As the Theophilus recording collection grew, there were quite a few unusual devices and circumstances involving the evolution of the reel to reel tape recorders. Below is a sampling of some of those items and events. We've also been given permission to share photos of some unique items that are not in our collection.
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PLEASE
NOTE: None of the Vintage Museum items are for sale.
Amplicorp Magnemite 610 VU with Brush head - 1958 - $315 to $425 • view video
NEW Listing! recommended by Phil Van Praag- Federwerk-Tonbandgeräte - History of Clockwork-Driven Tape Recorders. The book is written in English and German languages - available from German book dealers.
First commercial US reel tape recorders on the market
Brush produced their recorders in several configurations and finishes.
Willi Studer's first reel to reel tape recorder
There is an interesting story that Willi Studer was contracted to convert 500 of the brush Soundmirror reel tape recorders to European specs. He became frustrated with the level of quality of the units and decided he could build a better tape recorder. Thus the Studer ReVox Dynavox T-26 (below) was developed. This was Willi Studer's first reel to reel tape recorder and he launched one of the top lines of Studer and ReVox tape recorders worldwide. We have the Studer ReVox Dynavox T-26 in our collection (below). It was originally in France.
Valdamar Poulsen's Morse code key photos
Martin, attached is the Morse Key that belonged to Valdamar Poulsen and later Harry Sands - Paul Rich
Valdamar Poulsen Morse code key
photos donated by Paul Rich
Paul A. Rich generously donated photos of his Poulsen's Disc Recorder #13 and the American Telegraphone Company wire recorder prototype.
From Paul: "Martin, Hope all is well? I was working in my garage in what my girls refer to as the Rich Archives, Ha! ,and came across a few of the negatives I took back in 1984 of the recorders I eventually sold to Ampex Museum there in California. ...The first two photos is of the Poulsen Disc Recorder #13, as stated on the original brass plate mounted on the top surface. There were two approximately 5" steel disc as part of the collection. I never tried to operate or plug in the recorders in fear of damaging a rare piece. Just loved looking at them.
The other two photos show the American Telegraphone Company wire recorder prototype with lid that still has the light bulb mounted inside the center for continued work by the inventors. I have a healthy amount of original photos and documents showing them with this item. The wire recorder was enclosed in what appeared to be a wooden sewing machine box. Must have been readily available back then. Sometime later after sale I received the original phone like handset, very ornate. Sometime when I'm able to locate it I will forward photos."
Paul A. Rich
09/12/22 Martin, Hope all is well with you and your family. I was digging in the Rich Archive and found two items. The fancy handheld telephone looking receiver was to either the Poulsen Disc Recorder #13 or the original American Telegraphone Company prototype recorder. Your call. The magnetic recording head is definitely ATC as the markings are clear and present. As I keep digging into the Archive I will share a sample of the original ATC photographs and paperwork once found. The more I dig the more I find. I'm contemplating selling the collection down the road for continued preservation and to help fund another project as the clock is ticking. Take care for now. Call/text anytime. -Paul Rich
Story
of Nipper - Click on the images below for a larger image
Theophilus vintage collection Limited edition RCA Nipper from Harrod's, London • Francis Barraud Painting His Masters Voice with Nipper
His Master's Voice (HMV) was the unofficial name of a major British record label created in 1901 by The Gramophone Co. Ltd The phrase was first coined in the late 1890s as the title of a painting depicting a terrier-mix dog named Nipper listening to a wind-up disc gramophone. In the original 1898 painting, the dog is listening to a cylinder phonograph. It is a famous trademark in the recording industry.
In the 1970s, the statue of the dog and gramophone, His Master's Voice, were cloaked in bronze and was awarded by the record company (EMI) to artists or music producers or composers as a music award and often only after selling more than 100,000 recordings.
First transistorized reel to reel tape recorder amplifier - donated by Lawrence Grover
At my first job out of college, I worked for TI in the Germanium Applications branch. While there we got a request for a microphone amplifier from Midwestern Instruments. I was assigned to design the amplifier. As a demonstration project, I designed a fully transistorized record and playback set of electronics to be shown at the 1959 or 1960 Consumer Electronics Show in New Your city. I made a deal with my boss, I’d buy the deck (Viking) if I could have the complete unit afterwards. I believe this was the 1st public circuit of a fully transistorized record playback unit. Other transistorized circuits did not have a transistorized oscillator.
Lawrence Grover
Lawrence Grover donated his Viking 85 tape recorder with the prototype solid state amplifier to the Museum of Magnetic Sound Recording.
Ads below for the original unit and box prior to Lawrence's custom solid state amplifier
Ampligraph reel tape recorder 1961 information provided by Charles D. Webb
You are more than welcome to add the pictures
I’ve inclosed 3 more small paragraphs of info I believe what I have is one of the prototypes. There are a lot of hand made parts and parts that can be moved or adjusted way more than you would see on a consumer machine. Lastly it looks some what like my Berlant 30 thanks so much.
Ampigraph model 66 #151
Altec 639B (1940's) photos provided with permission from Ron Hummel
Hello Martin- I would be honored to have the mic posted on your Museum website. I have been an radio audio producer since the early 70's, am a big collector on vintage microphones (I have about 60 museum-quality vintage mics). Are the photos of the Altec through EBAY good enough quality for you to use? Personal contact attached. Ron Hummel - Radio Producer and Vintage Microphone Collector
We greatly appreciate Dr Bruce A. Sommer providing us with the following information on his donated Tandberg.
I attach a photo of the Tandberg gear (right).
It comprises:
Tandberg II with original Tandberg tape reel, a 5" Scotch reel (unused (not shown)) and AC power adapter (currently set for 240v AC with Australian plug)
Battery cage (plastic; there's a crack in it I'd been unaware of)
Handle
Documentation: original advert, user's manual, circuit diagram, service manual
Grampian DP4 microphone used with the unit, and brochure (not shown).
I was a graduate student of the University of Hawaii in mid-1969, preparing for field work towards my PhD in linguistics. The target language for my thesis had a difficult (for English ears!) speech sound system, and I needed a quality machine to capture it all. I chose the Tandberg, though few back here in Australia had ever heard of them. I recorded materials from a tribal group on the western side of Cape York Peninsula, Queensland (at Kowanyama) and successfully completed my thesis in mid-1970. It was published a "Kunjen Syntax: A Generative View" in 1972. It depended on transcriptions of stories, songs and myths from this group (also known as the Oykangand).
The recorder went on to archive languages in the Paninsula – now lost – in 1972-75; some of these were written up in the 1990s and the analyses archived by the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies in Canberra. In 1999 I presented an MA thesis in Anthropology to the University of the Northern Territory also based on these recordings. This was published as "Speaking Kunjen: An Ethnography of Oykangand Kinship and Communication."
The original records were deposited as part of the Sommer Collection in the University of Queensland's Fryer Library.
I loved this machine; it won a special place in my heart because of its reliability and faithful reproduction of sound. It still works – although it takes a little time now to get up to speed. It's a fine tribute to Norwegian engineering after 44 years!! Alas the Tandberg outfit is no more – at least not as a tape recording firm.
My brother Graham bought the associated Grampian DP4 microphone for me on one of his trips to the UK, and it has also been amazingly robust to have survived.
Please love them both as I have. I'll send them as soon as I can package them up and get to a Post Office (we live 40 miles out of town). Please send me an address for delivery.
Best wishes,
Dr Bruce A Sommer
Fi-Cord - UK portable recorder by Erskine Laboratories LTD Scarborough, England
"I was a test pilot in the Royal Air Force in the 1950-60 period. One of my tasks was to check the performance of all RAF "Lightning" fighters and trainers before they were issued tooperational units. One test involved checking the time to climb from take0ff to 36000 feet and then from 36000 feet to 56000 feet. The rate of climb was so fast that I found it impossible to watch the altimeter, stopwatch and write the results all at the same time. After a lot of searching about I heard of the Ficord wire recorder. The RAF bought one for me and the programme continued with a Ficord wired into the lead between my helmet and the ejection seat. A FIRST use for a ficord recorder? By the way, the REQUIRED maximum elapsed time from 36000 feet to 56000 feet was sixty seconds !! Not bad for an aircraft designed in the 1950s.
Hi Martin,
I'm glad my story was of some interest to the museum.
The Ficord I used for test flying in 1966/69 was a wire recorder, not a tape recorder. I seem to remember that it was sourced in Switzerland by the RAF and , I suspect, was most frequently for covert use. It was certainly very small and lightweight and, I think, required a larger associated piece of kit to replay the recording. The quality was excellent and I never had any technical difficulty during the 2 or 3 years of daily usage. I don't recall what happened to the recorder when I finished the Lightning test flying task and moved to another post. I suppose it's still sitting on a shelf in a RAF store somewhere!
I suppose my little Ficord set a record for the time by regularly being flown beyond Mach 2 at altitudes above 70,000 feet.
I have a few pictures of Llightnings and a few of myself in that period but don't think I have any showing both together. If I find one I will send it to you.
