A lovely beast of a thing. You could tell the weight of the thing by the flex in the handle. Not one to be carrying around with batteries in even back in the 80's 😎
Another great unboxing video, that's a great find those models have a great powerful sound, and it seems like it doesn't need to much work, can't wait for the restoration and other videos. Stay safe
Thanks for commenting. Yep - hopefully it won't need too much work - it sounds fantastic, so a clean and service should be all it needs. Or is that famous last words 😃
These are actually easier to work on than you would think at first glance. You can remove the back cover of course, but it isn't difficult to remove the front cover too which exposes the entire tape transport. A few screws, a couple of cables to disconnect and you can remove the entire tape mechanism to work on it. Thankfully it seems everything else on yours works well so it's certainly worth a full restoration of such a beast of a unit.
Thanks for the heads-up. I haven't worked on one of these before, so I'm keen to get stuck in. But as you say, she's clean and pretty good overall, so hopefully just some TLC and some overdue maintenance and she'll be as good as new!
Beautiful. I have a GF-555, the first of this series, my dad bought it new in Saudi Arabia at the time, I used it for many years but I know the belts have failed and I think it's not an easy job on these. This one is obviously based on it, same tape transport keys, the side panel layout is the same and it has the same connections, they can go loud but do sound really good.
Thanks for watching. The 555 is a beast. Definitely worth servicing (belt degradation etc. is inevitable, so affects all units sooner or later). Does yours still have the tape door and switch trims? Many examples have lost pieces due to the adhesive failing over time.
@@retro_restos Hi, yes it does, the brushed label around the APLD track buttons and the timer lever fell off years ago but it's safe, double sided tape may be the solution. The handle failed at one end at one point, the casting cracked, the metal core dosen't fill the polished ends, so the handle pivoted the few millimeters enough to crack the case around the handle at the opposite end, you have been warned!
@@Richard-ll2pb thanks for the heads up! It might well be safer to nit use the hanle for such a heavy beast. I've had to repair a few handles over the years, but that's mostly from impact damage - breaking either the plastic handle extrusion, or the mounting stubs molded onto the inside of the unit. It's a time-consuming and thankless task, and adds no value as such - so better to try and avoid the damage in the first place, I suppose.
Nice machine! These definitely do have the infamous rubber sleeve that goes over the capstan. If you’re very lucky it might not of turned to black goo yet, but more often than not they have.
Thanks for the heads up. Yippee! 😂I've just done a 6161 that really had turned to tar. ua-cam.com/video/eFyVnzClueU/v-deo.html Thanks for taking the time to comment. Hopefully I'll be getting on with it soon, so please stay tuned!
You need arms like Popeye to pick it up. Sounded amazing on the radio during the brief test. It'll be an awkward beast to service, but I'm looking forward to it!
A lovely beast of a thing. You could tell the weight of the thing by the flex in the handle. Not one to be carrying around with batteries in even back in the 80's 😎
Could you imagine that with a load of 'D' cells in it? You'd need your crew just to get it up on your shoulders 😂
Another great unboxing video, that's a great find those models have a great powerful sound, and it seems like it doesn't need to much work, can't wait for the restoration and other videos. Stay safe
Thanks for commenting. Yep - hopefully it won't need too much work - it sounds fantastic, so a clean and service should be all it needs. Or is that famous last words 😃
These are actually easier to work on than you would think at first glance. You can remove the back cover of course, but it isn't difficult to remove the front cover too which exposes the entire tape transport. A few screws, a couple of cables to disconnect and you can remove the entire tape mechanism to work on it. Thankfully it seems everything else on yours works well so it's certainly worth a full restoration of such a beast of a unit.
Thanks for the heads-up. I haven't worked on one of these before, so I'm keen to get stuck in. But as you say, she's clean and pretty good overall, so hopefully just some TLC and some overdue maintenance and she'll be as good as new!
WOW what a lovely machine !!
Did have my eye on one of these-ended up buying a GF 8080 instead,for about half the price,albeit a little older model !!
The 8080 remains one of my favourites. Solid, nice functions and reliable too! Thanks for watching👍
Beautiful. I have a GF-555, the first of this series, my dad bought it new in Saudi Arabia at the time, I used it for many years but I know the belts have failed and I think it's not an easy job on these. This one is obviously based on it, same tape transport keys, the side panel layout is the same and it has the same connections, they can go loud but do sound really good.
Thanks for watching. The 555 is a beast. Definitely worth servicing (belt degradation etc. is inevitable, so affects all units sooner or later). Does yours still have the tape door and switch trims? Many examples have lost pieces due to the adhesive failing over time.
@@retro_restos Hi, yes it does, the brushed label around the APLD track buttons and the timer lever fell off years ago but it's safe, double sided tape may be the solution.
The handle failed at one end at one point, the casting cracked, the metal core dosen't fill the polished ends, so the handle pivoted the few millimeters enough to crack the case around the handle at the opposite end, you have been warned!
@@Richard-ll2pb thanks for the heads up! It might well be safer to nit use the hanle for such a heavy beast. I've had to repair a few handles over the years, but that's mostly from impact damage - breaking either the plastic handle extrusion, or the mounting stubs molded onto the inside of the unit. It's a time-consuming and thankless task, and adds no value as such - so better to try and avoid the damage in the first place, I suppose.
Nice machine! These definitely do have the infamous rubber sleeve that goes over the capstan. If you’re very lucky it might not of turned to black goo yet, but more often than not they have.
Thanks for the heads up. Yippee! 😂I've just done a 6161 that really had turned to tar. ua-cam.com/video/eFyVnzClueU/v-deo.html
Thanks for taking the time to comment. Hopefully I'll be getting on with it soon, so please stay tuned!
I love these!
You need arms like Popeye to pick it up. Sounded amazing on the radio during the brief test. It'll be an awkward beast to service, but I'm looking forward to it!
Nice unit in great condition .
Hopefully it won't need too much work. Fingers crossed!
Interesting unit, look forward to seeing if its a bugger to work on..
I expect it will be!
Habe einen GF 525. Bei Wiedergabe wickelt nicht auf. Wer kann mir helfen? Rudolf
Did you manage to get this done?
Not yet. This one's a keeper, so my priority has had to go to the ones for sale. It'll be in the Summer I think.
@@retro_restos Okay, thanks.