rocketraider

I've been on vacation the last two weeks, and as so often happens I get to digging around in stuff trying to clean up and straighten up a bit.

There's been a stack of vinyl LP's in the den floor for who knows how long so I figured, put 'em back in their storage boxes.

Natcherly I found some I had to hear. I had forgotten I had all of the Tangerine Dream stuff, so it's been banging out on the turntable the last few hours. Force Majeure is still chilling stuff, especially Thru Metamorphic Rocks. That track literally soars.

TD was always hard to classify- it could be art rock, synth rock, synth jazz or any combination thereof. I know it can put a stereo system thru its paces, which is one reason I always liked it, Mike Oldfield, and Alan Parsons Project. All these guys have technical as well as musical expertise.

But I have found stuff like this is best listened to late at night.

Lady72nRob71

My neighbor has been digging through her 50's and 60's collection and had been giving me a few at a time to listen to.
Some quite strange, some too blue, some just right.
Some of what she has is prolly worth some bucks.
I like the old LPs - I have about a hundred of my own, too (and at least 6 players that work to play 'em on!)

Olds64

Oh yeah!

TripDeuces

I like Tangerine Dream - Love on a Real Train. Theme to Risky Business. They also did Ricochet.

Erinyes

If you've got any that just haven't come out in digital form, I'd convert them before the LP gets any more degraded. Eventually, the vinyl just won't be in good enough shape to enjoy, and you can't count on being able to find some of that stuff ever again.

We've still got a stack of 78s, and a Victrola to spin them, but you can't listen to them for sound quality; converting to digital and cleaning up the hiss, pops, and squeaks brings out some good music.

Olds64

Do you have one of those recording LP/CD players you can get a Sears, or do you use special software?

Lady72nRob71

I always thought the occasional pop or click was part of the enjoyment of vinyl!

redoldsman

I think the occasional pop and gray noise is part of it. That is how it used to sound and it tends to take us back to yesterday.

jeffreyalman

what about the sound of the 8 track changing tracks in the middle of a song? there are songs I listen to that I had the 8 track of and halfway expect a click-click in the middle

there are USB turntables now - very cool

442much

I cleaned out my shed and found about 6 Beatle albums in the original covers along with the White Album I got as a kid.

rocketraider

I'm pretty picky about the care and feeding of my vinyl. I have several LPs from the 60s that still exhibit minimal pop and hiss, and I'm a firm believer in a Discwasher. Every component turntable I've ever owned has been able to track at 1/2 gram or less so wear has been minimal.

I dig thru old LPs at thrift stores and antique shops and have found some exceptionally well-cared-for albums, as well as some rarities. I'm always on the prowl for any car dealer promotional LPs and scored a good one last week- a 1962 Chevrolet dealer giveaway "Go With the Greats". The music on it is a bit before my time, lot of 30s-40s big band and vocals, but it plays well and sleeve is in VG+ condition. Believe it or not it actually sounds better on the 1956 Zenith phonograph than thru either of the component systems. I wouldn't put any of the TD on that one, but mid-50s hi-fi mono albums sound good on it.

Rob and his Magnavoxes know what I mean.

Picked up a late 50s Zenith stereophonic portable a few weeks back. It needs a cartridge and at least one tube to work. Portable back then meant the size of a suitcase! My beloved uncle Gene had a 1962 Zenith portable that I always wanted, but my crazy cousin gave it to Goodwill when they were downsizing him to move into his doublewide. She claimed it didn't work anyway, but I know things like that can be fixed.

Antique shop I frequent has a big Magnavox stereo portable that I'm dithering about. Machine itself is in nice shape, but someone has spilled paint on the top cover sometime during its life and I don't know how I'd clean it off. I figure it dates to late 50s.

Erinyes

I haven't done any converting for awhile, but when I was, I used my old Yamaha turntable plugged into a hardware converter, then software to clean it up manually. I've just realized it's been long enough that I can't remember what software it was...

It's mostly an archival issue. My brother-in-law lost a fairly large collection of vinyl due to flooding and subsequent warpage (it happened while he was out of town, didn't even know about it for about a week). Digital may not be as satisfying in some ways, but I won't have any problem updating my collection, or putting together a road medley, etc., for roughly -- ever.

My father still uses his McIntosh amp and pre-amp, from the tube era. He's always been a believer in the theory that if you buy quality to start with, you don't have to upgrade. He's got a collection of some 500 albums, ranging from classical to opera to Janis Joplin.

71supreme

I've got hundreds of LP's in a media room in my basement. I am slowly converting them using a regular turntable, plugged into a Pinnacle capture device. I clean the recordings with Roxio creator 2010. great stuff.

