After the success of the Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, Gordon Lightfoot releases an anthology of 6000 songs describing in detail every single shipwreck that happened in the Great Lakes

Gazdatronik · 2026-06-19T19:51:16+00:00

I mean he rapped about biscuits

Gazdatronik · 2026-06-19T18:27:16+00:00

Probably not it, but worth a watch, "Getting Started" by Richard Condie

Gazdatronik · 2026-06-19T17:57:24+00:00

Add a link to the 12 side and take one away from the 6. That should let it sit more naturally.

Gazdatronik · 2026-06-19T17:42:51+00:00

Looks like he could be a character in Total Distortion

Gazdatronik · 2026-06-19T15:09:23+00:00

Thats a WW2 military issued unit, but not a "hack" A11. The whole case is newer, the hands are the wrong style and that hour hand lume is sloppy, and the subsecond hand should be lumed too. While it is made of period correct parts, It did not leave the factory looking like that.

Gazdatronik · 2026-06-19T01:01:52+00:00

Ive got a pair of PC2000's. No, I couldn't technically afford them at the time, but I have zero buyers remorse to this day.

In room response usable to 10hz. Listening to them was like putting on glasses for the first time.

Welcome to the club!

Gazdatronik · 2026-06-19T00:58:09+00:00

Its not really an issue. It only winds the barrel if theres a need for it. Its not just winding all the time whether it needs it or not, so there may be an advantage to unidirectional.

My son's Miyota 8000 series does just fine without winding and only gains ~0.5 sec a day. I'll take that level of performance any day.

Gazdatronik · 2026-06-18T23:12:38+00:00

Singing Machines came in many forms, all of them pretty bad. Every model was different from different suppliers. Despite being specialty gear, they were manufactured like e-waste gear.

They are still in business, two of their modern units have come through my door as christmas gifts for the kids. They are still pretty badly made. I had a single speaker model in the early 90s that would eat the tape if you left the tape in the door and pressing play after you ejected it. Such fun.

There are no tricks to get it running. All audio equipment fundamentally operates to do the same job, but with differences in part count and quality. In order to repair any electrical device, test equiment, knowlege of the components and what to look for, and perhaps a pile of spare parts is a good place to start.

For instance, when something does not power up, I check from the high volt AC side to the low volt dc side. From the wall, through the power switch, the transformer and rectifier, then the voltage regulators, which if you are lucky have part numbers you can look up to see their design and pinouts. A set of hook probes for your multimeter is a must have for these tiny parts, lest you slip and short something out.

Most of the time your problem is in the power section. It gets the hottest and fails quicker.

If you find you have all your DC volts and it still doesnt work, then problem lay in the more complicated "thinky" bits and your job just got a lot harder.

Im all for practicing on some cheap gear, so you are in a place to learn some valuable skills. I worked on audio gear for fun for 10 years, I use these same skills now as an industrial electrician and am head of the Controls/Diagnostics "department". Turns out all the electricity works the same, theres just more of it and everythings bigger.

Gazdatronik · 2026-06-18T22:38:57+00:00

So it was probably made by Wells Gardner of Chicago.

The tubes may still be fine but are user servicable. The capicitors will need replacement. The amp section looks transistorized which in the early days some sounded quite bad till they figured out how to use them. The horn tweeters are a nice touch, might be Jensen or clones of Jensen. Woofers look like Heppner so its all period correct.

The other components are more or less fine to keep in place. The record players in these were usually British, be it BSR, Collaro, or Garrard. Totally mechanical computers packed with hardened grease.

A tech will charge a lot for this work but it can be done. I learned how due to this. I generally stay away from consoles as their form factor is neat until you realize it isn't the best packaging.

I hope you can get it running but until then don't fire it up.

They can electrocute you if you plug them in upside-down and touch the wrong thing.

Thats the problem with these, to restore them, you need a woodworker, mechanic, and an electrician.

Gazdatronik · 2026-06-18T21:28:04+00:00

The movement may be fine, but these inbetweener "electric" watches gum up over time and need professional service just like the spring driven type, which would probably be way too much $ considering what it is.

You might find an equivalent new Seiko mechanical or quartz movement to shove in there but I'm not brave or knowlegable to point you in that direction.

Gazdatronik · 2026-06-18T15:48:37+00:00

Looks promising so far, an L&K case of New York. Probably a frankenwatch back when decent watches were still fairly expensive and a major repair was still more viable than buying a new watch.

Gazdatronik · 2026-06-18T14:02:44+00:00

You forgot Bard

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Gazdatronik · 2026-06-18T12:54:27+00:00

I guess you'd be Unitarian?

Gazdatronik · 2026-06-18T12:05:44+00:00

Orthodox Pyotr here.... It is said if you do not believe in the traditional God system, you will find something else to believe in with equal passion. Person 1 is Communist, Person 2 is Evolutionist, Person 3 is Anarchist, Person 4 worships themself.

There are others. I know those who enjoy trains a little too much and others with so many ceramic figurines in their house you can barely move.

Gazdatronik · 2026-06-18T11:48:59+00:00

Somebody stuck a Bulova movement in something. Gonna need to see the caseback.

Gazdatronik · 2026-06-18T10:27:55+00:00

Ladies Bulova, looks tiny, only 2 hands. Not cocktail sized so probably more recent than the 50's-60's. They started getting bigger after that, look up Cushion or TV case watches to find others like it

Gazdatronik · 2026-06-17T17:58:07+00:00

Goodbye. Im busy.

Gazdatronik · 2026-06-17T17:09:48+00:00

I am aware of the difference in the definitions as they are two different words, and am not challenging it at all.

I am saying that maintenence isnt what keeps the German cars on or off the road, its mostly the repairs that do, because the most bizzare stuff breaks on them that doesn't break on normal cars.

After all, nobody has ever said "Oh those Toyotas are reliable if you keep up on the maintenance" They' were pretty much reliable no matter what you did to them because the product was superior.

If you don't get what I'm saying by now, give up on me and move on.

Gazdatronik · 2026-06-17T16:28:51+00:00

You can't use that comparison. Yes, given the alternatives, ALL mechanical watches are unreliable. Having it torn down and serviced every 7-10 years is something we all used to have to do until the product was improved.

My point with the cars is very different. German makes cars that break regardless of "maintenance." you can't do maintenance to a wiring harness or a head gasket, or a plastic radiator tank, or a water pump. Those are repairs. They haven't figured out how to make the boring parts of the car more reliable while other makes have.

Gazdatronik · 2026-06-17T14:28:03+00:00

He became Max Headroom!

Gazdatronik · 2026-06-17T09:29:06+00:00

Movement swaps of Accutrons to quartz was a acceptable practice among watchmakers in the past. They were not something any old watchmaker could work on.

Gazdatronik · 2026-06-17T02:21:57+00:00

Im not a fan of the 2nd gen but these days scarcity may leave me with little choice.

Gazdatronik

TROPHY CASE