The story of the 4-Track cart
I’ve wanted to tell the story of the Muntz 4-track cart for years, but I needed to find sufficient time to spend on it, to do the topic justice.
I think this might be the video that’s taken me the longest time to research, assemble, shoot and edit. I’ve been concentrating on nothing else for the last couple of weeks and as a result I’ve been seeing 4-track carts in my sleep. This is now on the verge of becoming a madness now so I hope it was all worthwhile.
Here’s the video https://youtu.be/Uqoglkbe9sc
I’m going to need to take a couple of days away from the computer to get this topic out of my head, so that I can then move on to something fresh.
In the meantime I hope you’re well, enjoy your weekend and take it easy.
Comments (65)
I'd love to do a video about 16 RPM records, but I fear the views would be correspondingly sluggish.
It took me a while as well to find the time to watch this, but I'm so glad I did. Seriously great work. The amount of care and effort that goes into your videos really shines through on this one.
Really ace vid, A++. Loved it!
late on this but wanted to give some appreciation - this one is just a triumph. what a fantastic time, thanks for it mat
What a gem! I love how much detail you went into and the comparison of the 8 track and 4 track formats.. Super interesting! I naively assumed the formats were more similar than they actually were (i.e. that physical attributes of the cartridge were shared between the two and the only difference was the number of tracks on the tape inside)
That is a tour de force, Mat. This is where you shine, the right sort of subject matter, plus the research, presentation, shooting and editing all come together to produce a video worthy of the description "documentary". Well done. Hopefully, this will become a new all-time, long-term winner for you and bring in revenue for years to come, it deserves to. SB.
Thank you for the very kind words. I hope you’re right, anything can happen once it’s live on YouTube, we’ll see how it goes.
I really like the structure of this video
Oh what a treat! Lovely video and lovely machine. Even the colours of the wires were still vibrant (low oxygen environment?) aside of the belt. that looked gross 🤪 Thanks and take care!
That was so interesting Matt. Appreciate your time and effort that has gone into this video. Thank you
This is the apotheosis of a Techmoan video (minus the puppets and the food tasting). You have defunct audio format, industry history, and a repair & demo! I loved it! Being an LA native I've of course heard of Muntz (and live not far from where his shop was in Van Nuys. It's now a party supply outlet), but didn't know about 4-track. Wonderful stuff, Mat! FYI - the SegaVision commercial at the end of the video features former Dodger baseball first baseman, Steve Garvey, who is on our election ballot this November! (He's running for Senate)
Apparently Lear is also linked to some consultant work in engineering. Worked with them and the penny dropped when I saw the logo on a Drawing
In 1967, Bulova (yes, the watch maker) announced they were working on a 16-track tape cartridge, and showed a prototype of a player for it. It was mentioned in the October 14th, 1967 issue of Billboard magazine. Add to that the launch of PlayTape, also announced in that same Billboard issue, and 1967 sure was a busy, confusing year for tape cartridge formats!
I still have my dad's Pioneer for his car in HS. It a good format and does sound clearer in audio.
Definitely obvious that a lot of work went into this video. The research, the editing, even the subtitles. Great work! Enjoy your time off.
Very interesting indeed. Thank you very much Matt.
Meticulous research in this video. I didn't know the connection between Motorola and Bill Lear. You would think that car radios and personal jets were generations apart but were actually only about 32 years. p.s. If you can edit the subtitles Muntz keeps coming out as Months
I’ll have a look at the subs, thanks.
Fantastic video. Great intercutting between history and player repair. Also love to find out about clever adapters like the gidget that allowed new formats to play on old systems. The cassette to 8-track or the cassette with a built in head to play audio from an aux 3.5mm jack come to mind.
After reading the car record player article at 3:00, I see it used 16 2/3 RPM records. My parents have an old wooden cabinet tube radio/record player and I always wondered what the 16 2/3 position was for on the turntable speed selector.
In the home machines it was really for spoken word, but very rarely used by anyone. The highway HiFi records are very rare and even more expensive now. I think they might have used a thicker/deeper groove as well to help prevent slipping.
Such a great video! Didn't know about 4-Track, made my day. Loved the trick they invented to play them in 8-Track players.
Excellent stuff. My Philips reel-to-reel is badged up as a "4-track", which must have thrown some people, as it has a black lid hiding the contents.
Classic Techmoan with bells on - and a superb repair job!
Could you post a picture of the circuit diagram on the bortom of the unit?
Unfortunately not. I took it to my locker yesterday to free up space in the house.
It's widely believed that Crazy Eddie and their whole "his prices are insane" shtick was heavily inspired by Muntz and his own marketing and I can believe it.
which in turn inspired the character of Peggy's husband in "Peggy Sue got Married".
Despite recent claims to the contrary, this video proves you've still got your mojo. Brilliant work - the historical setting of the 4-track, the trivia, the presentation, and the editing are all spot on.
Brilliant video. Really one of the very best. It sounded GREAT!
oh what a joy. Those 50 mins or so just flew by...
Excellent video, love the deep dive into this.
That was Techmoan at his best, well done! Don’t worry about the video length - at this quality of information it’s pure pleasure. Thank you, Mat!
Great show, Mat. Thanks.
I did not know how much I needed a full 50 minutes of Techmoan until this happened! Fantastic video, on form good sir
“Wonder if these pull out” come on Mat, you should know better by now 🤣 I could tell they did without my glasses on
That look on your face when you're playing Jimmy Smith 😜 Nice video, with all the background information!
