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I really fell off the deep end this time...

Sam Cogley

Sam Cogley

Last of the Time Lords
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I wandered into a garage sale today - it was a house cleanout, an old lady had gone into a nursing home and sold her house and the contents. In one room...I found something really old and odd. A complete, intact, functional and mostly very nice condition RCA Stereotape Cartridge player. It's not one of the fancy wood living room units, it's a (supposedly) portable model - though I've carried lighter suitcases on week-long vacations. Everything is there - all of the paperwork, including the warranty card, all of the original cables, the two RCA microphones, the right channel extension speaker, and 10 cartridges - one still sealed! It needs a total overhaul, but the heads look to be in nice shape with very little wear. I've heard of these machines before, but this is the first I've seen in person.

I'll get pictures up later.

Edit - it's an SCP-2 from 1959, same model as seen in this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MPcypFNvPs
 
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goldear said:
I've often thought that Elcaset was just Sony's copy of this other failed format.
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Very similar in approach, but the Elcaset was almost exactly halfway in size between the RCA Cartridge and the regular compact cassette. While thinner, the RCA Cartridges are about the same length and width as a VHS tape.
 
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I'd have snagged one of these too, it if had come my direction, and was cheap enough. Did you get any tapes with it?
 
JonL said:
What's the little box with the RCA logo that he shows in the youtube video?
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Right at the start of the video? One of the microphones.

Outputs are SE 6V6GTs. All of the tubes appear to be original, the one output I pulled is a smoked glass example with a 59-9 date code. The three 12AX7s also have the meatball painted on the glass. The "Dual Amplifier" badge is rather funny - it has a single stereo amp.

I've seen some pictures of an early furniture-cabineted example with a really cool feature - a matching stereo phonograph. When connected, the phono and tape cabinets serve as each other's extension speaker, and you can record from LP to tape.

Who else around here has one of these RCA oddballs?
 
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The same house had the only art deco console piano I've ever seen. If there was any way to fit a piano in my house, I would have bought it. I think the secretary at my office might grab it, I hope she does.

I guess I should get the extension speaker and tapes out of my trunk...
 
Some pictures. The main unit is in my garage right now, I want to clean it up before bringing it inside. It has that "grandma's house" mustiness about it.
 

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goldear said:
Is your machine stereo, or mono?
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Both. Part of the Cartridge's concept was that you can record in two-track stereo, or to each of the four tracks (two forward, two reverse) separately. I think there may have been some small mono-only recorders produced, but I haven't even seen a picture of one. The amp and one channel's worth of speakers are in the main cabinet, and that extension speaker plugs into a jack on the back.
 
Nice pickup. I'm not sure I would have jumped at this...but I did grab an early top loading Advent cassette deck at an estate sale a couple of years ago and might have been tempted here too. A piece of audio history.

Sam Cogley said:
Some information on the 1958-1964 RCA Cartridge: http://www.dianaschnuth.net/details/audio/cartridge.html

And an introductory film from 1958: http://www.archive.org/details/Revoluti1958
(the first half is about Living Stereo LPs and phonograph systems, the tape stuff starts at 7:40-ish)
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Thanks for the links. The promo film is alot of fun - watched all the way through.

Great stuff - the "typical couple" and "typical family" vignettes in the promo are a real slice of 50s life. Love how Dad waves that pipe around, and how Mom throws an approving glance at Dad as they listen to the tape playback.

What a trip! I need to find more of this stuff in those archives. :D
 
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