You can use the roxio software to do everything, pretty easily, but I just got roxio, and already had the Pinnacle stuff set up. If I didn't already have the Pinnacle stuff, I would use Roxio for everything. Just connect the player to your computer with an adapter cable from radio shack, start the software, and your set to record.

I have a couple boxes full of 8 tracks, and only 1 8 track player (in the garage), so I have not yet attempted to convert those.

Lady72nRob71

Can this still be had? I have some skuzzy LPs that need a bath badly!

NICE SCORE!

I sure do...
The Ray Conniff Christmas album is another that sounds best on my 1957 RCA 'New' Orthaphonic portable.


Say - if you need schematics for any of your old phonos, let me know what model and I'll see if I have one - I have a bunch of them.
Any of those can be fixed. Most of the time it is an easy fix - like lubing or capacitor replacement. I brought back nother old Maggy radio that needs a cap job, but still plays well.

I would love to see this one...
If the rest of the cabinet looks good, then just sand the top and refinish it!

rocketraider

Not that simple Rob- this one's a portable, not a console. And yes, it is big as a suitcase and it's heavy- much bigger than most portables I've seen. The paint is on the leatherette cover and I'm pretty sure you'd damage it badly trying to remove the paint. They weren't using true vinyl or moulded plastic then, and leatherette is thin stuff to begin with.

Main unit has the amp and table, then it has a satellite speaker on pin hinges that can be detached from the main unit. Looks like about a 20' cable so separation should be pretty good.



The big issue with those old portables is they're bulky and they take up a lot of space. But I like them.

Lady72nRob71

Okay, mentioning the leatherette jogged my mind - I was thinking it was an all wood top like my RCA. The RCA was a tabletop and not really a portable that has the handle.
I now remember a late 50s, early 60s Zenith "Super Stereophonic" unit I have in my attic that seems to fit your description. It had the 8" woof in the unit and the two hinged speakers that were missing when i got it. It has a handle and is very heavy.
It is in very bad shape and the turntable is missing now. I salvaged the working amp and the rest is junk.
I do remember it working before and it sounded quite good, despite low power output. Those wood cases made for great sound quality.
I have 2 binders of portable phono schematics if you need one.

How do you feel us console collectors feel? It's almost like collecting sofas...
I met a guy who is a serious Maggy nut. He had a collection of 63 consoles in his 2300 sq ft house.
The pictures were amazing - different rooms looked like a showroom, warehouse, and assembly line!

redoldsman

My wife and I have a Brunswick wind-up phonograph we bought in an antique shop in Arkansas 4 years ago. It is in a beautiful oak cabinet and in perfect original condition. It plays perfect and can with a number of records and a bottom full of old sheet music. It came with the Brunswick version of the Disk Washer called a Dustoff which of course is worn out. It has a business card from Cedar Rapids Phonograph Repair Company with a 4-digit phone number. It also had a thing like a matchbook from RCA Victor that had eight needles in it. The guy in the antique shop bought it from the original owner. It is a treasure.

Atdog

You can pick up some old ones on ebay. The new ones have too much alcohol in them for my tastes.
I've heard of people using lighter fluid, rubbing alcohol etc. It will clean the vinyl, but it wears the vinyl down and affect the sound quality.
I've been collecting records for years and have over 1,000 of all kinds of stuff. Everything in plastic sleeves...
Hey Glen, you old hippie!, I think Tangerine Dream was considered 'progressive rock'. Kind of like Nectar, Gentle Giant, etc....
I wish I had the time to convert mine to digital....
but I have over a 1,000 cd's too, so it's all good!

rocketraider

I'm told that a water dampened microfiber cleaning cloth will do a good job cleaning old vinyl. I haven't tried it yet. Stands to reason though. I use a very soft water dampened lint free paper towel to get really bad dust/dirt off before I use the Discwasher.

Last Discwasher I got, I had to mail order it. The kid at the local stereo shop looked at me like I had just arrived from Mars when I asked him for it. I asked him, "is there anyone here who speaks turntable?" and he went and got the owner's wife. She told me I was the first person who had asked for a Discwasher in nearly ten years.

The same antique shop that has the Magnavox has one of those oak cabinet Brunswick machines. It's beautiful, and it works well. I usually wind it up while I'm in there and let it play a 78 or two. Lou keeps trying to talk me into buying it, and it may eventually end up with me.

Lady72nRob71

Last time I asked about turntables at a local store, the kid said yea, we have them. He showed me those little rotating TV stands...

toro68

Funny Gleen, you posted this thread, for the last 2-3 weeks (late at night to unwind of 10 hours/day of work), I have been listenign to some old vinal records!

jeffreyalman

so you guys must remember Zenith's Cobra-matic tone arms - a snake tone arm! if you have sirius, check out 76 Escape

rocketraider

The Cobra tables were a little before my time, but I like them. Nice working Cobras tend to get expensive. Some of the Cobra-Matics even had speed control and stroboscopes, way back in the 50s. Back when hardly anyone else had it. Dual was experimenting with stuff like that and a Garrard Transcription table would have had it, but about the only place you found those was in a radio station.