I thought of you when I heard that Hammond organ. I presume you’re well aware of Jimmy Smith.
Fascinating stuff, another tape format you might want to tackle is the very short-lived Type 3 Cassette tape, it tried to combine aspects of Type 1 and 2 but did not last long: https://tapetardis.wordpress.com/2012/05/17/the-type-iii-ferrichrome-ferro-chrome-audio-cassette/
He did go over cassette tape types briefly in an earlier video: https://youtu.be/jVoSQP2yUYA&t=3m8s
What a superbly interesting deep dive into the 4 track system. Really fascinating breakdown of its history and mechanics plus who doesn’t love one of your considered renovations.
I’ve only watched the first half of the video, and I have to say, very nicely done. My wife and I will enjoy watching it over dinner this evening.
Wow! I've now got a severe case of "Techmoan Overload Syndrome" and it's a blast! All of your favorite Techmoan topics in one: There's a (kinda) NOS gadget of a forgotten audio tech, an intensive history lesson, a repair video and demonstration of the gadget. Plus it ties in well with Mat's other videos of related gear. I'd say the Muntz 4-track player has earned a spot in the outro roll😀
Wow, a real tour de force, Mat. I really loved this - the detailed history, the original device and the successful repair. Superb!
Well done Mat. You've outdone yourself on this one. Exceptional video. So much info, superbly shot and produced. Amazing, thanks.
Loved that video and the history behind it all, thank you for your great work.
What can I say? An absolute tour de force of a video, and featuring Morecambe and Wise as well, it couldn't be better.
Thanks for a great video. Of course, I've discussed my association with Bill Lear before, but I didn't know a lot of his history. He was just a kind old man who lived in a really nice house with really cool gadgets. I did meet Shanda, too. She was in her early 20s then, and I remembered her as cute and nice. I still think his main motivation for making the Lear 8 was still as a entertainment machine for his line of personal jets. In that respect keeping the mechanism and the height of the machine as thin as possible would be important. We actually had a Muntz unit in our car in the early 60s, no doubt supplied by Bill Lear. I remembered we had both the smaller and larger sized cartridges. It did have a great sound. The car we had was a convertible and we would park it in public with the top down and the 4 track clearly visible... and never thought a thing about it. I don't think that would work today. Well done.
After spending 10 days putting this together you were no doubt close to donning the Napoleon hat yourself. "Techmoan - his videos are CRAZY!"
Absolutely stunning! Great research, repair, editing and informative. Now one of my favourites! Tks Mat…
That was the perfect video - fascinating story, interesting repair, and successful demo! Muntz (or his designers) were clearly very clever, creating a mechanism complete with controls and fully finished front panel that could be used in a car player or in a home player with or without speakers, simply by changing the surround.
Wow, what an incredible video -- the research, repair work, editing, close-up camera work -- just amazing! Thank you for the wonderful birthday present :) Although it would've been ideal if the player was just one year older to perfectly coincide. Maybe next time.
That player sounded great after the work you did on it. :) Pretty cool that it had the full schematics on a sticker on the bottom side. PS. At the 46:30 mark, the audio of that SEGA Vision-clip is left channel only, in case you want to re-edit.
and I didn't realize Sega had AI announcers :)
Really interesting, and amazing that the electronics all still work. The sound is very 60’s, too, tinny and a bit muffled, like Granny’s stereogram.
Clearly a lot of work. Great job on the video!
You two and Vwestlife need to stop crossing the streams something bad will happen.
A future tentpole Techmoan classic. I love your comparisons of 4-track and 8-track.
Saturday morning, sun's out, nice long Techmoan video. Yeeessssssss
• You weren't wrong when you said the editing on this one was a bear 😵. Very well done; it's an excellent documentary. Loved the return of the garage dry erase board. 🙂 • Very precisely done 'dub' of your 'cartridge' voice onto the MI car clip. • 'Young attractive ladies' ... pfft. Where's the young attractive males? 🤣 (okay, I know, they're targeting automobile owner demographics of the time...I guess) • Tipp-Ex (AKA Wite-Out) is now added to my vocabulary bank, thank you. • Tee Vee Muntz and Shanda Lear. 😆 I suppose Muntz and Lear had more than one thing in common. • How do belts disintegrate with barely a trace that they were ever there? • This device works really well - it's astounding. • James Brown's screams when flipping from one 'side' to the other amused me. • Your expression at the end is priceless. 😆 I enjoyed this one immensely. Have a good rest and take care. 🤍
While I do enjoy editing - this one really pushed the boundaries of that enjoyment. As for eye candy for the ladies…well you had Earl Muntz, apparently he had seven wives and numerous girlfriends and they all seemed to be very glamorous, starlets, models etc. It must be that old bald man with glasses thing.
Suggest buying a silver paint pen as an alternative to tipex? Would allow more precision and the ability to write as well as mark.
I must admit, watching for 30-40 minutes before finally getting to the point of trying the James Brown cart, it was a joy to hear it working perfectly, and I can imagine you felt the same (as a long time viewer, I know it's never a given that this ancient tech will work despite your efforts). Lovely stuff, and yet again you've introduced me to a format that I never knew existed!
51 mins, wow. I look forward to watching this one.
Much appreciated mat, thank you.