider webs out of it. Even in its best days it was poor compared to today's devices. Where can I send this thing? Would someone like to scavenge the motors and other electrics out of it? I don't think it has any tubes in it. Comes with a pair of high impedance microphones and a dust cover. This is probably (?) a half-track mono machine and valuable to someone informally wanting to more properly transfer pre-1964 (?) tapes. If it's working... |
#8
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What to do with an old Wollensak?
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#9
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What to do with an old Wollensak?
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#10
Posted to rec.audio.pro
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What to do with an old Wollensak?
Les Cargill wrote:
Those things were just awful. The A/V department in college used them, and they just about hissed with the power off. The original recording of the Locomotion was recorded with two half-track Wollensaks, ping-ponged between the two. When you drop the needle onto the disc, there is a HUGE rush of tape hiss that hits you. BUT... it made the top ten anyway... --scott -- "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis." |
#12
Posted to rec.audio.pro
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What to do with an old Wollensak?
Carey Carlan wrote:
Roy W. Rising wrote in : [snip] Comes with a pair of high impedance microphones and a dust cover. This is probably (?) a half-track mono machine and valuable to someone informally wanting to more properly transfer pre-1964 (?) tapes. If it's working... Two mics implies it could be the stereo Model 1580. That one had a head "elevator" that selected between quarter-track stereo and half-track centering for playback of earlier taped. It was all tubes ... solid state was yet to come to home recording. Give that man a cigar. A 1580 it is (made me look). The fun part is the level meter--something Scott Dorsey can describe better than I can. A two-section bulb that lit one side at reasonable levels and both sides just shy of overloading. It glowed like a discharge effect (or something like) not incandescent or flourescent as I'm used to seeing them. Reminds me of the flickering electric candles of the same generation. Thanks for the smoke! The Record Level indicators were NEON bulbs! -- ~ Roy "If you notice the sound, it's wrong!" |
#13
Posted to rec.audio.pro
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What to do with an old Wollensak?
The fun part is the level meter--something Scott Dorsey can describe
better than I can. A two-section bulb that lit one side at reasonable levels and both sides just shy of overloading. It glowed like a discharge effect (or something like) not incandescent or flourescent as I'm used to seeing them. Reminds me of the flickering electric candles of the same generation. There must be some French expression for this inter-generational "disparity"... It's called a neon lamp. They were commonly used on consumer tape decks to indicate peak level. |
#14
Posted to rec.audio.pro
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What to do with an old Wollensak?
Didn't Wollensaks also have a model with the "magic eye"
level meter? Sort of a green circle with a V-shaped glowing graphic that changed angle with the modulation. Later models might have. But the "big brick" Wollensaks had neon lamps. There was a later "magic eye" with a bar that opened and closed. My dad had a Westinghouse recorder that used it. I believe Dyna used it in one of their tuners, both for tuning and as a stereo-pilot light. |
#15
Posted to rec.audio.pro
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What to do with an old Wollensak?
William Sommerwerck wrote:
The fun part is the level meter--something Scott Dorsey can describe better than I can. A two-section bulb that lit one side at reasonable levels and both sides just shy of overloading. It glowed like a discharge effect (or something like) not incandescent or flourescent as I'm used to seeing them. Reminds me of the flickering electric candles of the same generation. There must be some French expression for this inter-generational "disparity"... It's called a neon lamp. They were commonly used on consumer tape decks to indicate peak level. Which is SHAMEFUL. At least hold out for a magic eye tube. --scott -- "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis." |
#16
Posted to rec.audio.pro
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What to do with an old Wollensak?
Scott Dorsey wrote:
Which is SHAMEFUL. At least hold out for a magic eye tube. A lot of modern "few led vu's" stuff would be better off with magic eyes. I can remember we had an implement with one when I was a small child, possibly a Beocord wire-recorder. --scott Kind regards Peter Larsen |
#17
Posted to rec.audio.pro
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What to do with an old Wollensak?