Regards, John." - John Stewart-Smith UK
Speaking of flying - Airlines for a brief period used reel to reel tape recorder to playback pre-recorded music. American Airlines and others produced their own custom sound tracks. The tapes were are sold at concession stands in airports. This article from 1956 mentions the Presto ABP-12 reel tape recorder being used on United Airlines.
Here are some additional comments we found:
Prior to the introduction of regularly scheduled audio entertainment for airline passengers, there were many instances of the cockpit crew in a propeller driven aircraft tuning into a ground-based am radio station and piping that transmission into the passenger cabin. Major sporting events were the primary focus of that practice, but maintaining a local radio station’s radio frequency was a short-lived thing as the airplane was soon to fly out of range.
For a time, American Airlines’ transcontinental passengers were treated to listening to a “Music In The Air” network broadcast as cockpit crews tuned into radio frequencies noted on a company supplied list. The music was transmitted to the passenger cabin as the airplane hopscotched its way across the country from one radio station’s range into another’s.
With the development of the "Mux" systems and the various IFE systems, the development of custom-programming and audio entertainment systems should also be mentioned. Airplane passengers enjoyed listening to music programs, and a host of new, relatively small music programming companies got into the IFE business. At the same time, the licensing companies of ASCAP, BMI, SESAC, and the Harry Fox Agency became involved. Around the world, other licensing 4 entities followed their lead.
The pioneer audio entertainment company was John Doremus in Chicago (his name and personality were inseparable from his company name) and his mellifluous voice and entrepreneurial skills launched a new base of companies. Billboard/Music In The Air followed as did a grouping of other companies: Inflight Radio in London (later Inflight Productions), AEI in California, Horizon Audio Creations in Canada, HI Inflight in Australia, Trans Com in California, and a few others, some of which have since faded and been replaced by many others. Inflight audio programming became and remains an extremely creative and active IFE format.
Comments from TapeHeads Forum: American Airlines made a business deal with Billboard Magazine to make the selections.
It began on October, 1964, not all months was released a selection to be changed on all planes. The "used tapes" and the new one copies of some selections (mainly pop and classical) were sold at AA stands, yes. $35 dollars each new, and $31 to the used ones (stratospheric prices, like all AA services from that era) These selections worked on the planes until August, 1971.
At the bottom of steward place two big doors with 3 strange machines: 3 reel-to-reel players for these tapes playing continuous at the fly. On earth, all turned off. No one flight has one hour and a half of duration, ok? Those years the sound system has three machines per plane: 3 selections: classical, pop, and country. Each tape has 3-hour selection, 1 hour and a half per side) The exclusive camera at the nose of the plane let the passengers pay attention on the take off and landing (B &W).
The tapes were sold after a month of use at stands of the company on some airports (no New York, I don´t know why). They were recorded by several companies, the most present is AMPEX. Each tape was priced abut 15 - 19 dollars each. Tape sales only at the airport AAA stands.
This is what's written on the back of the boxes:
- American Airlines Astrovision Classical Program CW-1 (Command Westminster Stereo Tape)
- American Airlines Astrovision Popular Program No. 20 W-20 (United Artists Stereo Tape)
- American Airlines Astrovision Popular Program No. 11 W11 (Warner Brothers & Reprise Stereo Tape)
The Ampex Alpha 1 Miniature Cassette Tape Recorder
Professional Battery portables
Here are some of the serious on-location battery recorders (5" +)
More on Magnecord from Dave Boyers, son of John Boyers, the only remaining founder of Magnecord
Left - June 2012 - John Boyers (96), one of the original founders of Magnecord. Photo sent from his son Dave Boyers with the following comments.
"I went over and showed your DVD to Dad and he got a real kick out of it. He smiled
all the way through the Magnecord segment. You brought real joy to an old man
who doesn't have much joy in his life these days. Thank you. db
On September 29, 2012 we were saddened to receive word from Dave Boyers, that his Dad John Boyers, the last Magnecord founder, had passed away. Here is the message he sent out.
"Gentlemen,
The last remaining founder of Magnecord, Inc. has now passed into history. Dad has wanted to go be with my mother for some time now, suffering the ravages of Alzheimer's for several years. His wishes were finally granted. To the degree he could understand it, it has been no small measure of pride that so many people have come to know and appreciate the work he did half a century ago to further the art and science of audio recording. Similarly, the work all of you do to keep the memory of those early pioneers alive is not only worthwhile, but also gives others like Dad a sense that the efforts they made are not forgotten.
Best wishes to you all, db"
060212 Martin,
I am going to photograph my personal PT6, which was one of the early engineering
samples (proof of concept) for the entire model run.
Before doing that, I'll give you a little history. Dad brought the unit home (without a case) for me to play with. The faceplate was bare aluminum, no paint,
and it still had layout die on it. My guess was he salvaged it from a trash can, but I can't verify that. He also brought an amp section, and it had a case. It also
was an engineering sample.
Without the long story behind it, I'll confess that I dropped the transport. It bent things up badly enough that they had to put a modern faceplate on it, so the
original one is long gone. That happened in the early 50's. When I was in college, a friend who owned a recording studio sold me a case for the transport which
he had in a junk closet. Dad identified it as one they had sold to a government agency, he thought perhaps the FBI. The cases were made by a cabinet shop
not far from the factory in Chicago.
When I started my production company, the PT6, which had a full track head on it, was the machine I used to record announce tracks from the booth. It served
me well until I could afford a more modern machine. I haven't opened either unit for thirty years, so when I take the photos, who knows what I'll find! Photos
to follow.
Here are some photos of perhaps one of the very first 5 Maggies ever made. They've been stored in an airplane hanger and not very well protected, but inside the cases,
everything looks clean and functional. This first shot is just as they came out of the loft.
Here's the pair. You'll note that the amp is unpainted, as was the transport when I first got my young hands on it. The faceplate was probably salvaged from a machine that was junked, as it has a data plate with a long serial number.
(right) Tight shot of the data plate. I don't know the serial numbering scheme, so I have no idea what the number actually means. I only know it was on the replacement face when Dad got it repaired after my rather untimely accident. When I first got the PT6, it didn't have the fast forward lever- that was installed with the new front. I had discovered, however, that placing the main control between stop and forward caused the take-up reel to go into fast forward as the capstan/pressure roller separated. In today's computer speak, I guess they'd call that an "undocumented feature".
The amplifier was very original, no silk screening or paint. The original meter and speaker switches were push button style, as I recall.
(right) Head and capstan/pressure roller, 15 IPS. I also have the 7.5 pair.
Anyway, there's a little trip down memory lane. Interesting to note that after all those years of storage, the cases still smelled the same inside. Cheers, db
More about Magnecord at this link
Magnecord Memories
Lawrence Grover built one of the first solid state reel to reel tape recorder amplifiers and then went on to design the electronics for the Magnecord 1020 HeathKit AD-16 reel tape recorder.
"At my first job out of college, I worked for TI in the Germanium Applications branch. While there we got a request for a microphone amplifier from Midwestern Instruments. I was assigned to design the amplifier. As a demonstration project, I designed a fully transistorized record and playback set of electronics to be shown at the 1959 or 1960 Consumer Electronics Show in New York City. I made a deal with my boss, I’d buy the deck (Viking) if I could have the complete unit afterwards. I believe this was the 1st public circuit of a fully transistorized record playback unit. Other transistorized circuits did not have a transistorized oscillator. About 1 year later, I found out that Midwestern Instruments was looking for a design engineer for the Magnecord division.
Paul Bunker was in charge of sales for Magnecord. He was aware of the emergence of transistorized audio equipment and had decided it was time to develop a solid state tape recorder. The first question was to use germanium or silicon transistors. Silicon was available but was significantly more expensive aimed at military and high end use (computers). Since there was no performance advantage of silicon over germanium (assuming temperature stable biasing design), we went with germanium. In hindsight, we could have gone with silicon as the price of silicon devices started dropping with increased usage. I later designed the electronics for the ANUNQ7 tape recorder designed for submarine use, using silicon.
While the mechanical engineer went to work on the tape transport mechanism, I started design on the electronics. At this time, I had only had 2 years of design experience, but I went confidently ahead. At that time we were comparing transistor amplifier distortion to vacuum tube distortion specifications. Our amplifier designs were judged to be good if the distortion levels were at least as good as the vacuum tube amplifiers. Later it became more widely known that the nonlinearity of vacuum tubes tended to cause even harmonics, which are not very objectionable to our ears, since most instruments tend to produce notes with even harmonics. Transistors have a differently shape transfer curve and tend to produce odd harmonics which we find objectionable in music. Also vacuum tube amplifiers have a soft limiting when over driven versus a harder limiting for transistors, again producing less objectionable harmonics. If I had been aware of these facts at that time, I would have been more diligent in pursuing lower distortion designs. The final specifications of the design while comparable to vacuum tube designs of that day, didn't’ reflect the more subtle character of the harmonics of the distortion. The fact that magnetic tape is nonlinear gave us additional justification to not to pursue lower distortion amplifiers.
