BS: Transistor record player

Subject: BS: Transistor record player
From: Kampervan
Date: 11 Oct 10 - 10:54 AM

Help! Back in the 1960's I had a portable record player. "So what?" - you ask.
Well this thing looked just like a transistor radio, it was battery powered, and it played the old 45's which you pushed into a slot. You could carry it around whilst it was playing and when the record finished you had to eject it and put in another disc.

I guess that the big drawback was carrying around a stack of 45's to play on it!!

Does anyone else remember these things? I've never seen one anywhere since, in museums, on antique shows, in retro stores. Was I dreaming?

Does tihs ring a bell with anyone?

K/van

Subject: RE: BS: Transistor record player
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 11 Oct 10 - 11:30 AM

I remember having a Ford Zephyr Zodiac convertible, which had a similar type of record player fitted.

Subject: RE: BS: Transistor record player
From: frogprince
Date: 11 Oct 10 - 11:30 AM

I haven't seen or heard of that, but it reminds me that there was a brief attempt in the U.S. to market players for vinyl records in auto dashes. With those, or with the portables you remember, I shudder to think what they would have done to the records, with the needle pressure they must have used.

Subject: RE: BS: Transistor record player
From: frogprince
Date: 11 Oct 10 - 11:33 AM

So, as John indicates, the players for cars weren't limited to the U.S.; I never even saw one here, just remember seeing references to them.

Subject: RE: BS: Transistor record player
From: John on the Sunset Coast
Date: 11 Oct 10 - 11:40 AM

I do remember that in the 1950s RCA Victor made a slot loading 45RPM player. While some models were portables in the sense of battery operation, I don't recall that one was able to actually carry it about during operation.

RCA is also the company which developed the player which used a stylus (ala phonographs) to play videos in the 1980s. That technology lost out to the laser disc...remember those?

Subject: RE: BS: Transistor record player
From: Ed T
Date: 11 Oct 10 - 11:44 AM

Would theAudio Technica AT-727 Sound Burger be it?http://www.retrothing.com/2005/11/sound_burger_vi.html

I believe company is introducing a newer version:
http://www.retrothing.com/hifi_audio/

Subject: RE: BS: Transistor record player
From: GUEST,Rat Fink
Date: 11 Oct 10 - 02:21 PM

Installed one in the 350 Chevy in 1962. It was the cool thing to do.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_i_AovfzNXgQ/S8QHmhLpwrI/AAAAAAABI8k/3K5lc3fOTfo/s400/thisisnthappiness.com.jpg

Subject: RE: BS: Transistor record player---Pictures
From: John on the Sunset Coast
Date: 11 Oct 10 - 07:41 PM

http://cgi.ebay.com/VINTAGE-RCA-6-JM-2-VICTROLA-SLIDE-O-MATIC-RECORD-PLAYER-/380269614926?pt=Vintage_Electronics_R2&hash=item5889d5d74e

http://personal.linkline.com/edsel/rca.htm

The address above will take you to pictures of the RCA Slide-o-Matic 45 players.

The address below will take you to a video of the RCA AP-1 record player installed in a 1961 DeSoto. Anybody remember DeSotos?

http://wow-video.ru/view.php?video=S0hRzEihsR4&feature=youtube_gdata&title=RCA+AUTOMATIC+45+RPM+CAR+RECORD+PLAYER+MODEL+AP-1+1961+DESOTO

Enjoy!

Subject: RE: BS: Transistor record player
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 11 Oct 10 - 08:24 PM

I remember seeing them advertised in Australia - but I saw them advertised on TV - so that had to be late 60s although I saw them in print too - seem to remember that they could take a full LP, but might be wrong - I think part of the ad showed them throwing the thing around - gently - like a football .... before cassette players (portable ones) were affordable and while 8 tracks were still around ...

Subject: RE: BS: Transistor record player
From: Kampervan
Date: 12 Oct 10 - 04:42 AM

Thanks for all the suggestions, and that AT-727 looks really good, but that wasn't what I had.

Mine definitely looked like a typical 1960's portable radio except that it had a slot on the top which took a vinyl 45. Bought it from a second-hand shop and don't know what I did with it in the end. (probably sold it!).
Might be worth some money now if it is as rare as it seems to be.

Subject: RE: BS: Transistor record player
From: Richie Black (misused acct, bad email)
Date: 12 Oct 10 - 04:55 AM

There is a company in Sweden that makes a copy of the Philips in-car Record player. It is only the outer casing and you can conceal your radio or cd player inside it, great for classic cars.

ebay item number 250655664293

Subject: RE: BS: Transistor record player
From: redhorse
Date: 12 Oct 10 - 01:35 PM

I rememember it Kampervan;yes it looked just like a normal trannie except for the slot. I think it was called "Discatron" or something similar. One of my friends had one in the sixties. It only really worked if you put it down to play records. If you were carrying it the spring-loaded needle would jump at the slightest provocation, and gyroscopic effect would speed it up or slow it down as you turned left or right. I think they were only around for about a year.

Subject: RE: BS: Transistor record player
From: Kampervan
Date: 12 Oct 10 - 08:03 PM

Thank you thank you Redhorse.
I was beginning to think that my whole teenage years were an illusion. (Although I did try my best to make them just that!)

I think that the Discatron was exactly what I had and, in retrospect, I can see why it never caught on.

Just goes to show that the gadget age goes back way before todays techies were ever dreamt of!

K/van