This
Website is about the restoration of a a vintage tape recorder, the Wollensak
5750 reel to reel tape recorder dating from approximately 1967, that was
purchased on E-Bay and came as a DOA (Dead On Arrival). There is more about
this on the Restoration Page in the Wollensak
Discovery section.
There
seems to be very little information about Wollensak tape recorders on the
Internet, and these pages are presented to provide information that was gleaned
during the restoration process, as well as some history of this machine,
and the method of restoring it to functionality.
Exact
dating on the origin of this machine is almost impossible because Wollensak
produced two models of the 5750. The EV (early version) had a slightly different
tape management and pinch roller assembly than the 5750 LV (late version).
When Wollensak made the change is unknown.
Wollensak
tape recorders were produced by the Wollensak Division of the 3M
(Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company) -- probably best known
for Scotch Brand® adhesive tape and today for Post-it® note paper.
In the 1950's and 1960's their audio products had a tremendous impact on
many lives, and Wollensak AV equipment (tape recorders, cassette players,
etc.) were found in many schools and libraries.
3M also supported
their machines with reel to reel tape, promoted the concept of "Living
Letters"
(cute little 3-inch reels of recording tape intended for correspondence),
and were producers of the Dynarange reel to reel tape, which came on 5 and
7-inch reels of various lengths. Of course, 3M and Wollensak got into cassettes
and 8-tracks as well. They were a major player in the audio equipment market
for many years and Wollensak tape recorders were sometimes considered higher
end audio equipment. More about 3M and Wollensak is outlined in the History
section of this Web site.
The Wollensak
5000 series of audio reel to reel tape recorders date from about 1965 to
1969 and are an example of a "designer
series" of
reel to reel tape recorder. In addition to very good specifications for audio
equipment, this reel to reel tape recorder - some models with "wing
speakers" (i.e.
the 5750) -
had a very pleasing appearance, quite different from competing machines
of the time. Yet even today this vintage audio reel to reel tape recorder
is just as visually appealing as it was in 1967. At the time the machines
were sold, Wollensak was careful to play this up in their advertising. It
was a pioneering approach in mass marketing, and the design of the 5000 series
was a fine example of thinking "outside the box". In some ways, they even
re-invented the box (see the Restoration
section for some of the innovations
inherent in the 5000 series.)
The author
of the information on these pages is neoclassical composer, Tim Thompson.
His musical works can be heard elsewhere on ClydeSight Productions' many
pages. Tim worked with a Wollensak 5750 EV reel to reel tape recorder when
he was in college, so this restoration/rebuild project has great nostalgia
for him.
Tim
purchased his 5750 EV tape recorder from E-Bay and it arrived as a complete
DOA (dead on arrival), vintage tape recorder. He expected as
much from the way the seller was describing the unit, so this was no surprise.
However, since he had worked with this type of reel to reel tape recorder
in the past, he knew how to repair the dead unit that arrived.
This Web site
is a chronicle of the restoration/rebuild process for a vintage reel to reel
tape recorder dating from the 1960's, written to create an archive about
this wonderful piece of vintage audio equipment for technical and historical
interest. It uses FLASH and Javascript for some demos and illustrations.
It discusses the historical importance of the reel to reel tape recorder
in what is now the vintage audio equipment arena (in the Reel
To Reel section),
gives sources and examples of information about the Wollensak 5000 series
of vintage reel to reel tape recorder (in the History section),
a complete detailed description of Tim's restoration/rebuild of his vintage
tape recorder - with images and movies in FLASH (in the Restoration section),
and has a links page where tape
recorder fans can find sources of parts and information about Wollensak
as well as other vintage audio equipment, to help them in their own projects.
Seeing is
believing, or in this case, hearing is believing. To see/hear a demonstration
of the quality of this vintage audio equipment - the restored/rebuilt
Wollensak reel to reel tape recorder - including a video, (FLASH demo - 2.5MB), please
click here.
Please
note that ClydeSight Productions DOES NOT rebuild or sell vintage
reel to reel tape recorders, nor can we help anyone involved in such a project.
The tape recorders shown in these pages are part of a personal collection
and are not for sale. We Do Not recommend
that unqualified or inexperienced persons attempt to restore vintage audio
equipment.
Visit
www.clydesight.com Master Site
Web site copyright ©ClydeSight
Productions - 2007