When the breadboards of the circuits were completed and tested, we made circuit board layouts. There were’t any software programs to aid is this task at that time, so it was all done by hand. I made paper cutouts of the outlines of the components at 4 times scale. On a large piece of Mylar I used black layout tape and pads to lay the circuit out. An Exacto knife came in handy to trim the curves and fillets. Of course this was all one sided to keep the cost low.
As I became more aware of the limitations of analog magnetic tape recording, I did some limited experiments on my own. With some success I was able to pre-distort the recording signal to null out some of the tape distortion. I also experimented with placing a magnetic material on the back side of the tape at the recording head in an effort to reduce the fringing flux. This resulted in a slight improvement in the recording of higher frequency signals. About this time we bid on and were awarded a contract to build the ANUNQ7 tape recorder for the navy, so I had no time to pursue either of these further.
The first Magnecord models I designed were the 1020 series, followed by the 2000 series. Later I was employed by the Heath Company. There we made a kit version of the 1020 series. The Heathkit version was the AD-16.
Lawrence Grover
4/26/2017
Magnecord 1020 / HeathKit AD-16 reel to reel tape recorders were donated by Lawrence Grover to the Museum of Magnetic Sound Recording
Doug Berg - One part of recording tape that I did not notice was the Mellotron. It is a keyboard with a capstan motor and 35 playback heads. The tapes are 3/8 in. strip and when you strike a key a pinch roller presses the tape to the individual head. I would be happy to furnish an article and photos for your museum.
Mellotron
Photos provided to MOMSR by Doug Berg
Mellotron control panel
Photos provided to MOMSR by Doug Berg
Mellotron tapes over head block
Photos provided to MOMSR by Doug Berg
Mellotron action movement
Photos provided to MOMSR by Doug Berg
Mellotron bottom view of key frame showing rollers and pressure pads
Photos provided to MOMSR by Doug Berg
Mellotron keyboard showing capstan
Photos provided to MOMSR by Doug Berg
Mellotron tape heads on moveable block
Photos provided to MOMSR by Doug Berg
Superscope Pianocorder Reproducing System
The Superscope Pianocorder Reproducing System was launched in the late 1970's. It was also available factory-installed in the Marantz Reproducing Piano. The Pianocorder system provided a modern alternative to traditional player-piano rolls. It used ordinary cassette tape as a storage medium and played the piano directly from commands stored on the cassette tape.
Superscope created a fairly extensive library of material for the Pianocorder system, available on over 30 ten-cassette volumes. A large portion of these recordings were made by converting reproducing piano rolls to Pianocorder format. Several famous pianists, including Liberace, George Shearing, and Oscar Peterson, produced recordings directly on Superscope's Bosendorfer concert grand piano.
A Variety of Magnetic Formats
Brush Mail-A-Voice 1946
The model BK-503 Mail-A-Voice from "The Brush Development Company", represents an entirely different approach to the problem of storing information on a magnetic medium. The recording material in this case is in the form of a 9-inch disc, and the sound track is a spiral running from an inner diameter of 5 inches to the outer edge. The recording track has a width of 0.014 inch, and the pitch of the spiral is 0.025 inch. Despite this close spacing, no noticeable crosstalk can be detected. The powder-coated paper discs can be folded and mailed like an ordinary letter. No guide grooves are provided on the coated discs.
After the war Brush released the Mail-A-Voice dictation recorder. The Mail-A-Voice was the first magnetic disc recorder. In his book Magnetic Recording, Semi Joseph Begum says "It was used by department stores. Parents bought the equipment and gave a unit to their son or daughter who might be away from home and kept one unit at their own disposal. The powder-coated discs were mailed and served as "spoken" letters. Today's floppy discs for computers are basically an outgrowth of the original discs for correspondence."
Recordon Magnetic Electronic Dictating Machine - United Kingdom
The stories of the Brush Development Company, Thermionic Products, Racal-Thermionics and Racal-Recorders are told in "A Truvox Product" - as will soon become clear!
Founded in 1944 by Alfred Colley and Edward Angold, both had experience of piezo-electric devices and work on secret war-time communications equipment. Their work drew them to that being carried out by the American leaders in crystal and piezo-electric technology, the Brush Development Company. Following an exploratory visit to Brush in 1946, Angold became enamoured with America's new electronic flash-guns while Colley saw a commercial opportunity in Brush's magnetic recorders, developed by Semi Joseph Begun.
Thermionic Products' first product was Britain's first electronic flash-gun, the 'Mega-Flash', but while they also developed patents on cinematographic sound recording, their future lay in magnetic recording. Having secured rights to an improved Brush "Mail-a-Voice" disc recorder of 1946, they launched their "Recordon TP503" in spring 1948 using a B&Y fan motor, built by their subsidiary company. This was marketed as an office dictating machine and operated very much like a gramophone, recording onto a 9" magnetic oxide coated paper disc which could be folded into three and posted to another office, making it especially popular with travelling salesmen.
The Recordon's success allowed the company to take up offices in Jermyn Street, London. It was later produced at their new Hythe works, as an improved TP504, along with a deluxe 'Diplomat' version in 1953 which incorporated an intercom with the secretary and telephone amplifier. The Recordon survived into the mid-1950s when they took up assembly of the Swedish 'Agavox' recorder.
Vanity Fair Electronics Corp. Magnetic Phonograph Recorder
Another similar product was the Vanity Fair Electronics Corp. Magnetic Phonograph Recorder photos (below) donated by Mark A. Williams Or kinksfanforever from Denver
Garrard Magic load
RCA Magnetic Disc Recorder (1959) used disks (size of a 45 RPM record) with spiral grooves. Ran at 33 1/3 RPM and could be cued manually or automatically in a changer.
RCA developed the Magnetic Disc Recorder in 1959. It had a recording time of 70 seconds on both sides of a double sided disc. Their ad states "All the advantages of magnetic tape recording are retained in the magnetic discs, yet winding, splicing, cuing and other tape handling problems are eliminated."
Ampex Cue-Matic Disk Recorder
Ampex AG-100 Cue-Matic (1965) used 11 ¾” circular magnetic mats “for announcements and other program material by radio stations.” This may have been the first floppy disk.
Ampex sets record for 1965 fiscal year Ampex Corp. set new records for sales, revenues and earnings in fiscal 1965, ended May 1.Sales and operating revenues were up 9% and earnings were up 10% over 1964. In the broadcast field, Ampex began deliveries of its new VR -2000 Videotape recorder, capable of handling color as well as black and white and Cue -Matic mat recorder for radio station announcements. The company also put its first line of Videotape for use with its tape recorders on the market during the past year. Fiscal year ended May 1: 1965 1964 Earnings per share $0.83 $0.78 Net sales and operating expenses 152,736,000 140,049,000 Net earnings 7,671,000 6,951,000 Average shares outstanding 9,259,977 9,180,261
The Fidelipac, commonly known as a "NAB cartridge" or simply "cart", is a magnetic tape sound recording format, used for radio broadcasting for playback of material over the air such as radio commercials, jingles, station identifications, and music. Fidelipac is the official name of this industry standard audio tape cartridge. It was developed in 1954 by inventor George Eash (although the invention of the Fidelipac cartridge has also been credited to Vern Nolte of the Automatic Tape Company, and commercially introduced in 1959 by Collins Radio at the 1959 NAB Convention. The cartridge was often used at radio stations until the late 1990s, when such formats as MiniDisc and computerized broadcast automation predominated.
The Fidelipac cartridge was the first audio tape cartridge available commercially, based on the endless-loop tape cartridge design developed by Bernard Cousino in 1952, while Eash shared space in Cousino's electronics shop in the early 1950s. Instead of manufacturing the Fidelipac format himself after developing it, Eash decided to license it for manufacture to Telepro Industries, in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. Telepro then manufactured and marketed the format under the Fidelipac brand name.
Fidelipac was originally a 1⁄4-inch-wide (6.4 mm) analog recording tape, two-track format. One of the tracks was used for monaural program audio, and the other being used for a cue track to control the player, where either a primary cue tone was recorded to automatically stop the cart, a secondary tone was recorded to automatically re-cue the cart to the beginning of the cart's program material (in some models, two secondary tones, one after the program material, and one before it, were recorded to have the cart machine automatically fast-forward through any leftover blank tape at the end of a cart's program), or a tertiary tone, which was used by some players to trigger another cart player or another form of external equipment. Later versions used three tracks, two for stereo audio, and the third for the cue track.
The standard tape speed for Fidelipac carts used in the radio broadcasting industry is 7.5 ips, although some cart players and recorders can be set to record at other speeds, such as 3.75 or 15 ips.
