Going to try to start on 2 simple SS record players

[electra225]

It sure is good to see you on the forum, Mr. Mogul. I have wondered if you were okay. Thanks for the update and keep us informed on your progress.

[William]

Sorry to hear you were under the weather, I hate when that happens. Good to hear you are back, and, working on projects.

Bill

[hermitcrab]

Solid States are not so scary to work on.... for sure they are safer than high voltage tube circuits, but making sure of polarities is a must or you can fry a transistor in a instant ... but also depending on the manufacturer, they can be almost impossible to service when they pack 100 components onto a circuit board the size of a pack of cigarettes and hard wired to boot ... I.E. Sony 366 R2R ... has 2 such boards ... one for the amp and one for the record circuits , I would have never attempted it until I got the powered solder sucker... which is a must for packed circuit boards... I think manufacturers of the day did so believing solid state units would last forever and servicing would not be necessary....

[electra225]

I have yet to delve very deeply into solid state equipment. I have a couple little transistor radios that haven't worked in eons. Those might be a good place to start. Then I have a Pioneer SX-1050 with a dead channel.

[Hi-Fi-Mogul]

Tonight I re-capped the little GE Wildcat SS amp.

Went very smoothly, after I sat with the
schematic for some days.

Reason being, that this amp is a variant
of the T2N, and none of the numbered
components on the PC amp board
matched the only schematic I could find.

There were also different values for the
e-lytics, but I just numbered each old
cap before I took it out, and it was
easy to match them up on the pc
when I received the new ones.

Photos after & before.

Tomorrow to connect the changer AC
motor wires and speaker wires back
together to the amp, and see how she sounds.

[TC Chris]

Tonight I re-capped the little GE Wildcat SS amp.

Seems to me that my Wildcat did not require recapping, just changer work, so I never looked at the amp. Now I see yours. Those aren't exactly massive heat sinks on the output transistors, are they?

Chris Campbell

[hermitcrab]

It is amazing what a simple re-cap on a amp board will do for the sound quality

[Hi-Fi-Mogul]

Well, the hum is gone, but the left channel is
not as strong as the right.
At this point, I'll try a new cartridge, in case the
original Astatic one is the culprit.

I'm not interested in going further
with trying to diagnose/replace a transistor.

I might return to it, after I get a few more
tube hi-fi's up and running.
Or, it might go as a gift to a youngster,
for their first record player.

[Hi-Fi-Mogul]

Hallelujah, it was a bad cart !

Playing some Herb Alpert on this little
1967 plastic record player.
It sounds good for what it is.

Always rewarding to see a project finish
well.

[William]

Congrats! Will it still go to a youngster?

Bill

[Hi-Fi-Mogul]

Congrats! Will it still go to a youngster?
Bill

Bill,
I hope to find it a good home, and I always
enjoy turning on the younger set to records.
They really dig being able to play more than
one record at a time, ha ha !

BTW, I took the RCA console's changer back to
the young owners today.
The young lady's father had passed, and she
has his quite varied record collection.
Now she's all set to keep his memory very alive.

I showed her how the changer auto function works, and
we played Carlos Montoya and Herb Alpert.
Both sounded great to her ( and to me ).

[electra225]

Congrats, Mr. Mogul. It's good when younger people get involved with records and record players.

[Hi-Fi-Mogul]

A couple of photos.
Ms. Wildcat is all cleaned/tweaked and ready to go.

Something nice is the original 45 adapter
was still with the player.

[William]

Interesting, your Wildcat is different than the one I worked on. Mine only needed changer work so for me it was easier than dealing with SS that I have never tackled yet. The one I worked on had the controls in front of the changer, a toggle type switch that I can't remember what it did, and I think a place to plug in head phones. Either they made different levels of the Wildcat, or, they were from different years? What really got me was how simple they came apart. The one I worked on, everything plugged in. I did not cut one wire to take it apart and everything had to come out to get the changer out. Why didn't all manufactures do that? I know, the bean counters!

Bill

[Hi-Fi-Mogul]

Interesting, your Wildcat is different than the one I worked on. The one I worked on had the controls in front of the changer, a toggle type switch that I can't remember what it did, and I think a place to plug in head phones. Either they made different levels of the Wildcat, or, they were from different years? Bill

You're right Bill.
There were different incarnations of the
Wildcat through the years.
G.E. used several models of their own
record changers. I've seen RD500's and RD300's.
The changer in this one is (of course!) some hybrid RD500/300.

And different manufacturers.
Here's some topics on that:

https://www.reddit.com/r/vinyl/comments ... ldcat_and/

https://antiqueradios.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=405086

[William]

Well, another senior moment I guess. I have my GE's turned around. I worked on two different models kind of back to back. The Wildcat that I worked on looks like the beige one in the ARF link. It was a GE built Wildcat and the controls were on the side like the one pictured in the link. The other GE I worked on was a Trimline model.

Bill

[TC Chris]

My 1973 Wildcat has a different changer. I made a YouTube video of it that you can see here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FG3d16luDk

In case the little GE isn't sufficient excitement, you also get glimpses of my 1936 GE E-86 console radio and 1960s V-M 359 portable phono. And you can see, looking carefully, the kind of order I maintain in my shop.

Chris Campbell

[electra225]

And just WHAT, exactly, would be wrong with how you maintain the order of your shop? Homey and comfortable. Not restricted by convention or the expectations of others. A shop should be as comfortable as your favorite sneakers. I would feel right at home in your shop. Nice video, Chris.

[TC Chris]

My favorite sneakers are pretty shaggy, too.

Chris Campbell

[electra225]

I have a pair of Converse "Coach" sneakers that I bought in April of 1971. I still wear them occasionally. These are like the newer "70's" black label models. They are still pliable and not turned to concrete. They are still in the original box, marked $9.95. The box is showing it's age. Comparable models now sell for over $80 as this is the "premium" line. I never really thought they were my style, so I never wore them much. The wife never tossed them and neither did I. They were the hottest thing going when they were new. Mine are black. I always wanted a purple pair, but those were a bit much for me. I was heavy into truck driving back then, so I thought purple sneakers were for kids. I was driving Bill Bays's B75 Mack hauling grain and I thought I cut a pretty wide swath.....