Warning 8 track content

rossm

AK Subscriber
Subscriber
Hi all,
Picked up a really cool 8 track at an estate sale.
Fisher Studio Standard ER-8140, not much info on this but it appears to be made by Wollensak, as it closely resembles their model 8745. Looks to me like one of the most advanced 8 tracks ever produced. It’s got Dolby and tape selectors for “normal” and “advanced”, also switchable filters for f.m. Really cool feature is the tape eject, first time I thought it going to fly across the room. It plays great, but have not recorded on it yet. The 8745 manual lists specs of 30-16k using “The new Scotch brand special classic series tape ” does any one have this magical tape. I am also looking for replacement knobs for the level controls, the pot shaft is almost flush with the front panel so it’s going to be a challenge. It’s going to look great setting on top of the RS-2010
6989E422-60E4-499F-ACA2-3247CD8D869C.jpeg E952BDC9-E911-4518-9092-3A35A22F332A.jpeg 63494F80-A7B5-436B-91B1-1064D9BDBDC3.jpeg C68E53F1-7233-4602-A84E-A07642629D9A.jpeg E4B4CC1E-EEC7-4BEF-9B9A-9A6FC367B99E.jpeg
 
Actually made by Sanyo, sold as both the relatively common Wollensak and your rare Fisher version. (Sanyo owned Fisher)

Nothing too special about Scotch Classic; cobalt-doped ferric IIRC (or, just low noise high output.) Just use what you can find. TDK SD is probably the best choice.

Not aware of an 8745. Did you mean 8075?

My archived article from 8Track Heaven:

http://www.8trackheaven.com/archive/whatwoll.html

(Email is a dead link)
 
Last edited:
Actually made by Sanyo, sold as both the relatively common Wollensak and your rare Fisher version. (Sanyo owned Fisher)

Nothing too special about Scotch Classic; cobalt-doped ferric IIRC (or, just low noise high output.) Just use what you can find. TDK SD is probably the best choice.

Not aware of an 8745. Did you mean 8075?

My archived article from 8Track Heaven:

http://www.8trackheaven.com/archive/whatwoll.html

(Email is a dead link)
Hi 1tumbleweed thanks for the link. You are correct I meant 8075.
Would I need to set the bias to high for the tdk tape ?
I adjusted the heads to eliminate the cross talk and it sounds great with a prerecorded tape.

Here is a pic with the player in the Fisher rack
2BDFCDCF-4D75-4403-8E72-212CE532C4EB.jpeg

Sounds really nice, I would says it doesn’t give up much compared to my middle of the road cassette decks
 
Hi 1tumbleweed thanks for the link. You are correct I meant 8075.
Would I need to set the bias to high for the tdk tape ?
I adjusted the heads to eliminate the cross talk and it sounds great with a prerecorded tape.

With the TDK, it's most likely that "normal" is your best bet, but it doesn't hurt to experiment. Same goes for any Maxell blanks you come across.

You've got a really rare bird there; I've never seen your Fisher branded version, athough I've seen a Sanyo or two. For the level controls, you'll need a knob with a "shoulder" - scarcer than the normal kind, but I'm sure they're out there. Enjoy!
 
With the TDK, it's most likely that "normal" is your best bet, but it doesn't hurt to experiment. Same goes for any Maxell blanks you come across.

You've got a really rare bird there; I've never seen your Fisher branded version, athough I've seen a Sanyo or two. For the level controls, you'll need a knob with a "shoulder" - scarcer than the normal kind, but I'm sure they're out there. Enjoy!
Thanks again for your input
Other than cleaning and deoxit all I had to do was grease the post the headplate rides up and down on. Really a clean find so I was surprised the knobs were missing. I have 40 or so tapes and waiting on parts to refurb the tapes, then I can enjoy it
 
This machine (and the Wollensak) were built by Sanyo, for what it's worth. An excellent machine, one of the best 8 track cartridge machines built. DC motor is a known weakness.
 
That Fisher is one gorgeous deck!!! My love affair with 8 tracks (and cassettes) started in the early 70's because I couldn't afford them, let alone the TOTL deck that I would want. Fast forward to today and I have picked up many 8 tracks decks in the ensuing years including Toyo, Akai ( 2 of the big quads plus the CR81 and 82d), Pioneer HR100, Panasonic and Craig. About 3 weeks ago, I snagged a JVC 250u which seemed to be quite solid and had a "low" profile which looked cool. So after a $10 belt, some lube and about a week's time (waiting for the belt), I was able to fire her up. I began listening to some of those TC8 dolby cartridges and was quite taken with the sound. First I put in Johnny Cash's "Encore" (which I considered expendable in case something happened) and found that I was really enjoying the tape. I put in Ringos "Bad Boy" and the Cars "Candy O" and the sound did not seem to be coming from an 8 track. Bass was defined (clean), there were delicate tones in the music, highs were clean and acoustic guitar's had the nice sparkle I like. Tapes from other manufacturers sounded very good also, including ELO's "Out of the blue" and Emmylou's "Luxury Liner". A couple of mint Buffalo Springfield tapes in pink cartridges made for some FUN listening (collecting this stuff is not expensive and is just downright FUN). This got me to going through my tapes and I found a Kiss tape (creatures of the night) that goes for big bucks on ebay. I even A-B'd one of the tapes with it's cd counterpart and after balancing the output on the JVC, I can say the CD was not better, but both sources were equally good. This paticular system I hooked into includes a 70's Marantz Quad amp, a C101 audio control equalizer and JBL Horizon speakers. So find one of these cool old decks, a few tapes and have some FUN!
 
Shhhh. Don’t tell anyone or the prices will go up.
Sounds like a cool collection, please consider posting some pics !
Have fun
 
Very nice. I forgot how nice the Fisher stuff from this period was. I recently uncovered a Technics RS-858 quad deck out of my storage that I had no idea I still owned. Must have been 30 years since I've played it. There were 4 tape cartridges packed with it. I'm going to service the deck and then play these tapes in hopes to bring back memories and have some 8-track fun. Still many boxes to go through, as I'm in the final stages of a big move, but I recall having stored a few more tapes along with a car 8-track unit back in the day. Even though I was never really that fond of the interrupted format, I still hope I'll find this old tape stash to re-discover what is there.
 
Back
Top Bottom