Unlike the later consumer-marketed 8-track cartridge developed later in 1964 by Bill Lear which had the pinch roller integrated in the cartridge, the Fidelipac cartridge had a hole in the right-hand bottom front corner of the cartridge, where the pinch roller, built into the player instead, would swing up into place to support the tape up against the capstan. While later machines from ATC, ITC, Harris, and others had machines where the pinch roller would automatically engage into the cartridge when the play button was pressed (the capstan motor was already running when the cart was inserted), early machines such as Sparta, Spot-matic, and others made the operator physically push or pull a lever to get the pinch roller in place before playback could begin. However, the 8-track was slower in speed (3 3⁄4 ips compared to Fidelipac's 7 1⁄2 ips) and did not have adequate tape support pads, and thus were not "broadcast quality." The lower speed and narrower tracks in 8-track cartridges led to higher noise and poorer frequency response. The 8-track design also lacked a cue track.
There were three sizes of Fidelipac carts available — the 4-inch-wide A size (Fidelipac Model 300, 350 and MasterCart), which was a standard 8-track size cart with maximum 10 1⁄2 minute playing time at 7.5 ips (this was the most common and widely used size of Fidelipac cart); the 6-inch-wide B size (Fidelipac Model 600), a larger cartridge designed for holding longer programs; and the even larger 8-inch-wide C size (Fidelipac Model 1200), often used for background music applications like the Rowe Customusic.
The A size Fidelipac cartridge was later adapted by Earl "Madman" Muntz in partnership with George Eash in 1963 for his Stereo-Pak cartridge system (also known as a 4-track cartridge), which differed in two ways — the number of tracks used (four in this case, with two played back at a time to provide a total of two programs of stereo audio), and the tape speed (3 3⁄4 ips—the same speed as 8-track cartridges, as opposed to Fidelipac's standard 7 1⁄2 ips). Unlike the Fidelipac players which used a stationary head, the Stereo-Pak system used a moving head to go between the two programs (much like the 8-track format, which also used a moving head to access its four stereo programs).
RCA IYC 11 Cartridge recorder
Year
Model
Ad
Unit in Museum collection
Specifications
1958 to
1964
RCA IYC 11
Cartridge Recorder
This RCA IYC 11 Cartridge recorder was donated to our collection by Bruce Truitt. It was released in 1958 to provide an easier way to play tape without the hassle of threading. It preceded the Phillips Compact Cassette and unfortunately was discontinued in 1964. However RCA was still promoting the cartridge concept in 1965 and 1966 as evidenced by the #s 2 and 3 ads to the left.
Collection of RCA cartridge tapes • USO "A Letter on a Record" with Philco Home Recording blanks and Empire State Building souvenir disk were all donated by Bruce Truitt
The RCA tape cartridge (also known as the Magazine Loading Cartridge and Sound Tape) was a magnetic tape format designed to offer stereo quarter-inch reel-to-reel tape recording quality in a convenient format for the consumer market. It was introduced in 1958, following four years of development. This timing coincided with the launch of the stereophonic phonograph record.
The main advantage of the RCA tape cartridge over reel-to-reel machines was convenience. The user was not required to handle unruly tape ends and thread the tape through the machine before use, making the medium of magnetic tape more friendly to casual users. The same design concept would later be used in the more successful Compact Cassette which was invented by Philips in 1962. Because of its convenience, the RCA tape cartridge system did see some success in schools, particularly in student language learning labs.
Size comparison of RCA tape cartridge (right) with the more common Compact Cassette
Similar to the Compact Cassette, cartridges were reversible and either side could be played. An auto reverse mechanism in some models allowed the tape to run continuously. The cartridge played at a standard speed of 3.75 IPS. This was half of the top speed of consumer reel-to-reel music recorders, which usually offered both 3.75 IPS and 7.5 IPS speeds. Such consumer reel-to-reel machines were capable of superior audio performance, but only at the faster speed.
The RCA tape cartridge format offered four discrete audio tracks that provided a typical playtime of 30 minutes per side of stereo sound, or double that for monophonic sound. Some models could also play and record at 1.875 IPS, doubling playing time with a significant reduction in sound quality. This speed was not practical for music, but fully acceptable for voice recording.
With two interleaved stereo pairs, the track format and speed of the RCA tape cartridge was fully compatible with the slower 3.75 IPS speed of consumer reel-to-reel stereo tape recorders. It is possible to dismantle the cartridge, spool the tape onto a reel, and play it on such a machine.
Unlike the later Compact Cassette, the RCA tape cartridge incorporated a brake to prevent the tape hubs from moving when the cartridge was not in the player. Small slot windows extended from the tape hubs toward the outside of the cartridge so that the amount of tape visible on each spool could be seen.
Despite its convenience the RCA tape cartridge was not a success. A factor in the failure of the system was that RCA was slow to produce machines for the home market. They were also slow to license pre-recorded music tapes for home playback. The format disappeared from retail stores by 1964.
The physical track width and speed of the tape and even the size of the RCA tape cartridge was similar to, though incompatible with, Sony's Elcaset system, introduced in 1976. That system also failed to achieve market acceptance and was soon withdrawn.
3M Revere M2 Cartridge recorder
The Revere M2 (MII) Cartridge machine
I restore classic TVs and stereos as a hobby... the Mll was quite a challenge. When I lived in the Twin Cities I volunteered at the Pavek Museum helping maintain their 1” and quad VTRs. BTW I’m a retired TV broadcast engineer.Richard Sigurdson AKA “Xmttrman”.more
The Revere Camera Company was started in 1920 by Mr. Samuel Briskin, who also started Wollensak Recorders and Opticals.
Founded in 1920 in Chicago, Illinois, USA as the Excel Radiator Company by Ukrainian immigrant Samuel Briskin to manufacture car radiators, but started manufacturing some coarse household products later in the decade. They started making budget 8 mm movie cameras in 1939 through a subsidiary run by Briskin's sons. That company was later merged into Excel Radiator Co. which then changed its name to Revere Camera Co. The Revere name is taken from the Revere Copper Company, which provided financial backing for Excel during the depression.
In the '50s the company was the second largest manufacturer of small movie cameras in the USA. In order to grow that business further the company took over their primary lens and shutter supplier, New Jersey-based Wollensak Optical Co. The Revere brand name had become synonymous with budget cameras; soon after the take-over Wollensak models appeared that were mechanically almost-identical to the standard Revere models but had better lenses, more stylish casing, and sold for a premium price.
Revere started manufacturing tape recorders in the early 1950s, that side of the business never became an important part of the company's output.
Revere, starting probably in the 1950s, also produced a fairly high quality rotary tool very much like the Dremel tools now on the market. The Revere-O-Matic was a 0.55 ampere model that operated at 15,000 r.p.m. (Model No. RG-1). All the tools that attached to it via the chuck can be used with today's Dremel models. The standard package also came with a table mounting device and a system for enabling creation of identical objects, also adaptable to today's Dremel with no modification required.
Samuel Briskin was diagnosed with inoperable cancer in 1960 and rather than leave the company to his family he decided to sell the company to 3M for 17 million USD
Wikipedia
Sony Elcaset
Elcaset was a short-lived audio format jointly developed by Panasonic, Sony and Teac in 1976, building on an idea introduced 20 years earlier in the RCA tape cartridge.
In 1976, it was widely felt that the compact cassette was never likely to be capable of the same levels of performance that was available from reel-to-reel systems, yet clearly the cassette had advantages in terms of convenience. The Elcaset system was intended to marry the performance of reel to reel with cassette convenience. The name "Elcaset" may simply mean L-cassette, or large cassette, since the 1/4" tape inside was double the 1/8" width found in standard cassettes. They were divided into six tracks.
Size comparison of Elcaset (left) with standard Compact Cassette
The cassette itself looked very similar to a standard cassette, only larger—about twice the size. Like the earlier RCA tape cartridge it contained 6 mm (0.25 in) tape running at 9.5 cm/s (3.75 in/s), twice the width and twice the speed of a standard cassette, providing greater frequency response and dynamic range with lower high-frequency noise than the compact cassette. Another notable difference from compact cassettes was that the tape was withdrawn from the cassette when run through the transport mechanism so that the manufacturing tolerances of the cassette shell did not affect sound quality. The top-of-the-line Elcaset decks also had all the features of deluxe open reel decks, such as separate heads for erase, recording, and playback, remote control, and heavy duty transports for low wow & flutter.
Here's photos of the 1979 Sony EL-8D ElCaset recorder provided to the Museum by Vladimir Fedotenko. On the right is the Technics Elcaset
The system was technically sound, but a complete failure in the marketplace, with a very low take up by a few audiophiles only. Apart from the problem of the bulky cassettes, the performance of standard cassettes had improved dramatically with the use of new materials such as chromium dioxide, Dolby B noise reduction, and better manufacturing quality. For most people, the quality of standard cassettes was adequate, and the benefits of the expensive Elcaset system limited. Audiophiles turned away from Elcaset and towards high-end cassette decks from companies like Nakamichi, which began making very high-quality tape decks using the regular audio cassette in late 1973. The tapes they made could be played on any standard cassette machine. Also, the machines were expensive.] Elcaset began a fast fade-out in 1978.
