Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Pre-Recorded Memories

July 31st, 2013

I had the urge to build my record collection and had been giving it a lot of thought since I found the record player on Sunday. I can find new albums and remakes on Amazon, but those are $15 or $20 a piece, I'm ok with that for something new like Norah Jones Broken Little Hearts, or Babel by Munford & Sons, but I think I can get older albums a lot cheaper. I checked E-bay next, still prices a little high. That and between shipping and often vague comments on record conditions E-bay may not be a direction to go either. 

I wanted to check the record store in town and maybe hit some of the thrift stores too, but their hours and my work hours don't align. So I wasn't going to be looking that night. But I had this nagging feeling like there was something I was forgetting. Then it hit me, I had a set of 45's. 




In my bedroom closet inside a box of various old items, was what remained of my Grandmothers extensive record collection. It was a small box set of Glen Miller 45's, that I saved as a memory of my grandparents old house, their record collection, and as a lifelong fan of Glen Miller. 


The box is either made out of cardboard or possibly a wood bulsa like, whatever it is they don't use packaging like that anymore. Inside are five records and I took the first one out with Stardust, and Pennsylvania 6-5000 on it, and figured out the settings for 45's on the record player. I put the spacer on, then the record, keep in mind that I still don't have the RCA cable adaptors yet, so I can only hear it by putting my ear close. Stardust sounded great, and so did Pennsylvania 6-5000.

Now my resolve was even stronger to get the RCA adaptors, and more records. But I guess that would all have to wait till the weekend.

Monday, July 29, 2013

The Sole Survivor

July 29th, 2013

"It's nice you found the record player but we have no records!" My wife pointed out. My wife was happy I found the record player, and that it filled a gap in the entertainment center that had been bothering her for months. She too had some records fond to her from her past and was a little excited about the possibilities. 

"On the contrary!" I said "there is one record". Inside the record player was one last record part of a 1940's anthology I loved listening to, which the remainder of my father gave away to charity several years before. 

 



I still didn't have the RCA cable adapters, but I put the record on and called her over. We could here faintly Praise The Lord and Pass the Ammunition playing. 

"God", she said "I use to have a Beach Boys set I listened to like crazy when I was a kid. I wonder if my father still had it?". I could tell she was begging to get hooked.

Sunday, July 28, 2013

The Record Player

July 28, 2013

It was crazy how quickly I found the record player. I thought for sure the box it was in was buried under a pile of boxes in the basement and it would take me several weeks to find it. Somehow though in my wife's hurry to move things out of the way to light the hot water heater she moved things and the box with the record player ended up on top of a stack of plastic containers. So all I had to do was open it and there it was.

For some strange reason I had it in my head it was a Panasonic or Technics record player, since I have a love for Panasonic, but the turntable is a Sony. As I got it upstairs and on to my kitchen table I realized the belt was loose. I popped off the rubber pad, and the metal turntable, and the belt was rolled into a ball in the corner. I was a little freaked out, I had no idea how to loop it or if it was broken. I gave it a shot to see if I could figure out where it went with no luck. 

I turned to the Internet looking for some instructions, and found virtually nothing that could help. Then I turned to YouTube, no luck for Sony turntable belts. Finally, in desperation I dropped the Sony part, and finally I caught a break. There where several videos and even though the one I watched was for a JVC turntable the idea was the same. The belt loops around that metal turntable and was an easy fix, thanks to the video. 

Now for my next dilemma. The receiver even though it was from 1999 still had a RCA jack for a phonograph no big issue. The turntable though has jacks that only stretch about a foot out of the back, and I need at least three feet of cable to make it to my receiver. I need RCA female to female connectors, I thought I had a pair but I can't find them. It's already late on a Sunday night so my dreams of hearing that staticky-ness of vinyl music will have to wait.