One more than two
I’m back with something a little bit unusual to show you. I’ve been looking for one of these since I saw a picture of one on a message board a few years ago.
When a picture of a piece of tech makes me smile and others question whether it’s been photoshopped, it’s something worth seeking out.
Circumstances cut the main video short, but there is still fun to be had and if you’re interested it features a new ‘comedy’ puppet outro.
UPDATE: Added the video text link to make it available to view without signing in to patreon.
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I’m also working on a future video as I’m typing this post. From the other room I can hear a fifty year old audio device playing. I've owned it for a few years but never before plugged it in. The BBC Radio 2 news from 5th June 1977 has just come on and apparently there’s been a coup in the Seychelles and Gunnar Nilsson has won the Belgium Grand Prix with Niki Lauda coming in second.
It’s bizarre, unique moments like these that I live for. I hope your day is going as well.
Comments (51)
The dingy version of Also Sprach Zarathustra was hilarious. 😃
Have to admit I did a spit take on that awesome "How do you do fellow kids?" Thanks for brightening my day!
3 times dope
Soon as I saw the thumbnail I knew you had a winner of a video on your hands. But dang that hit 100k pretty quickly! Here's hoping future repairs are feasible, when/if you get the chance👍
It looks likely now that there’s something else I can try, so I may return in a couple of weeks. The jury is still out on whether this one will be a hit, but I always knew it would make an enticing thumbnail. I’ve still to watch your E3 video - been deep into a project all week, but it’s top of the list when I get an hour free.
I know nothing about repairing cassette decks, just to get that out of the way ... but ... I'm going to guess that those same drive mechanisms were probably used in other National Panasonic boom boxes (or boomlet box, I guess, given the size). My thought is to find another, less exciting version -- perhaps a unit with as few as two tapes -- that has the same mechanism that you could use either as a "donor" unit or a practice unit to figure out how to get the goo out (or the drive wheel off). Great video just the same - watching it again on YT now that it's public.
When I get the chance I’ll take another look inside the machine - at the moment I don’t know when that will be, but I aim to have another try.
Hooray, the puppets! I wondered if their gripe with " please enter your PIN number" was going to be that it's one of the best known examples of Redundant Acronym Syndrome (along with "ATM machine"), but they missed a trick there ;) Got to say, whenever I'm asked that question at a checkout, my immediate thought is 'oh crap, why is there a temporary block on my contactless'... Looking forward to the future post with all the news from 1977. I once found a cassette at a car boot sale (C120 made by Boots the chemist, no less) that contained an old Radio 4 discussion about the finer points of Mrs T's cabinet and the state of the opposition. Didn't half transport me back to my childhood, when the radio news was on and I thought there was this Welsh politician called "Clive Cumrie".
A truly fascinating look at 80's excess, everyone wanted to one-up over the other. Thanks for showing us! Also, have you done any videos about the background story with your puppets? I'm always interested your behind-the-scenes videos, really liked the one you made in 2015 about you and the Vectrex. It's neat to get to know you even further! :)
There’s a blog entry from ten years ago when I bought them. http://www.techmoan.com/blog/2009/2/26/the-muppet-whatnot-workshop-experience.html
Hi Matt That was one for the ages. I watched it with my 7 year old son who thought it was crazy to have three decks. Seems now I have to purchase an old cassette deck to pull apart with him so he can see how it works for himself...
I hope you find one that’s more repairable than this - some are a doddle to swap the belts on.
A triple decker! I didn't know these existed but I suspected they might! Maybe there is a Quad decker?
I know there's a Carol Decker...
This is super interesting! I think this one will be a big hit, congrats!
I hope you're right - could do with a bit of a bump. I've even had to deploy the big font on the thumbnail.
These videos are becoming very expensive - there was one triple cassette player on ebay - Emphasis on was!
I hope it was cheaper and more functional than mine. Same model?
There is so much that is amazing about this video. Just...give me more Techmoan.
Al Gore Rhythm?
How do you do, fellow kids?