The system was abandoned in 1980, when all the remaining systems were sold off in Finland. Wikipedia
UK Timbra Countess Reel Tape Recorder with single spool - photos donated by Bruce Richmond - UK
"This is an unusual machine which was built to be compact and give good performance at it's time of sale. The recorder features a three head system recording at 7 1/2 and 3 3/4 IPS but the most unusual feature is the reel positions. The supply reel is located under the take-up reel and the tape goes through a 45 degree twist, is raised, then twisted back to a right angle to be fed onto the take-up reel. What's more unusual is that this is a three motor system with two motors sitting on top of each other with the rotor of one going through the other. This recorder would have had a frequency response of 30Hz to 12KHz and would have set you back 89 guineas which was about half the price of an equally good recorder. This machine is due to be restored as the metal work needs sanding and replaying. re-spraying A control knob and 4 feet need to be sourced as well as two rear hinges before this machine will look as new". https://www.vintagerecorders.co.uk/
SDRF Audio Educator Cartridge
This cartridge was similar to an 8-track cartridge. It was double coated so could be recorded on both sides of the tape. The unit would be placed on the "supply" reel spindle, with the tape routed through the tape guides, past the heads, through the capstan and pinch roller and the outgoing tape guides. Once side one was recorded, the tape would be flipped and returned to the same "supply" spindle.
3" battery portable reel to reel tape recorders
In the 1960's Japan produced a variety on inexpensive 3" reel to reel battery tape recorders. There were many similar designs and often one design was rebranded by many companies as seen below with our York and the Aiwa unit pictured. These units were more novelty items as speed control was mostly dependent on the battery. They were also often rim driven. Some were higher quality. These 3" reel recorders were replaced by cassette battery portables by the middle to late 1960's.
This is our York 3" battery portable reel to reel tape recorder in our Reel2ReelTexas/Theophilus/MOMSR vintage reel tape recorder collection and an ad and similar, but different brand.
Other branding
Lloyd's
Miniature
One
of the first portable recorders owned by Martin.
Sonoband stylus recorder - Miles
Reproducer Co., Inc. Walkie-RecordALL
Miles
Reproducer Co., Inc. WALKIE-RECORDALL • recorded on sonobands cello tape - 12 tracks
Play Phantom Production's video about this Walkie RecordAll recorder.
A sonoband slips on to the spools and a needle etches the recordings on the band. The compact, portable device was activated by turning the black button on the top. (The Field Museum)
This is a larger sonoband unit built by the Miles Reproduction Co., Inc. It is no longer in the collection. It used reels of sonoband material.
The following photos of the Miles
Reproducer Co., Inc. Walkie-RecordALL were provided to our Museum by Tim Lind. Here is his summary about this recorder when it was sold on EBay for $700.
Walkie-Recordall Model CCB
"...A great piece of electronic / spy history This is the Walkie-Recordall, a covert recording device that came out it the mid 1950's and remained in production until the late 1960's made by the Miles Reproducer Company.
Think about it....this was the Cold War Era...spys...espionage....covert operations.....This device was far ahead of its time.....here is a little history on this device.....This was a completely portable audio recorder (powered by 3 "D" cell batteries and 1 9-Volt Battery). It could be set for voice activation and had built in "noise cancelling" (both of which were advanced tech at that time).
Audio recordings were recorded on a mylar belt called a Sonoband that is approx 2" wide and has a 5.5" diameter. A needle etched the sound into grooves on the band...the Sonoband would record up to 3 hours of conversation
The Walkie-Recordall was originally designed with businessmen in mind as a type of dictation machine....They could use this for dictation, memos, or to record sales conversations for later reference or report writing. It did NOT catch on....but....because of its portability and recording power...it was quickly adapted as a Covert recording device by Law Enforcement and Private Investigators.
Original retail price was around $600...that is alot of money back then considering the average paycheck was around $60 a week
Closed...the Walkie-Recordall measures approx 10.5" x 9" x 5" and weighs just over 4 lbs. It came in several models....the model you are bidding on is the CCB model. The CCB model came with the "covert" leather briefcase and its accessories
I obtained this from the estate of a retired territorial manager for Bridgestone Tires. This individual traveled the entire Pacific Northwest as well as Europe and Asia. This was HIS Walkie-Recordall.
The briefcase is in MINT condition....it shows almost no signs of wear....He had put 4 (now Vintage) Bridgestone Tire "Stickers" on the exterior of this case....Stickers are still intact and are in pristine condition. Case is tan leather with a locking clasp on the front....Key to lock the case is original and comes with this item. Briefcase has a built in microphone on one end....there is a corded "jack" that you would plug into the device to record conversation(s) using it. There is also a small microphone in a leather "pouch" that has a corded "jack" attached so you could place it on a table and record if so desired. There is also an folded advertising brochure for the device that describes it functions and features.
Included is an original box of blank, unrecorded, Sonobands (not sure how many but looks like a dozen or more, also in this box are 2 small brushes and a re-order form from the manufacturer. There is a sonoband on the device....and it has recording(s) on it. I have tested the device for playback and it is fully functional....works just like the day it was bought!. I did not attempt to record anything with it but I am sure that it is fully functional
Battery compartment is pristine (batteries are NOT included in this auction)...interior of briefcase is also in pristine condition.
This is such a rare item it is difficult to put a value on it......I have never seen one up for bid before. The condition on this item is incredible considering that this is over 50 years old.... There is a "dymo" label inside the cover that I believe is the purchase date of......3-10-1967. When you think about innovative and historical devices in the history of electronics....this is one of them....
This was the predecessor to reel to portable digital recorders....the walkman and so much more... .
To give you an idea as to the collapsibility and rarity of this item....The National Spy Museum has a Walkie-Recordall on display as part of its Collection and it is highly sought after worldwide by collectors of "spy devices" and "spy related memorabilia"
"Martin, I have attached the series of photos I took of my Walkie-Recordall for your use.I am sending them in 2 separate emails due to the large nature of the photos Enjoy…Tim"
1956 US Navy Film Recorder - Used endless 35mm cellulose acetate film (same process as above)
This unit was donated to the museum by Jonathan Francis - Navy Type IC-VR-6 Film recorder - unfortunately damaged in shipping
This is a unique acoustical recorder was used in the mid 1950's to record communications and could record 16 tracks of phone communication, or other audio, for 2 hours (or continuously if used with other similar units).
This mid-1950's vintage acoustic recording device recorded audio using a sapphire needle on 35mm cellulose acetate film. More Information
Some specs we found online include:
FILM SPEED: 40 f t per minute.
AUDIO POWER OUIPUT: 5 W
RECORDING NEEDLE: Sapphire tip
FREQUENCY RESPONSE: +-3 db from 300 t o 4500 cps, 1000 cps reference
Fonda Cellophane Tape Recorder
Slipping this in because, technically, it was a "tape recorder." (Circa 1943-1946). source "AL" FB 2020
Behold the Fonda Recorder, a forgotten piece of recording history. It could record as long as 8 hours on cellophane tape. The recordings were permanent and could be played hundreds of times. The tape came in a pre-formed, 350-foot magazine that required no threading. Not a magnetic machine, it used tiny recording and playback needles cutting 60 grooves/inch into the tape, each containing 8 minutes of recording. It could record 8 hours without any attention. Frequency response was +/- 2 dB from 50 to 8000 Hz. The cutting head was magnetic pickup crystal. (pdf)
From Rutgers University's website:
"Founded in Delaware in July 21, 1939 by Jay Fonda, the company produced and designed radio and sound recording equipment. In particular, it outfitted the U.S. military with radio equipment during the Second World War and developed a sound recording machine for the peacetime market. This "tape recorder" was one of the earliest prototypes for tape
recording. It was eventually acquired as a wholly owned subsidiary of Jefferson Travis Radio Manufacturing Corporation in April 1945. A year later it became the Musicraft Recording Corporation
An article from Time Magazine:
Science: Sound on Cellophane
Monday, Dec. 20, 1943
"A new sound-recording machine which may upset the recording industry was in production last week in Manhattan. A compact affair not much bigger than a portable radio, it makes records on Cellophane tape. They are first class as to tone, and in durability, ease of production and cheapness they beat any records previously produced.
"The machine is a record addict's dream. It can be plugged into a microphone, radio or telephone for recording; then a flip of a switch sets the machine to play the record back. Its Cellophane tape permits eight hours of recording or playing without changing. Its sapphire needle does not have to be changed, never scratches the record. The high-fidelity cellophane record, which costs only 50¢ per hour's recording to make, emits almost no surface noise, can be played thousands of times. The inventor plans to turn out a smaller home model of the machine for $50.
