An 8 track player I'd never thought I'd own

[tourmax]

I like fooling around with 8 track tape and players, but never wanted to spend a lot of money on them. I'd always wanted the "top dog" Wollensak, the 8075. But those never seem to show up on the market and when they do, they seem to be priced ridiculously high.

The Wollensak 8075 is, arguably, the best 8 track player/recorder ever made. It eclipses most other 8 track players in about every way.

30hz-15Khz with the special tape formulation, 30-12Khz with "regular tape". 0.1 Wow and flutter spec, better than 50 DB SNR with Dolby off, can achieve better than 60Db with Dolby on. 1v line out and it goes on and on.

Now, those would be pedestrian numbers for other media formats/players, but for 8 track, well...top o' the heap. The Wollensak 8075 is as good as it gets for 8 track.

I periodically would check the online auction sites, but nothing ever showed up and if any Wollensak product surfaces, the asking price is always on the ludicrous side of "high".

But this evening, I typed Wollensak into ebay and an 8075 popped up. Couldn't believe one was there. Opened the page and 99 bucks USD plus shipping. Works out to a 310 CAD after exchange and paypal's little bite. I fully expect to get dinged at the border by Customs as well. That's just a part of doing business cross border.

What? This can't be.

Looked closer and the standard "for parts or repair" is there. Nothing surprising wit 8 track players. Says ape doesn't run, but "goo-ified" belts are not an uncommon thing from 1974. Worst case it's a motor gone bad. All things I can deal with.

Two switch levers are broken off, but again; nothing I can't fix easily enough.

The face plate is relatively unmolested and the rest all seems to be there, so no rare bits and piece to hunt for.

The wooden case is, well....."distressed". No big deal as I'll just make another if I need to.

So yeah, I'm ind of stoked! Still "only 8 track, but the 8075 is, for all intents and purposes, the high water mark.

I can't wait to get it in my hot little hands and tear it down for a full rebuild.

Pics from the auction:







And with that, I'm done buying 8 track players. the Wollensak with go on the shelf with the Superscope/Marantz TDR-830 and the silver faced RS806US. No sense to buying anything else once you've "reached the summit". Even if that summit is "only" a pile of 8 track tapes.....

 

[spicer]

I like fooling around with 8 track tape and players, but never wanted to spend a lot of money on them. I'd always wanted the "top dog" Wollensak, the 8075. But those never seem to show up on the market and when they do, they seem to be priced ridiculously high.

The Wollensak 8075 is, arguably, the best 8 track player/recorder ever made. It eclipses most other 8 track players in about every way.

30hz-15Khz with the special tape formulation, 30-12Khz with "regular tape". 0.1 Wow and flutter spec, better than 50 DB SNR with Dolby off, can achieve better than 60Db with Dolby on. 1v line out and it goes on and on.

Now, those would be pedestrian numbers for other media formats/players, but for 8 track, well...top o' the heap. The Wollensak 8075 is as good as it gets for 8 track.

I periodically would check the online auction sites, but nothing ever showed up and if any Wollensak product surfaces, the asking price is always on the ludicrous side of "high".

But this evening, I typed Wollensak into ebay and an 8075 popped up. Couldn't believe one was there. Opened the page and 99 bucks USD plus shipping. Works out to a 310 CAD after exchange and paypal's little bite. I fully expect to get dinged at the border by Customs as well. That's just a part of doing business cross border.

What? This can't be.

Looked closer and the standard "for parts or repair" is there. Nothing surprising wit 8 track players. Says ape doesn't run, but "goo-ified" belts are not an uncommon thing from 1974. Worst case it's a motor gone bad. All things I can deal with.

Two switch levers are broken off, but again; nothing I can't fix easily enough.

The face plate is relatively unmolested and the rest all seems to be there, so no rare bits and piece to hunt for.

The wooden case is, well....."distressed". No big deal as I'll just make another if I need to.

So yeah, I'm ind of stoked! Still "only 8 track, but the 8075 is, for all intents and purposes, the high water mark.

I can't wait to get it in my hot little hands and tear it down for a full rebuild.

Pics from the auction:

View attachment 3640295

View attachment 3640297

View attachment 3640298

And with that, I'm done buying 8 track players. the Wollensak with go on the shelf with the TDR-839 and teh silver faced RS806US. No sense to buying anything else once you've "reached the summit". even if that is "only" a pile of 8 track tapes.....