Always wondered why Zenith abandoned them for what were really just run-of-the-mill BSR changers. Zenith being Zenith, producing the Cobra had to be expensive especially for its time.

Lady72nRob71

The CM's are very nice. Most likely abandoned for the same reason Maggy went towards the BSRs - they found them to be cheap and cheap meant more profit.

jeffreyalman

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...ht_1856wt_1138

jeffreyalman

Joe - 1966 dealer film strips and matching LPs

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...#ht_500wt_1182

PetChemMan

I still have my vinyl LP collection , and play some once in a while. I have about 1200 LPs, starting from the late 1950s. The Diskwasher fluids and cleaning bars ( with velvet like surfaces) work nicely for a final touchup before playing. Some used LPs I've bought , however, are too dirty to effectively clean with the cleaning bars. I wash the LP using a dilute solution of water and Dawn dishwashing detergent, with a cotton wash cloth, in the kitchen sink. Use a circular motion around the record grooves. I then rinse the LP in tap water, and then use a final rinse with distilled water. I set the LPs out on paper towels to air dry, and then put them into new record sleeves. ( I keep the old sleeves too, inside the jacket.) The washing does not hurt the paper label, and the record comes out much cleaner than any other method I've tried. I've washed records using this method for 20 years, and there's no harm done to the vinyl. Just don't use a detergent with "hand softening" ingredients, or it may leave a residue on the LP.

Lady72nRob71

Here are a couple neat records I ran across last weekend when I was organizing my collection - I forgot I even had them!

The Olds record is very dirty, so i will try washing it in the sink like PCM suggested before playing.

I remember now about actually purchasing the All Ears LP from a Rat-Shack clearance table about 25 years ago...

rocketraider

I have a couple of "Johnny and Lucille" Olds model introduction LPs as well as that 1965 "New Stars in Action" LP. Plenty of others from Chevrolet and Buick too. Most of these go for fairly reasonable money. The drag racing and some car-themed surf LPs from the early 60s go stoopit.

Couple years ago we had a great discussion on AACA/OCA about a 1961 Starfire that was specially made for Florence Henderson while she was working for Oldsmobile. I emailed her about the car and I actually got a reply from her. She remembered it and said her years as an Oldsmobile spokesperson were very pleasant and professional.

I'm backsliding this afternoon- the turntables are quiet. I got a new Alligator Records blues compilation CD a couple nights ago, so I've been cranking that. Pretty soon I'll be snake-dancing thru the house...

Longhorncutlass

Rob, I love the Ray Coniff Christmas Album. In fact, I have all three. One came out in about 1962 with three people dressed as Santas. Another in 1965 with a wreath hanging on a door and the third also around '65 and that cover varies. Great albums!

rocketraider

I always wondered about the carmakers' choice of music on these LPs too, as well as the complimentary 8-tracks and cassettes that came with the tape players. I guess they had a specific market in mind...

I do find that as I get older, the music on these albums is a little more listenable. Makes good background music if nothing else.

Yah, I've gotten into that stereo/mono pressing thing a couple times too. Any more I usually just try to get a stereo copy if available. RCA Victor "Living Stereo" pressings are impressively engineered even by today's standards- and they don't have that digital "flatness" CD's have.

jeffreyalman

were RCA and NBC related?

71 Cutlass

My Lp and "45's" collection spans the years...I've got Beatles, Paul Revere and the Raiders, Beach Boys, and yes, some Donny Osmond and original Mowtown 45 records of The Jackson Five. Got a Dark Side of the Moon, and some Led Zeppelin as well. ALso have Manheim Steam Roller and George Winston for those "Mellow" days . Oh and John Denver. This is only the pile I looked at, there were many others.

Lady72nRob71

I think sometimes, they put a variety of songs on some, a couple for different market points.
After my mom picked up her new '86 CSB, I only found one song worth cranking up on the high end stereo - Michael Jackson's "Billy Jean".
I remember that time like it was yeterday - I loved that car.
All I have left from it is that cassette tape...

rocketraider

RCA/NBC is a complicated, convoluted relationship.

RCA started the NBC network in the 1920s when both were owned by General Electric. GE was forced to divest them in the antitrust hysteria of the early 30s, then in the 1980s GE bought RCA back, and NBC came with the package.

It gets better. In the 1940s NBC once again found itself in antitrust litigation and was forced to divest its Blue Network- which became ABC.

You will find that the RCA studio symphony orchestra and the NBC Symphony Orchestra both recorded on RCA Victor, and a lot of the same professional musicians played in both orchestras.