Unusual items crafted after reel tape recorders and reel to reel tape recorder accessories
Akai GX-77 hand bag
Not in collection
Recorder Cuff Links from the UK
Teac 80-8 pin
Teac A-3440 pin
Robins record needle checker
Edison cylinder box and Shure mic belt buckle
Mic horse brass
Another R2R belt buckle
BBC and Nipper cups
Grammy cap with ACL pin
Ampex cap and mic cover
Demagnetizers
Ampex HD-16 pro tape head demagnetizer
Ampex tape head demagnetizer
Roberts Model 31 and Sony HE-2 tape head demagnetizers
Robins demagnetizer
Alignment and reference tapes
Bulk Erasers
Ampex alignment reel to reel tape
Amplicorp bulk eraser Model 200 3C
Nortronics QM211 Bulk Eraser
Tape splicers
Robins Gibson Girl tape splicer box
Ampex reel to reel tape splicer
Jiffy splicer and world studio photos
Scotch splicing tape and Akai tape splicer
External reel to reel tape recorder accessories including audio mixers
Ampex AM-10 portable pro mixer
RCA BN16A audio mixer
SPARTA Radio Console A-20B
Teac AX-300 Mixer audio
Teac Model 1 Mixer
Teac Model 2 mixer with the MB-20 meter bridge
Teac Model 5 pro mixer
Fostex Model 350
Sony SB-200 Sound on Sound and Echo unit
Sony SB-300 switched source tape mixer
Sony MX-777 mixer that matches the Sony 777 Limited Edition recorder and speaker system
Sony Pro audio mixer
Sony MX-6S audio mixer
Sony MX-8 audio mixer
Sony MX-12 audio mixer
Sony MX-16 audio mixer
Pentron audio mixer
Bogen MXM audio mixer
Nagra audio mixer - Model III
Uher audio mixer - Model MIX 3
Effects and distribution units
Calrad 15-131 Headphone Distributor
Tapco 4400 Spring reverb
Teac AN-180 Dolby Noise Reduction
Technics SH 3433 4 channel audio scope
Reel Hubs and retainers
The Little Wonder microphone
mic necklace, splicing tape and reverse reel to reel tape recorder sensing tape
catalog & ad displays • Book collection
Tape speed analyzer and tape timer
Teac patch bay
Stereo level meters
Transistor Lafayette Mic mixer
Ultra Mic
Reel to reel tape recorder radio
Reel to reel tape recorder radio
Brush paper backed reel to reel magnetic tape
Teac 25 year anniversary box
Another Teac 25 year anniversary box in it original wrapping, Calrad 500C pill microphone and Nipper with music box horn
Ampex pen set , knife, money clip and Golden Reel display
Ampex pen set
Museum shower with Shure 556 (Big) Guitar with reel to reel tape recorder tie (donated by Andrew Zaretsky) and a saxophone by Concertone
Museum shower with Shure 556 (Big) Guitar with reel to reel tape recorder tie (donated by Andrew Zaretsky) and a saxophone by Concertone
Garrard Lab 80
When I began our collecting in 1998, I considered the range of recording devices and initially included video, turntables, film andother media. However it became obvious that it would be more beneficial to concentrate on reel tape recorders and their support equipment including microphones and mixers. Even the area of effects was daunting. This acoustic segment is included as it was important to understanding the history of recorded sound.
So, that said, I want to share one turntable that has been with me from the beginning, It is the Garrard Lab 80. It is pictured to the left in 1967 with my Concertone 800, an Eico 2080 amplifier built from kit and an Ampex 1100. The Garrard Lab 80 is displayed in the MOMSR collection (right) with its unique dust cover, record changing spindle and 45 rpm insert.
Ampex 600 top plate finishes - Ampex 600 was normally released in the crinkly finish as in the first photo. Jon Gaines donated the other photos showing a smooth finish.
Ampex 600 photo on the USS Growler, the first nuclear-armed sub (1958)
in crew cabin "Ships Entertainment System" - donated by Dan Blumenthal
Unique Audio Tapes
In the collection we have numerous recordings that are demoed on the various recorders. Many have the tapes came with the recorder when we received it. Most of the time we strive to have period appropriate recordings on each machine. Here are four unique tapes. One is from Ampex which is promoting their new audio console and provides a wonderful narration about Ampex and tape. We also have three interviews by the Rolling Stone magazine. These were tapes that were sent out to radio stations promoting the current issue of the magazine.
The Ampex Corporation began its Golden Reel Award an 1977. The awards honor performing artists and the technical teams responsible for "gold-certified" records mastered on Ampex professional audio tape.
We appreciate all photos sent to our museum. We hope to successfully preserve the sound recording history. If we have not credited a photo, we do not know its origin if it was not taken by the contributor. Please let us know if a photo on our site belongs to you and is not credited. We will be happy to give you credit, or remove it if you so choose. In June 2018 we received an email stating "These units were designed and manufactured in Canada Rheem Roberts by Ken Moersch in 1968. I worked for Rheem as an engineer from1965 to 1972."
Roberts 8 track Model 575 Conference Series reel to reel tape recorder
Roberts cartridge recorder
The following items were donated to the museum by Peter Halferty
Centennial of Sound Recording
Centennial of Sound Recording cancelled philatelic collectibles including: The Capitol Cachets #3 Dated March 23, 1977 The Bayear cachets Dated March 23, 1977 The American #38 Dated March 23, 1977.
Also donated by Peter Halferty were "Centennial of Sound Recording" 13 cent 1977 USPO stamp blocks. We include a photo from our magazine archives of the cover of the June 1977 db magazine which featured this same stamp
.
“100th Anniversary – Birth of of Thomas A. Edison” and “Honoring D.W. Griffith 1875 -1948 Motion Picture Pioneer.”
Additional donations by Peter Halferty included an envelope dated January 16, 1977 for the 1st anniversary of Elvis' death, plus the voting ballots to select the Elvis stamp to be issued by the USPO.
Peter Halfety also donated a collection of Star, CMA. and American Bandstand collectors cards (we include a few below)
Here are more db magazine covers from 1977 - "The Centennial of Sound Recording"
1959 PENTRON DORMIPHONE TAPE DECK
The following photos were provided by Joseph Lo Monaco
(information from Joseph Lo Monaco's sales listing in 2013) 1959 PENTRON DORMIPHONE TAPE DECK - Here is a vintage Pentron Dormiphone tape deck. The unit works pretty well but needs a tune-up of sorts. The drive motor is strong, but it seems to need a replacement belt. I have the original, but I have a heavy duty rubber band on it right now. The tapes I have are old and are sluggish. The tapes are a continuous loop similar to an old 8-Track tape. New tapes for this are available. Most of the tubes are original Pentron branded tubes. The unit also comes with a microphone and an under-pillow speaker. The programmable timer clock works too. This has the potential to be reworked into a low power guitar amp for those vintage electronics buffs. (6SL7-GT 58-48 274, 12AX7 RCA, 6X5-GT SYLVANIA 913 MBY, 6V6-GT 58-43 274, 6E5 MAGIC EYE TUBE, Speaker 270-640 QUAM NICHOLS) There is some fascinating history behind these machines. They were initially made to learn a new language or to condition yourself to quit smoking while you sleep!!!!!!! Subliminal Sleep Programming. One of the people associated with these machines (Dr. Donald Ewen Cameron) worked for the CIA and was involved in the MK Ultra experiments.
Boosey & Company founded in the 1760s and Hawkes & Son founded in 1865, merged in 1930 to become a significant music publishing business. Both companies had been in music publishing and manufactured musical instruments as well. From 1930 the merged company continued in both arenas for many decades until 2003 when the instrument division was sold, leaving Boosey & Hawkes focusing solely on music publishing. Apparently they were making tape recorders in the 1950s but we don’t have much information about this except various models that exist. Perhaps another company was making these tape recorders? (source https://reel-reel.com)
Thomas A. Edison primarily saw that audio recording devices were best suited for the business world for dictating and telephone answering machines. Here is the Edison Envoy which meets that definition. This unit was donated to us by John Chadwick
Here's a summary from vintage-technics.ru - "Edison Envoy Model 1. Made in Italy by "Thomas A. Edison Industries ". This model was made in the 50's. Dimensions 255 x 175 x 90 mm. Weight 3,3 kg. Used coil diameter 83 mm, and standard tape width ¼ inch. The front of the apparatus are, the power switch, volume control, and the counter flow of the tape, made in the form of a long line of marked-up window. In the window is visible red-black stripe, is proportional to the moving ribbon. To the left of the window is installed wheel counter. On the left sidebar is a lever with which pinch roller disqualified from capstan. If you do this when the lid is open, the lever is fixed and pinch roller remains depressed. If you close the lid, then returns to its former pinch roller pressed position. If you press the lever when the lid closed, pinch roller play, but not fixed. So, to rewind the tape forward, we must close the lid to press the lever. Then the pinch roller plays, and frees the film, which is wound by winding traction unit. Structurally recorder is very interesting. All mechanics are basically metallic, and made very soundly. Modes are switched by means of four solenoids. Rubber rollers and only belt was in good condition... Circuit also found in working condition. It's made for 7-type germanium transistors 2G109 (2 pc), 2G108 (1 pc), 2G270 (2 pc), OC44 (2 pc). The electronics board is connected to the wiring chassis with three connectors. No built-in speaker, but on the back of a jack for connecting earphone jack (3.5 mm). Also on the back of the regulator is microphone sensitivity "DICT. - CONF. ". In the right panel are 14-pin connector for a microphone. In the connector housing is built lock button turned on. When the plug is inserted, the button is pressed, and a voice recorder is ready to work. The microphone also combines the function of the dynamics, but in his case there is a button the recording, playback, and rewind. In the recording mode illuminates a red light to the left of the round button rewind." - vintage-technics.ru
Schaub Lorenze Stereo 6000 radio 4" tape recorder
Photos donated by Richard Gregg II of Huntsville, AL
Schaub-Lorenz.
