I Like Playing Vintage

[Gilbey]

I play most of my music with a record player. To me, it's a kinetic work of art just like a mechanical watch. I like watching it while it plays my music. And surprisingly, this Garrard Lab 80 sounds just as good as any CD player (if not better!). It made it's debut on November 1964 making it the world's first Automatic Transcription turntable. She is my nostalgic pride and joy being 45 years old - my age!

 

[vitanola]

I, too like "playing vintage"

Here is a photo of the easy chair in my living room where I listen to records and the radio:

 

[Gilbey]

Nice vintage setting!

 

[Widebrim]

Great turntable!

 

[Foofoogal]

I have been picking up records lately for a song. I love to listen to a turntable. Has a whole different sound.

 

[Mysterious Mose]

Garrard made some great stuff! Here's my babies:

Late 30's RC65:

Late 1940's Deejay outfit with two Sp-1's, three tonearms, cause the pick-ups take the old fashioned needles that need to be replaced after each record:

Here's my soundsystem:

and

 

[Fletch]

That's some unusual equipment - at least it would be in North America. What are the brand names involved?

No one I'm aware of made a 2-table portable at the time - such a thing might well have existed here, but it would have been homebuilt and (as I said) very unusual.

 

[Mysterious Mose]

Garrard, and Tempofoon, a dutch company, that made the pre-amp and the box. They made Radio/Grammophone console type stuff. I read somewhere the whole DJ thing started post-war 'cause we (Europeans) couldn't afford to pay bands to entertain the soldiers. I once saw another one, years ago at a fleamarket, same set up without a box.

M.M.

 

[Edward]

That double-deck looks amazing.... with the emergence of the steampunk and dieselpunk subcultures, it's a shame nobody has gone into business making a reproduction of such a device.... that would be the coolest thing by far to use at a retro club...

I love vinyl. My collection is primarily CD-based, simpyl due to availability and convenience. I was perusing the racks of vinyl in HMV on Oxford Street yesterday, considering a possible purchase, but I was horrified by the prices. GBP35 for Dylan's Christmas album (GBP15 on CD)? GBP30 for the Clash's London Calling, which one can have on CD for a fiver, with careful searching? No thanks. I know vinyl is a small-production, niche market nowadays, but I'm far from convinced those prices aren't severely hiked up against production costs, much more so than is the norm for a CD.... I do, however, have a fair quantity of vinyl, mostly bought second hand. CDs are convenient, but vinyl is nice for the ritual experience.

I'm actually in the process of replacing my stereo system. I presently have an AKAI stacking system which was an eighteenth birthday present in 1992. State of the art tech back then - vinyl, analogue tuner, double cassette deck (including a facility to skip to the next track!), and my first (and, computer aside, only to date) CD player. Great sound, though it's starting to show signs of age. It has been well used! I decided a while back to replace it with a modern, compact mini-system (the Denon DM37DAB). This includes CD, DAB Radio and amp in one box, and I already have a separate turntable to add to that - a UK Made Rega Planar III with the R300 tonearm. No cassettes - no need for that format any longer. The only drawback with the Planar is the need to lift off the platter and change the band by hand to vary the speed from 331/3 to 45. If this becomes enough of an issue, I might pick up a second one to a/b (assuming I also have the space for it when I redo my lounge!). Nothing to play 78s on as yet (I'm not a collector of those, but I do have one or two...). Again once I have my room redecorated, I'm inclined to pick up an old gramaphone with the big, brass horn for those...

 

[Mysterious Mose]

Steampunk, absolutely! I've considered changing the hardware to brass, and putting a plushier velvet on the turntables. But it would also require some expensive plating I reckon. It could be done, it would be perfect...
I did the club thing a few times but it's just too heavy haulin' the 78's, tube amp and speakers around. There's a guy called the Blue Flamingo who does a good job as a 78 rpm DJ here in Holland.

 

[vitanola]

Garrard made some great stuff! Here's my babies:

Late 30's RC65:

Late 1940's Deejay outfit with two Sp-1's, three tonearms, cause the pick-ups take the old fashioned needles that need to be replaced after each record:

Here's my soundsystem:

and

What a wonderful outfit!

 

[Edward]

Steampunk, absolutely! I've considered changing the hardware to brass, and putting a plushier velvet on the turntables. But it would also require some expensive plating I reckon. It could be done, it would be perfect...
I did the club thing a few times but it's just too heavy haulin' the 78's, tube amp and speakers around. There's a guy called the Blue Flamingo who does a good job as a 78 rpm DJ here in Holland.

Even as it is, it's perfect for the dieselpunk vibe (actually my preferred offshoot of the subgenre, just one much less catered for.... maybe just not enough interest in it yet among the vintage crowd, or maybe not considered costumey enough by those currently in the hardcore of steampunk?).

I can imagine it would be like hauling an entire band's equipment around to do that.... that's where a modern repro could help, I think, with the correct sockets etc to plug straight into a contemporary house PA.... Alternatively, it could go the whole hog and keep the overall style of this machine while housing two ipods, via preamps designed to help mimic the vinyl sound (overly compressed modern production is the biggest problem for the quality of digital / CD, so in a sense its the source recording is the problem rather than the physical media on which it is stored...) for the ultimate combination of sound, look and convenience....

 

[Mysterious Mose]

Ai,ai,ai... Missed this one. Now THAT's steampunk!

http://musicthing.blogspot.com/2008/07/ebay-of-day-dj-turntables-from-1920s.html

 

[Avalon]

Ai,ai,ai... Missed this one. Now THAT's steampunk!

http://musicthing.blogspot.com/2008/07/ebay-of-day-dj-turntables-from-1920s.html

WHOA. That's beautiful! :eusa_clap

I have a beautiful repro record player - one of those 4-in-1 music systems - but sadly no vinyl to play on it. Not yet.

 

[Edward]

Ai,ai,ai... Missed this one. Now THAT's steampunk!

http://musicthing.blogspot.com/2008/07/ebay-of-day-dj-turntables-from-1920s.html

Oh, yes.... very nice. To think some cretin would use it for a drinks cabinet!! ( fftopic: Surely that buffoon Saville can't have been the first mobile DJ??)

WHOA. That's beautiful! :eusa_clap

I have a beautiful repro record player - one of those 4-in-1 music systems - but sadly no vinyl to play on it. Not yet.

Easily remedied - eBay is your friend!

 

[Mysterious Mose]

That's some unusual equipment - at least it would be in North America. What are the brand names involved?

No one I'm aware of made a 2-table portable at the time - such a thing might well have existed here, but it would have been homebuilt and (as I said) very unusual.

AND:

http://www.mrgosh.com/performance.html#amm18