I remember those, heard them in nice systems, owners primary use was to make car tapes but it was used for casual listening at home. I've serviced a number of them and they are well built. I owned a Sony TC-228 for the same reason and it too made good tapes that player well at home. I usually used Maxell eighty minutes tapes and don't remember one jamming, that rare. I would record right through track changes, didn't really bother me, especially in the car. Internet picture.

 

[Bone Yard]

Congratulations! I bought one years ago for a few dollars and didn't think much of it, it's been sitting in the stacks forever but I wanted a high-end unit to go with other high-end dead audio products.

I sent a photo to my buddy, he dabbles more in thousand dollar plus equipment, of some of my racked stash. He immediately picked out the Wollansak and said "where you get that!!!!" I had no idea that this was a sought after model, I got it more to record tapes for my very small 8-track boombox collection.

 

[Quadman2]

I remember those, heard them in nice systems, owners primary use was to make car tapes but it was used for casual listening at home. I've serviced a number of them and they are well built. I owned a Sony TC-228 for the same reason and it too made good tapes that player well at home. I usually used Maxell eighty minutes tapes and don't remember one jamming, that rare. I would record right through track changes, didn't really bother me, especially in the car. Internet picture.View attachment 3640311

Still got mine (sans the box), along with 700+ cartridges that I will have to part with in the immed future.

The different options of operation are a real plus with this "SONY" unit. And, I too am surprized at its ability to reproduce decent sound, considering it's an older player comparted to the advanced tape players that followed this format.

Had an orig GM 8track in a '68 Camaro that at the time played the tunes, with a 8" "Bazooka" sub in the trunk.


Brought back some great audio memories, y'all did!


Q

 

[spicer]

Still got mine (sans the box), along with 700+ cartridges that I will have to part with in the immed future.

The different options of operation are a real plus with this "SONY" unit. And, I too am surprized at its ability to reproduce decent sound, considering it's an older player comparted to the advanced tape players that followed this format.

Had an orig GM 8track in a '68 Camaro that at the time played the tunes, with a 8" "Bazooka" sub in the trunk.


Brought back some great audio memories, y'all did!


Q

That Sony was designed to record eight tracks with the user in mind. Those options of operation and their layout were the best.

 

[tourmax]

He immediately picked out the Wollansak and said "where you get that!!!!" I had no idea that this was a sought after model, I got it more to record tapes for my very small 8-track boombox collection.

Yep, those that know what they are, know what they are.

Top of the line, hard to come by and expensive when you do.

Their Achilles heel is apparently the motor. Seems prone to failure and extremely hard to find suitable replacements. Too bad hey didn't give it an AC motor instead of a DC one. That's one spot where the Akai apparently has it over the Wollensak.

As long as the one I'm getting is at least intact, there's not much that I can't rebuild on it. Been a while since I've rewound an armature, but even that is still in my wheelhouse.

 

[Quadman2]

Yep, those that know what they are, know what they are.

Top of the line, hard to come by and expensive when you do.

Their Achilles heel is apparently the motor. Seems prone to failure and extremely hard to find suitable replacements. Too bad hey didn't give it an AC motor instead of a DC one. That's one spot where the Akai apparently has it over the Wollensak.

As long as the one I'm getting is at least intact, there's not much that I can't rebuild on it. Been a while since I've rewound an armature, but even that is still in my wheelhouse.

Can you drop me a "conversation" (PM). Got a question re. this player.

TIA.


Q

 

[tourmax]

Feel free to ask away here, but I don't have it in my possession yet and I don't know lot of detail about it other than what I've read so far on the internet.

 

[ConchBoy66]

I like fooling around with 8 track tape and players, but never wanted to spend a lot of money on them. I'd always wanted the "top dog" Wollensak, the 8075. But those never seem to show up on the market and when they do, they seem to be priced ridiculously high.

The Wollensak 8075 is, arguably, the best 8 track player/recorder ever made. It eclipses most other 8 track players in about every way.

30hz-15Khz with the special tape formulation, 30-12Khz with "regular tape". 0.1 Wow and flutter spec, better than 50 DB SNR with Dolby off, can achieve better than 60Db with Dolby on. 1v line out and it goes on and on.

