This was the heart of my system. I used it to master all of my recordings, including radio drama performances.  It was an on the shelf demo at Carson Pirie Scott, where I had an account, so I got a deal. It easily paid for itself. I used it to record on location concerts and recitals; jazz, classical and gospel.

This is the beautiful machine that my grandpa bought me as a high school graduation gift. We got it at Allied Electronics on Western Ave in Chicago. It was my entire strereo system for a couple of years. I bought my first pre-recorded tape album to play on this machine.

For those who don’t remember, the difference between a recorder and a deck; a deck does not have it’s own amplifier. I’m pretty sure I got this as an off-the-shelf demo at either Allied Electronics or Olson Electronics across the street.  This was the beginning of building a studio. I used it along with the Wollensak above to create things that I used on my radio program in college (WIIT).

I honestly don’t remember how I got this one. I know I got it really cheap or maybe even free because it had problems that I was able to repair.  It didn’t have to work hard.  Only used it when a third (or 4th) machine was needed for some effects.

I mentioned above that I used to record live concerts and recitals. I bought this machine primarily to make cassette copies for customers, although a couple of times I had to use a professional duplication service to produce a large quantity of tapes.  The quality was so good that it was occasionally used for special effects in my audio productions. I think I bought this at Musicraft on Oak Street.

Mine did not have the fancy brushed metal front. This was very useful in many of the effects used in Day of the Martians and Night On Bald Mountain.

Of course I needed an audio mixer. But I also needed one that was portable for the on location concerts. This little workhorse fit the bill beautifully. It literally tied everything together. It ran on AC or six “D” batteries.

I had the obligatory Gerrard turnable that was all plastic and it eventually gave me problems.  I only needed a turntable to copy vinyl to tape. So I couldn’t see spending a lot of money on a replacement, but I needed quality. I saw this thing in a resale shop for $5 or $10. The power cord was all wrapped up in electrical tape. I bought it, thinking I would have to replace the AC cord. As it turned out, the cord was ok and it worked perfectly. Used this for years. I mounted on the side of the desk with some shelving brackets.

Yes, I owned an 8-Track recorder deck. One of my biggest recording clients was a music teacher. Twice a year I would record recitals featuring all of his students.  Some of them wanted cassette copies, some wanted 8-tracks.  This thing paid for itself a couple of times over.

Originally sold as a kit, I bought this tube operated sysem from a friend. The preamp and tuner fit inside the desk as showm. The power amp is not visible in the photo. At 70 watts RMS it could produce great sound.  And the tubes helped to keep the apartment warm.

They were state of the art at the time. The cusions were oil filled for a good fit and seal. Todays headphones are a lot lighter, but I’ve never had a set of phones that sounded that good, until a couple of years ago when my wife got me another pair of Pro-4’s. Yes, they still make them

I actually found this desk in the trash. There was a middle drawer missing. The Dyanco pre-amp and tuner fit perfectly in this space. Inside the top drawer was my homemade patch panel. I could connect any component to any other component by moving RCA jumpers. I attached two large shelf brackets to hold the turntable, and a metal shelving unit sat on top to hold the tape decks.

This nice machine came with a leather case, a stereo microphone, speakers and later I got a rechargeable battery. I used this to collect sound effects.  The outdoor background scenes in Day of the Martians, and the interior sounds of the elevated train in Murder on the Evanston Express were recorded with this. I had a set of lighweight headphones and would walk through the park with this machine on my shoulder listening to music years before the Walkman came out.

Later, I replaced the machine above with this professional model. It could accept a 1/4 stereo plug for headphones and would easily function as a deck.  Loved this machine