To take the flywheel/capstan off, you need to remove the split washer from the capstan on the other side and then evenly pull the flywheel/capstan straight off from the back. Be careful if you use any tools on the capstan side to remove the split washer as scratching the capstan can cause it to damage tapes.
Is there a tool to get a split washer off?
When I first saw the thumbnail, I thought it was photoshopped. I was asking if you could play three tapes at once? Unfortunately, the all-knowing HAL 9000 remained silent about that. ;-)
I'm sorry Dave (Laurent) I (it) can't do that. - Just like a twin deck, one will take priority if you were to try and play two at once. You could have all three moving though (if it worked) - deck one dubbing a cassette to the other two. I wonder how long that would take to burn through the batteries.
Best... intromusic... ever!
I can't tell if it's the best or the worst. The bongos were certainly... unexpected.
I love your puppets and puppeteering :D
Whenever I try and have a go at it, I gain more appreciation and respect for those people who can do it properly.
I'm with the puppets on the toilet paper roll, although only because I've made a thing about it with my wife and daughter. Frankly, I really couldn't care less, but now that I've started this crusade, I must be all in.
The Mrs still puts them on occasionally like that because that’s the way her mum did it - I would have thought the backward printed flowers would have been a clue.
Surely that would be a cassapter
After the unfortunate resurrection of the word 'Casseiver' all contractions are allowed - so cassapter seems perfectly reasonable to me.
Triple-deck - outstanding. Inspired by your photo I went "web surfing" and found this pinterest board - https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/413979390730737227/. Check out the models with the the built-in synths.
There are plenty of odd boomboxes out there - I've got a couple yet to show, although I stay away from the synth models as I can't play anything and it would be doing them a disservice.
To repair the cassette deck belt mess, the key is to not disassemble the mechanism, but to get some very high purity d-limonene (Florida orange peel oil) - here is my favorite --> it's from Sierra www.ebay.com/itm/111527272742 - and also get some very thin artist's paint brushes - the key is to wash the area where the belt residue is with a syringe full of the orange peel oil and then let it dissolve the rest of the tar mess, and brush it around, and then do a couple of more washes and it is all gone! - the Florida orange peel oil is the only solvent that is strong enough to dissolve the belt, and yet not hurt other parts of the mechanism or electronics, although you might want to do a quick test to make sure on various aged plastic parts, but it seems to be the only very gentle solvent that gets things done!
Thanks for the tip - I may well try that one out, I suppose there's little to lose. It is really awkward to get to though, the gap is barely thicker than a credit card, I don't think a brush would fit or bend enough.
WTF, that's something I never expected to see!
I had forgotten some radios could pick up TV Sound (the old 405-Line transmissions on VHF) before they shut down. Loved the opening music BTW.... maybe Thunderbirds would have been more apt, but that would have been a bang to rights content match!
Yes I remember picking up BBC2 on the radio, I wonder when that finished - I don't dare look it up as it will make me feel even older than normal.
This is the Spinal Tap of cassette players.
"Why do we want to make a 3 deck portable stereo?" "Because we can, stupid." The spirit of 1980's Japanese consumer electronics right there. Before electric underpants were ever conceived!
A bit like Android phones. When you can't compete, just add more of what you already have. Look at the specs! It has moar!
You are becoming as adept at repairing mechanisms inside vintage electronics as anyone I have seen in the states, and I have been in the vintage audio restoration area for over 35 years! - Pretty amazing for self-taught! - So if we add in the self-taught mastery of puppets and video editing, it's no wonder you have a lucrative youtube business, you certainly have earned it! - I'm proud to be a patron!
Thanks for the positive words - I’m definitely at more of a ‘Jack of All Trades...’ level, but I’ll take it.
Man I can’t wait to go home and watch this. :)
I'm pretty sure that for proper street cred, your hat should have been at an angle.
I knew there was something that didn’t look right.
Niki Lauda! Sorry to be pedantic, but he just passed away, and it seems somehow...wrong.
I’ve corrected the spelling - but being dead doesn’t mean we should forget someone’s life. Many of my favourite people are dead - some died before I was born.
Al Gore-has-rhythm - now we know why youtube is broken :-).