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Author Topic:  Wollensak
Jon Light (deceased)


From:
Saugerties, NY
Post  Posted 30 Jul 2009 11:46 am    
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How many of you once had a Wollensak in your home?

I remember it was the first tape machine we ever had when I was a kid, early '60s. For some reason I have this notion that a lot of other folks had this one too, for their first excursion into the wonders of sound recording.


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Tony Prior


From:
Charlotte NC
Post  Posted 30 Jul 2009 1:07 pm    
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Wow, nothing like looking back in time ! We didn't have a Wollensak, we had a Pentron, well it was actually my older brothers but I somehow managed to gain ownership. I think this is the one as it looks like the one we had. I remember when I started playing guitar i would play and record a few chords (actually just bang away ) play it back and play another guitar part to the recorded part. My family thought I was like the most incredible innovator in the world, they couldn't believe I figured that out by myself at about 12. Then after all the hooplah we ate dinner and then I had to go to bed. Then right after that I learned how to play Steel, sort of...

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Rick Campbell


From:
Sneedville, TN, USA
Post  Posted 30 Jul 2009 9:00 pm    
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This reminds me of something. I went on the road with a band once and one of the band members came on the bus with a suitcase made out of an old portable phonograph he had taken the guts out of. It still had the screen wire vent in the side to keep the tubes cool.
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Andy Sandoval


From:
Bakersfield, California, USA
Post  Posted 30 Jul 2009 10:17 pm    
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Yeah I got mine sliding down the banister. Oh, I thought you said "Swollensak" Laughing Sorry, couldn't resist.
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Chip Fossa

 

From:
Monson, MA, USA (deceased)
Post  Posted 3 Aug 2009 1:40 pm    
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I had one. It was as reliable as heXX; and sounded pretty good (for the time(s).

And was sure EASY to operate.
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Ken Lang


From:
Simi Valley, Ca
Post  Posted 4 Aug 2009 5:59 pm    
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I had one in the late 50's as a kid. It was called Webcor. Wow, that would be 60 years old. I've got a modern Sony now. It's only 50 years old. Still works.
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Tommy Shown

 

From:
Denham Springs, La.
Post  Posted 7 Aug 2009 11:10 am    
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I have one that my parents had when I was a child. It was 60's model. And boy was it a good one. I don't know if it still works. My mother told that the heads on it went bad. I would love to find someone locally that could repair it and be able to find reel tapes and take up reels.
Tommy Shown
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Ray McCarthy

 

From:
New Hampshire, USA
Post  Posted 25 Aug 2009 3:09 am    
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They had one of those Wollensaks in my high school in the early 60s, and I fell in love with it--something about the design, the simplicity of it, or something. I asked for one for Christmas, but I got a Telectro instead. I still think the Wol is a great-looking machine.
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Bill Bassett

 

From:
Papamoa New Zealand
Post  Posted 24 Oct 2009 4:14 am     Mine Did Double Duty
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I have very fond memories of the WEBCOR recorder we had when I was a kid. Did you know you could plug an electric guitar into the mic input and get the coolest overdriven sound. That little amp had to put out almost 3 watts. I used it till I used it up in about 1970. (Don't know what became of it.)

BD
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Charlie Tryon


From:
Glovertown Newfoundland, Canada
Post  Posted 26 Oct 2009 4:40 am    
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Stil have one and it works just as well now as it did back in the day.

Charlie
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Paul Foster

 

From:
Arizona, USA
Post  Posted 18 Nov 2009 7:35 pm     tape recorders
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HI Gang
I have one just like the picture its a Wolensack, it has at least a million miles on it and it still works like a champ.If any of you have ever heard Waylons "THE RESTLESS KID" cd, I recorded that on the Wolensack and sold the tracks to the bear family, sound is pretty good for the 60,s I was waylons bass player for many years and I did a lot of bandstand recording, still have all the tapes!!

Paul Foster
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Bill Hatcher

 

From:
Atlanta Ga. USA
Post  Posted 23 Nov 2009 12:34 pm    
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Great unit!!

If I see one at a yard sale I will buy it just to get the tubes out of it if it is in poor mechanical condition. One version has 7591 tubes.
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Jim Mathis


From:
Overland Park, Kansas, USA
Post  Posted 24 Nov 2009 2:35 pm    
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That Wollensack is a classic. I wonder how many were made. My first purchase with my first money from my first job was a Webcor, which I still have.
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T. C. Furlong


From:
Lake County, Illinois, USA
Post  Posted 25 Nov 2009 3:01 pm    
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A Wollensack reel to reel was my second guitar amp. My first was a Philco radio that I modified with a 1/4" input jack. It sounded mediocre. The Wollensack wasn't real loud but man I could get Leslie West tone with my Les Paul Jr.
TC
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Gordon Borland


From:
San Antonio, Texas, USA
Post  Posted 21 Dec 2009 9:45 am     The best
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I bought mine from Montgomery Ward in the late 1960's.
It had sound on sound so you could bounce tracks.
I wore it out.
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Papa Joe Pollick


From:
Swanton, Ohio
Post  Posted 21 Dec 2009 11:34 am    
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I had one but it wasn't my only one at the time.Also had a "Voice of Music" that I liked better..
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Don Blood


From:
Illinois, USA
Post  Posted 22 Dec 2009 12:41 pm    
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I had one, my brother still has it. It wasn't like the one in the picture, it had a walnut cabinet, with separate walnut speaker cabinets. It had 1-7/8, 3-3/4,
& 7-1/2 IPS tape speed. Plus it was a four track, and was easy to ping-pong from one channel to the other.

It was made by 3M, and I ended up working for them for a while in the 80's
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Jason Hull

 

Post  Posted 1 Feb 2010 3:03 am    
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Alien

Last edited by Jason Hull on 4 May 2012 2:14 am; edited 1 time in total
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Bob Farlow

 

From:
Marietta,GA,
Post  Posted 6 Feb 2010 3:23 am    
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I remember the Wollensak very well. I used to do their warranty service back in the '60s in Atlanta. As I recall, they were fairly easy to work on. Most all the problems were mechanical in nature.
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