On 3/9/2011 12:55 PM, Peter Larsen wrote:
A lot of modern "few led vu's" stuff would be better off with magic eyes. Right - when monitoring analog levels, an analog meter is always better than a quantized meter. -- "Today's production equipment is IT based and cannot be operated without a passing knowledge of computing, although it seems that it can be operated without a passing knowledge of audio." - John Watkinson http://mikeriversaudio.wordpress.com - useful and interesting audio stuff |
#18
Posted to rec.audio.pro
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What to do with an old Wollensak?
On Mar 5, 11:47*am, Carey Carlan wrote:
My father passed away in '08 and I'm still sorting through his things--one of which is a fairly fancy Wollensak 7-inch real to real recorder that worked wonderfully well in the 70s. *Since then it sat in the garage for 30 years and has now come back to light. I haven't bothered to dig all the dead bugs and spider webs out of it. * Even in its best days it was poor compared to today's devices. Where can I send this thing? *Would someone like to scavenge the motors and other electrics out of it? *I don't think it has any tubes in it. Comes with a pair of high impedance microphones and a dust cover. A couple of years ago I parted out one of these, a stereo machine too damaged to restore (or I would have!) PT kept but never used. The OPT's were useful (both used in radios.) I still have the tubes in stock. Pots and a few bits and pieces were kept. The rest went to the dump. Cheers, Roger |
#19
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What to do with an old Wollensak?
On Mar 7, 7:28*pm, (Scott Dorsey) wrote:
Les Cargill wrote: Those things were just awful. The A/V department in college used them, and they just about hissed with the power off. The original recording of the Locomotion was recorded with two half-track Wollensaks, ping-ponged between the two. *When you drop the needle onto the disc, there is a HUGE rush of tape hiss that hits you. * BUT... it made the top ten anyway... --scott -- "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis." Scott, that kind of trivia is interesting...how do we find out about more examples like that... What about "Angel Baby"? thanks Mark |
#20
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What to do with an old Wollensak?
Mark wrote:
On Mar 7, 7:28=A0pm, (Scott Dorsey) wrote: Les Cargill wrote: Those things were just awful. The A/V department in college used them, and they just about hissed with the power off. The original recording of the Locomotion was recorded with two half-track Wollensaks, ping-ponged between the two. =A0When you drop the needle onto= the disc, there is a HUGE rush of tape hiss that hits you. =A0 BUT... it made= the top ten anyway... that kind of trivia is interesting...how do we find out about more examples like that... Mix Magazine often does short "how it was recorded" articles about popular recordings. The more recent ones aren't so great but if you go back to the 1980s issues of the magazine some of them are just spectacular. I do suggest taking a lot of things that people say about their own recordings with a grain of salt, though. What about "Angel Baby"? The Eartha Kitt thing? She was a big star by the time she recorded that... --scott -- "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis." |
#21
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What to do with an old Wollensak?
On Mar 11, 8:57*am, (Scott Dorsey) wrote:
Mark wrote: On Mar 7, 7:28=A0pm, (Scott Dorsey) wrote: Les Cargill wrote: Those things were just awful. The A/V department in college used them, and they just about hissed with the power off. The original recording of the Locomotion was recorded with two half-track Wollensaks, ping-ponged between the two. =A0When you drop the needle onto= the disc, there is a HUGE rush of tape hiss that hits you. =A0 BUT... it made= the top ten anyway... that kind of trivia is interesting...how do we find out about more examples like that... Mix Magazine often does short "how it was recorded" articles about popular recordings. *The more recent ones aren't so great but if you go back to the 1980s issues of the magazine some of them are just spectacular. *I do suggest taking a lot of things that people say about their own recordings with a grain of salt, though. What about "Angel Baby"? The Eartha Kitt thing? *She was a big star by the time she recorded that... --scott -- "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis." no, this one... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angel_Baby_(song) Rosie and the Originals (1960) Mark |
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