Now, those would be pedestrian numbers for other media formats/players, but for 8 track, well...top o' the heap. The Wollensak 8075 is as good as it gets for 8 track.

I periodically would check the online auction sites, but nothing ever showed up and if any Wollensak product surfaces, the asking price is always on the ludicrous side of "high".

But this evening, I typed Wollensak into ebay and an 8075 popped up. Couldn't believe one was there. Opened the page and 99 bucks USD plus shipping. Works out to a 310 CAD after exchange and paypal's little bite. I fully expect to get dinged at the border by Customs as well. That's just a part of doing business cross border.

What? This can't be.

Looked closer and the standard "for parts or repair" is there. Nothing surprising wit 8 track players. Says ape doesn't run, but "goo-ified" belts are not an uncommon thing from 1974. Worst case it's a motor gone bad. All things I can deal with.

Two switch levers are broken off, but again; nothing I can't fix easily enough.

The face plate is relatively unmolested and the rest all seems to be there, so no rare bits and piece to hunt for.

The wooden case is, well....."distressed". No big deal as I'll just make another if I need to.

So yeah, I'm ind of stoked! Still "only 8 track, but the 8075 is, for all intents and purposes, the high water mark.

I can't wait to get it in my hot little hands and tear it down for a full rebuild.

Pics from the auction:

View attachment 3640295

View attachment 3640297

View attachment 3640298

And with that, I'm done buying 8 track players. the Wollensak with go on the shelf with the Superscope/Marantz TDR-830 and the silver faced RS806US. No sense to buying anything else once you've "reached the summit". Even if that summit is "only" a pile of 8 track tapes.....

Oh Great, now another piece of equipment I gotta start looking for!

 

[tourmax]

Oh Great, now another piece of equipment I gotta start looking for!

Happy to be of service!

LOL!

 

[tourmax]

Got my Wolly!



Canpar dropped it off about 10 mins ago and that's fresh out of the box.

Currently letting it come up to temperature and sit for an hour or two to allow any condensation to flash off.

Labeling is in better shape than the auction pics showed. There's one spot on the line that makes the box around the Dolby/tape switches, but easily fixed. Faceplate is in good shape other than a little nick or rub here and there. All things I can easily fix.

New belts are already on the way and I've got a stock order of 458 transistor replacements on the way in case there's any lurking in the bowels of the Wolley.

Wooden case is kinda beat up, but I knew that going in.

Initial look at the heads reveals they are very clean and appear to have little to no wear.

Capstan looks good, at least pretty clean. It does have a shiny spot, but all 8 track players get that look after a couple tapes have been played.

Couple broken switch levers, but knew that going in as well.

Overall, it looks like someone took care of the innards by at least keeping the head and capstan relatively in good shape. I'd say it got minimal use after it left their care and probably the next few owners neglected it and beat up the exterior a bit.

Should be a fun restoration and will be interesting to see how the TOTL Wolley compares to my Superscope TDR-830.

And my "minty" Akai 4000DS shoudl arrive today too.

Quite happy right now!

 

[Bradbrews]

Christmas comes early!

 

[tourmax]

Up to temp and plug the wolly in. Fire it up and you can hear the motor whirring rather loudly. It's noisy enough that I'm thinking it might be toast. I pop a garbage tape in and...nothing. Doesn't run.

Pop he case off and sure enough: the belt has broken. I dig around and find one that's pretty close, a little on the tight side. But it will work well enough for testing purposes

Try a tape again and yep, it runs!

It needs the deoxit in the usual spots and responds well to it.

The preamps are unbalanced now that the VR's have been freshly "deoxited", so a little twiddling brings then back to even output.

Notice the tape counter isn't running. Closer inspection reveals the shaft plastic gear has split. But it's split because the worn gear was trying to drive it against the shaft, which is locked up solid. Disassemble, clean and lubricate and the shaft turns freely again. The dials with the "0" is a little messed up, someone was obviously trying to force it to turn and scratched them up. I can fix that later with a little careful pin-striping level work.

A quick survey of my idle audio gear and a google search reveals I'm not getting a replacement gear anytime soon. So time to get creative.

I mic the plastic gear's shaft and select a precision mini drill the same diameter. The I superglue the crack and force it together with a pair of precision pliers on adjacent teeth. Once cured, I run the drill though the gear hole in a pin vise. The gear now slides on and off it's shaft without trying to split the gear at the glued joint. The worm gear still catches on the joint, but a little careful reworking of the area gets it running nice and smooth again.

