FA+
Shop
161
Views
Views
5
Favorites
Favorites
Category
Photography / Miscellaneous
Species Inanimate
Size 1818 x 2027
File Size 861.3 kB
Report this content
More from Rin Elyran
Listed in Folders
*Oldest as of March 28, 2025*
Made in 1982, the J.C. Penney AC/DC cassette recorder is my oldest cassette recorder to date, my second oldest being a Panasonic RQ-2103 from 1984. It was marked as $5 at one of my favorite charity shops, but that particular store was running a 40% off sale, so I brought it home after paying just $3 for it. It is relatively complete in box, including the manual, warranty info, registration card, AC mains cord, and all the original packing material (yes, even the Styrofoam is from 1982). The only things wrong with it were two of the most common symptoms for every 1980s cassette deck: perished drive belts and a scratchy volume control. A shot of contact cleaner was able to fix the volume control, but I neglected to wear gloves while attempting to clean up the old belt that turned to black goo... quite gross, and very annoying to clean off of not only the machine, but my hands as well. Nevertheless, the machine is playing - and recording - cassettes again. The 3-digit counter works perfectly, and the recording quality sounds clearer and better than any of my other portable cassette recorders. Armed with the cassette splicing tools that I printed out with my brother's 3D printer, I cannot wait to start working with cassette loops.
Regular price in 1982 was $30, which is equal to $100 in 2025 money.
Updates:
- April 1, 2025 - I admit that I wasn't quite satisfied with the slight warble to every cassette I attempted to play on the recorder, however the speed was correct, for the most part. I am currently attempting to stretch the belt out ever so slightly around the mouth of my wire-mesh pencil cup (which is 4 inches in diameter), to make the belt fit better across all of the pulleys and thus produce a smooth, warble-free sound.
- April 2, 2025 - The sound still had a little bit of warble after attempting to stretch the belt slightly, but I elected to clean the pulleys a little further, clean the shaft of the motor, and re-oil the motor, which seems to have further improved the performance of the recorder. I will draw the line at this point, because I figure that I cannot improve performance any further, and that the recorder is running at its absolute best.
Made in 1982, the J.C. Penney AC/DC cassette recorder is my oldest cassette recorder to date, my second oldest being a Panasonic RQ-2103 from 1984. It was marked as $5 at one of my favorite charity shops, but that particular store was running a 40% off sale, so I brought it home after paying just $3 for it. It is relatively complete in box, including the manual, warranty info, registration card, AC mains cord, and all the original packing material (yes, even the Styrofoam is from 1982). The only things wrong with it were two of the most common symptoms for every 1980s cassette deck: perished drive belts and a scratchy volume control. A shot of contact cleaner was able to fix the volume control, but I neglected to wear gloves while attempting to clean up the old belt that turned to black goo... quite gross, and very annoying to clean off of not only the machine, but my hands as well. Nevertheless, the machine is playing - and recording - cassettes again. The 3-digit counter works perfectly, and the recording quality sounds clearer and better than any of my other portable cassette recorders. Armed with the cassette splicing tools that I printed out with my brother's 3D printer, I cannot wait to start working with cassette loops.
Regular price in 1982 was $30, which is equal to $100 in 2025 money.
Updates:
- April 1, 2025 - I admit that I wasn't quite satisfied with the slight warble to every cassette I attempted to play on the recorder, however the speed was correct, for the most part. I am currently attempting to stretch the belt out ever so slightly around the mouth of my wire-mesh pencil cup (which is 4 inches in diameter), to make the belt fit better across all of the pulleys and thus produce a smooth, warble-free sound.
- April 2, 2025 - The sound still had a little bit of warble after attempting to stretch the belt slightly, but I elected to clean the pulleys a little further, clean the shaft of the motor, and re-oil the motor, which seems to have further improved the performance of the recorder. I will draw the line at this point, because I figure that I cannot improve performance any further, and that the recorder is running at its absolute best.
Category Photography / Miscellaneous
Species Inanimate
Size 1818 x 2027px
File Size 861.3 kB
Listed in Folders
What a blast from the past. Sucks about the belt-melt but good work getting it running again. I had a conversation just today with Nuku half reminiscing half shocked about cassettes and how common it used to be to see them on the side of the road, with the tape streaming in the wind from frustrated drivers chucking them out their windows for whatever reason.
It's always a pain in the tail to clean the black gunk off of the pulleys inside any cassette recorder, but I honestly have cleaned up worse messes; Years ago, I had another, older J.C. Penney cassette recorder (made sometime in 1977) where the belt-melt got all over everything and made it impossible to fix/clean. Ended up having to eventually throw it out, and it was disappointing, because I enjoyed gazing at its late 1970s aesthetics, and I really wanted to make it work again. :<
Thanks be to Arceus that the 1982 cassette recorder was nowhere near as bad to clean up.
Growing up (and even into my teenage years), I honestly can't remember seeing any busted audio cassettes sitting beside the road... at least nowhere near my hometown. Perhaps it was more common around places like Cleveland, Columbus, or even Akron... not sure.
Thanks be to Arceus that the 1982 cassette recorder was nowhere near as bad to clean up.
Growing up (and even into my teenage years), I honestly can't remember seeing any busted audio cassettes sitting beside the road... at least nowhere near my hometown. Perhaps it was more common around places like Cleveland, Columbus, or even Akron... not sure.
Comments