Around 1870, Carl Lorenz (1844-1889) opened a shop in Berlin to manufacture electrical lighting products. The shop entered the telegraph field in 1880, taking the name C. Lorenz Telegraphenbauanstalt. At the start of World War I, Lorenz had grown to about 3,000 employees and was a major supplier to the German military of land-line telephone and telegraph equipment and had also entered the wireless field. As Germany prepared for another war, Lorenz again became strongly engaged in manufacturing materiel for the military. Production of radio tubes for the German Army started in 1937, and was followed by the building of communication sets and similar electronics.
In 1948, Lorenz started anew. Some factories had been closed, and those in the Eastern Zone were either taken over by, or moved to, the Soviet Union. Lorenz headquarters moved to the Zuffenhausen district of Stuttgart. During the 1950s, Lorenz recovered strongly and had several branches: Berlin-Tempelhof (radio communications and broadcasting research); Esslingen am Neckar (radio tubes); Landshut (electrical machines, broadcasting equipment, and signal systems); Pforzheim I (research and model workshop for small-scale transmitting equipment); Pforzheim II (telex factory); and Schaub Pforzheim (radio and television receivers). In 1954, the brand name of radio and television sets was changed to Schaub-Lorenz.
In 1958, C. Lorenz AG ceased to exist as an independent company. ITT reorganized its operations in Germany by merging Lorenz, Standard Elektrizitätsgesellschaft, and several others into a new company called Standard Elektrik Lorenz (or SEL). In 1961, the company also becomes the major shareholder of radio firm Graetz. In 1987, SEL, by then an extremely diversified company, merged with French companies Compagnie Générale d'Electricité and Alcatel, with the new company being known simply as Alcatel and the German part known as Alcatel SEL AG. The new company eventually sold to Nokia-Graetz GmbH the operations that had earlier been Lorenz.
Marantz Prototype reel tape recorder
Year 1978
$2500.00 (as reported in the
May 1979 Stereo Review)
Dual-capstan transport Reel to Reel, Full logic, live switching from any mode to any other mode
Heads - 6, two 4-track record, two 4-track play, two 2-track erase
3 3/4, 7 1/2, and 15 ips
Reel switch Electronic, 7 or 10 inch settings
As this unit appears to be a a one-off production, a Marantz special project, we may never know what the specifications were supposed to be.
The P at the end of the serial number probably means "Prototype". If I learn of any production units (or other prototypes), I will add that information here.
All I know for sure is, it sounds great, and it mates with my other gear perfectly both sonically and visually. The find of a lifetime!
Contributed by Ben on February 7th, 2001
- ClassicAudio.com
Novelty Chinese made 1/8" cassette tape to CD converter called the St. Louis
This unit is in our collection
Magnetic film reel recorders
Magnasync Nomad 1960 & $1,025
Label on back states "Magnesync film recorder, Magnephonic sound systems, made in North Hollywood, Calif U.S.A."
Unit has XLR microphone and 1/4" line inputs. Cool unit! • Play Phantom Production's videos about this Nomad 16 mm recorder Windows Media • QuickTime • RealPlayer
Precision hi-fidelity magnetic recorder for 16 mm movie cameras. Now you can produce professional quality sound movies with the amazing versatile "Nomad" 7 lb recorder reproducer! Lip-sync recording at time of take. Small magnetic recorder that mounts underneath a movie camera. It is connected and interlocked by a flexible shaft, and is driven by it. The movie camera drives the Nomad which has a fully transistorized amplifier and uses rechargeable batteries. For longer runs a DC motor may be attached. The Nomad uses 16 mm magnetic film (instead of tape) at the same rate as the camera for simple editing. The Nomad provides recording of two separate sound tracks (one each for voice and music) which are automatically mixed when played back. This method eliminates the need for sound-dubbing, and the duplication of original film where a composite print is required.
The few places we've found reference to this machine is these quotes "collect old odd film sound recorders of the era -- including a Perfectone, Stellavox SM-5 with Rangertone, Nagra II (spring-wind with tube electronics), Nagra SNNs (which I use), Sony EM2NS, Magnasync Nomad, Maihak springwind, and many more." - source unknown
And this quote from Jeff Kreines "It looks to me like the split-16mm mag that was used in the very uncommon Magnasync Nomad from the early 60s. It was a very odd machine -- it attached to the camera with a flexible shaft, and was driven directly by the camera motor (so it stayed in sync, even with spring-wind cameras)."
Sound-on-film uses one of two technologies, Optical or Magnetic
The most common method is an optical process whereby a transparent line is recorded along one side of the film. This strip varies in width according to the frequency of the sound. For this reason, it is known as a variable-area sound track. As the film passes the audio pickup, an exciter lamp provides a bright source of light, focused by a lens through the transparent line. The light that passes through the film shines on a photocell.
In the 1950s, magnetic recording became popular. Magnetic sound-on-film had a couple of advantages over optical at the time:
Magnetic was stereo, while optical was mono.
Magnetic had better sound quality.
But there were disadvantages, too:
Magnetic had to be added to the movie after it was filmed.
Magnetic was more expensive.
Magnetic didn't last as long as optical.
Magnetic was more easily damaged.
1958 ad for Magnasync World(left)
Magnasync Magnetic Film Recorders 1973-1976
Magnasync/Moviola Corporation; 5539 Riverton Ave., North Hollywood, California 91601
Was later a part of Moviola. A Subsidiary of Craig Corporation
Iwan Serrurier's original 1917 concept for the Moviola was as a home movie projector to be sold to the general public. The name was derived from the name "Victrola" since Serrurier thought his invention would do for home movie viewing what the Victrola did for home music listening (The Moviola even came in a beautiful wooden cabinet similar to the Victrolas). But since the machine cost $600 in 1920 (equivalent to $20,000 in the 2000s), very few sold. An editor at Douglas Fairbanks Studios suggested that Iwan should adapt the device for use by film editors. Serrurier did this and the Moviola as an editing device was born in 1924 with the first Moviola being sold to Douglas Fairbanks himself. Ninety four years later, a framed copy of the original receipt still resides at Moviola, the company, in Hollywood.
Many studios quickly adopted the Moviola including Universal Studios, Warner Brothers, Charles Chaplin Studios, Buster Keaton Productions, Mary Pickford, Mack Sennett, and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The advent of sound, 65mm and 70mm film, and the need for portable editing equipment during World War II greatly expanded the market for Moviola's products.[1]
Filmmaker Brad Mays editing his first feature film Stage Fright on an upright Moviola, 1987. Iwan Serrurier's son, Mark Serrurier, took over his father's company in 1946. In 1966, Mark sold Moviola Co. to Magnasync Corporation (a subsidiary of Craig Corporation) of North Hollywood for $3 million. Combining the names, the new name was Magnasync/Moviola Corp. President L. S. Wayman instantly ordered a tripling of production, and the new owners realized their investment in less than two years. Wayman retired in 1981, and Moviola Co. was sold to J&R Film Co., Inc. in 1984.
The movie Aviator
Magnecorder
M30, M33 • 1952-1954 $499.95
Interestingly,
this recorder was initially acquired by Phantom to be provided
to the movie company making the new Howard Hughes film Aviator (2003). They
went with a Brush Sound Mirror recorder instead.
Date: Fri, 9 May 2003 08:41:22 -0500
To: <phantom@austin.rr.com>
Subject: Motion picture props
Hello,
My name is Montgomery Pollack. I own a Motion Picture prop house in Los Angeles Ca. We are working on a new film to be directed by Martin Scorcese, starring Leonardo DeCaprio. It is called "The Aviator" It is about Howard Hughes love of flight. There is a scene that has Hughes using a reel to reel tape recorder in 1947. The director has requested a Rangertone or a Magnecord, Magnetophon or a Ampex 200A. I need to purchase this items. Do you have or know of anybody who might have such an item. It needs to work and be in very good condition. I can be flexible in my timeline. I can use any reel to reel recorder from 1947-1950. If I cannot find such a beast we will just use a Webster wire recorder. Any information would be extremely helpful.
Thank you
Monty
Give Peace A Chance backup master
In another request in October 2010, we were the recipient of a referral to potentially digitally convert a backup copy of John Lennon and Yoko Ono's master recording of "Give Peace A Chance." Here's a brief summary of the correspondence.