But now h gear just spins on it's shaft. Easy fix, a little loctitie blue and the tape counter works a treat again. Nice and smooth.

About this time I start noticing "cross talk" after the program changes. I adjust the head height to eliminate it, but it comes back on the next program change. OK, so the head assembly will need to come apart to be cleaned and re-greased. Easy job.

But just then I notice the motor is getting a lot of WOW and beginning to slow. Oh oh. That's fairly known issue with some of the motors where they go that way when they warm up. These motors are hard to source replacements for too. Figuring I have nothing to loose, I pull the motor and start tearing it down. Bronze en bearings are as dry as a popcorn fart, so i soak them in synth bearing oil. The brushes and commutator look a little dirty, so I clean them up. The governor chamber looks brand new, so i clean the grease on the end cap, give it a fresh daub and put it all back together.

Back in and power it up. Motor is running strong. It REALLY fits against my hand when I try to drag it down, which it didn't do before. So I pop a tape in and....yeah. Now it's running too fast.

It's not "alvin and he chipmunks" fast, but it's still too fast. maybe half a chipmunk fast.

So I must have disturbed something in the motor governor despite how careful I though I was. Good news is the motor isn't toast. Bad news is I'll probably have to go back into the motor to fix it. Have to read the service manual again before I do that though. If there's a speed adjust on the boards, I'd rather do that first.

But that's enough for today. Time to put it aside for tonight and back on to it tomorrow.

 

[tourmax]

Ah ha! The service manual reveals there is a VR for motor speed!

Stolen pic from the internet:



I give it a good soak in Deoxit for good measure and function it many, many times from low to high adjust. Back to where it started, fire up a tape and half a chipmunk again. A little fiddling and it's running just about right.

So now the motor is running strong as and ox and speed is easily adjustable.

This old hack is coming together nicely. It's not even really fighting me that much. I think it wants to live.

I have noticed the capstan will stall out and slip on tapes quite often. Looks like it's a candidate for my "sandblasting" process to restore it's "grip".

On to the capstan and cross talk/head height issues tomorrow.

 

[tourmax]

Well, I'm going to call the motor good to go. Just let three carts run back to back though the machine. No WOW and no speed drops. Motor isn't even warm.

Guess the motor just wanted a little care, cleaning and attention.

This old Wolly wants to live again, I can feel it......

 

[Bradbrews]

Do you just set the speed by ear or do you have a tape you use as a reference?

 

[tourmax]

Do you just set the speed by ear or do you have a tape you use as a reference?

just by ear for now. 8 track test tapes are few and far between...and expensive when you do find them.

You could always record one, but then you're back to the problem of not knowing if your recording deck is on speed either.

 

[ConchBoy66]

I’ve set cassette decks by ear and it works pretty well. Everyone has a song that they know by heart and can tell if it’s right or not. I do now have a test tape, adapter and a computer program to dial them in perfectly.

 

[tourmax]

Work continues on the Wolly. My Akai 4000Db was delivered today and I had some errands
to run, so I only got some polishing and cleaning done and the hols drilled in the switches for the new/replacement posts:



The original switches are actually short threaded plastic posts and the aluminum lever screws on over them. Obviously, the plastic posts are broken off so I can' make new posts to thread over them. So I've drilled into the switch face (luckily, there's a lot of plastic on these older style switches) to make fixing holes.

Tomorrow I'll tun down some aluminum to the same diameter and length as the original switch levers and leave a slightly oversized "post" on the back end of them. I will then epoxy and press the new levers into the holes and cross my fingers that they will be strong enough to hold in use. I'm not quite certain it will work because the switches are quite "solid" in their operation and the lever will put a lot of "leverage" on the connection point.

Fingers crossed.

 

[OBMG74]

Still got mine (sans the box), along with 700+ cartridges that I will have to part with in the immed future.

The different options of operation are a real plus with this "SONY" unit. And, I too am surprized at its ability to reproduce decent sound, considering it's an older player comparted to the advanced tape players that followed this format.

Had an orig GM 8track in a '68 Camaro that at the time played the tunes, with a 8" "Bazooka" sub in the trunk.


Brought back some great audio memories, y'all did!


Q

700 tapes? Yikes!
How did you acquire that many and where?