"I purchased the tape for $8,000 through a major legitimate auction house. I do not think it was widely publicized nor did they know just how important and rare this is
I will call phantom (and if ok with you I will give them a copy of this e-mail from you !). In addition I am trying to reach Ken Scott who now resides in Los Angeles
I have purchased the vinyl. The documents say that this song was recorded during the Yoko john Bed-in. However until I compare the tape with the released vinyl I won't know. Maybe this was recorded a few days later in the studio.
Lots to learn. I will keep you informed!
So the possibility exists that the tape was made on the machine that was brought in to the hotel bed in. Or. The tape was made a few days later at Trident. Ken would know
And the possibility exists that the released vinyl is the same as the tape (bed in) or the same as the recording made at the studio (if there is one)
I won't be able to solve the mystery until I get, as you say, a DVD made of the tape. And that's what I will do @ phantom. Do you have a contact there??
You are very helpful and are probably happy to hear it wasn't an ebay find!
I did also purchase, years ago, john lennons typewriter (from his aunt) and it is on loan to the grammy museum near Staples Center
Any more thoughts?Many thanks, Steve"
"Martin, Pls contact me re reel to reel master tape I own that was verified as John Lennon's recording of Give Peace A Chance. Ken Scott producer,1969, Trident Studios....I was recommended to u by experts in los angeles Respectfully Steve"
---------------
"Hi Steve!
Very interesting tape and information. We use several recorders for transfer work. They are in excellent shape for their age. They include a Studer B67 that is a 1/2 track mastering deck that runs 7.5 and 15 ips. It had been excellent in handling tape. Additionally we have a Tascam BR-20T which is also a 1/2 track mastering recorder and the last reel to reel produced by Teac/Tascam. We also have a 4 track Otari MX5050 BQ II which is a 4 track recorder and also a great tape handler. We prefer to complete our transfers through a Tascam DM3200 board (no effects, just straight) going to a Mac Pro with Final Cut Pro mastering.
To be honest, I am a tad nervous to handle such a valuable tape, however would be willing to assist you in any way I can.
Thank you again for contacting us and thanks to the person recommending us.
Martin"
--------
"Martin, Very happy to let you know that I have made contact with Ken Scott who is willing to help on this journey!!!
Ps. I'm a bit nervous too, but this is historical and I want to have the best possible team on the journey! Steve"
11/08/2010
"Hi Martin, I was meaning to update u this week. Ken Scott, the engineer on the tape has been guiding the process! He had moved to Los Angeles in the 80's.
The tape was taken to his trusted studio where it was hand rolled on to a metal reel and baked.
The next day it was was played and recorded on to two cd's. One for ken and he signed one for me. Photos were taken too. It all went well. After the one playing, the tape went back to the original spool and is now in a humidor to preserve its condition.
There are a couple of things on the very beginning of the tape that were not included in the vinyl, we were excited to hear them! Ken Scott recalled the session with John and Yoko where the work was done
It looks like this was a copy of the master that was made for security reasons before the studio shipped the master to the place where they made the vinyl records. If it was the master, we would have apple and emi lawyers all over us, as they have ownership rights!
There r still some unanswered questions that ken, who is being honored with Paul,McCartney in England next month, is trying to answer when he sees some of his pals at that reunion. Steve"
Steve sent us an original 45 record which reflects that the recording was actually made in Room 1742, Hotel La Reine Elizabeth, Montreal, Canada (this was the second bed-In that was held in May of 1969).
The Beatles in Missouri in 1964
Magnecord
Magnecord
PT6-AH and Recording Amplifier
Note ad for Magnecord looking for the oldest working recorder. We were told by the seller that this specific equipment was used to record traveling bands such as Whoopee John back in the 1940's and 50's.
Factory
matched pair of Ampex microphones • Early
Brush professional recorder • Case
of Blank Edison Cylinders from Ford Museum
The Superscope Pianocorder Reproducing System was launched in the late 1970's. It was also available factory-installed in the Marantz Reproducing Piano. The Pianocorder system provided a modern alternative to traditional player-piano rolls. It used ordinary cassette tape as a storage medium and played the piano directly from commands stored on the cassette tape.
Superscope created a fairly extensive library of material for the Pianocorder system, available on over 30 ten-cassette volumes. A large portion of these recordings were made by converting reproducing piano rolls to Pianocorder format. Several famous pianists, including Liberace, George Shearing, and Oscar Peterson, produced recordings directly on Superscope's Bosendorfer concert grand piano.
Custom Vintage Tube Recording Console- Columbia Records
We appreciate William Neshov giving us permission to share his May 2013 auction listing for this unique console.
"This desk was custom built for band leader/ producer/ arranger Jimmy Carroll circa the late 1950's. Jimmy did a lot of work for Columbia, MGM, and other labels. He also worked quite a bit with Mitch Miller, and this console was used for the famous "Sing Along With Mitch" shows, the biggest thing on TV in the early 1960's. Look up his discography and you'll sing Frankie Laine, amongst others.
This console is one of a kind. It was built by New York audio tech Peter Jackson. It is 10 x 3 modular preamp console with echo sends and returns, fully patchable via patchbay on the right in pics. Jimmy had a recording studio at the Woodward Hotel at this time. "Jiggs" Carroll is also notable in that he had bought the second 8 track Ampex tape machine ever built (after Les Paul, of course being the first, and Atlantic Records the third), which paired with this console. It was maintained by Robert Leisenberg from Decca during this period. The console was taken to California when he moved out to LA to work, until he passed in 1972.
I have been in occasional contact with Jimmy's nephew, who gave me a wealth of history on the desk, as he was working at the studio at the time. He also has a lot of reels of tape recorded through this and may sell them.
I have full doc's on it. There is a cutout where the Ampex remote was which can be covered. Some of the old style patch panel faceplates are gone, but they can be found.
There comes with it an extremely rare Universal Audio power supply, as used on their tube consoles, to power this. There will need to be recapping and teching, or bringing up on the variac. It has been off for a long time. This should be straight forward to get going- classic tube audio."
Decca FFRR model N- 6 channel stereo stand alone valve microphone preamplifier mixer. Decca tree mic system. First stereo recording mainly classical music. This might be the last of these units hand built by Decca engineers left ,regards Neville
Arthur Haddy & Roy Wallace " Decca Tree" design c1956-7 first stereo 6 channel FFRR valve microphone mixing consul -Type N [ 31"x15"x12 - 120lb ] World's first stereo recordings of classical music and opera. Last used in 1971 for the recording of the Queen Elizabeth's speech at the opening of the new River Mersey Tunnel Liverpool (right).
It`s outboard step down transformer is missing so can`t test, but I`m going to get it serviced. I have a Ferrograph 4A stereo reel2reel but not the six Neumann mics! ... or orchestra, but could be fun. I think Decca made less than 20 of these so could be last working one left! Regards, Neville
I used to own my own guitar shop but retired early. I love the old stuff and the engineering behind it. This Decca is a thing of beauty. From Haddeys sonar HF German u-boat detecting to this. I know how to use it, but no idea how it works. I can see the men in the 50's sat on their steel work stools (left), hard wiring this unit (tape deck far right same as my Ferrograph 4A). The skill involved is amazing. Every solder joint is perfect. I`ve switch cleaned all the pots and just keep working them. I bought it from an auction estate sale last week $120.00 ! It`s worth that just to look at it and learn the history. I have allowed a decent budget to get it serviced and up and running. I love VU meters and to see those huge ones flickering will be fantastic.
(left) Decca Studio Broadheath London 1950s "Decca Tree" system tape deck far right same as my Ferrograph 4A.
I will keep you up dated and when running in the new year will up load you a I will keep you up dated and when running in the new year will up load you a YouTube clip. YouTube clip. If you search YouTube for jetel34, that`s me giving a demo of a 1966 Triumph Silicon amp which I sent to LA 3 weeks ago
Items of interest from the 1977 Accurate Sound catalog
From the past
Creedence Clearwater Revival (with Crown 800 series reel tape recorder) , also referred to as Creedence and CCR, was an American rock band which recorded and performed from 1968 to 1972.
Douglas HiFi Store front Australia
Here's some additional recording items we've come across
Thank you for viewing our site! We hope you have found our information helpful and interesting. We are committed and passionate about preserving the history of recording. Every little bit helps us protect and preserve these significant vintage recording devices and information. We offer a seven hour video set about our collection and the history of magnetic recording available at this link. You can purchase the seven hours files via download.
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Boosey & Company founded in the 1760s and Hawkes & Son founded in 1865, merged in 1930 to become a significant music publishing business. Both companies had been in music publishing and manufactured musical instruments as well. From 1930 the merged company continued in both arenas for many decades until 2003 when the instrument division was sold, leaving Boosey & Hawkes focusing solely on music publishing. Apparently they were making tape recorders in the 1950s but we don’t have much information about this except various models that exist. Perhaps another company was making these tape recorders? (source https://reel-reel.com)
