I have one and had to overhaul the insides so when you stopped it, the reels would stop and not continue to unspool wildly- very cool piece of equipment there!
You've got a later model wire recorder with the revised head design! I'm still doing research on it myself to see all the improvements that were made, but notably this later design has a tensioning bar that should lift the wire off of the record head during rewind to prevent playback or erase in rewind mode. Webster-Chicago (later Webcor) seem to have made a number of small improvements over time to the design to improve recording quality and user experience. Like the single button over the lever that made it a little easier to operate. Or the revised head design that covers more of the wire surface with sound information. This model also has an "emergency stop" feature that is supposed to detect a broken wire and stop the reels very quickly, though I have seen a few posts from people who say theirs doesn't work anymore.
Love this. I have one just like it (my mic needs repaired with a new crystal element) and I have one that is a combo unit that can record and play wire, play 78 RPM records AND can broadcast what it's playing via FM to radios. So... if you have a party in the park everyone can tune in their car radios and you can rock the sound all over the park. lol
The hour long spools are especially prone to snapping during rewind! I lost a couple spools of a 1951 lecture because of that. And be sure if you have a Webster-Chicago machine get the spools that have the string type leader and not the plastic leader more meant for Silvertone type recorders.
@@MadeOnTape unfortunately I don’t own one, I was just referring to technology that the USA “acquired” after WW2. Great video though, such a neat piece of recording history!! 👍🏻👍🏻
good eye! I have two because my first one was broken. I ordered a second and that was also broken, so i sent them both into get fixed. These are both old crystal element mics, which have crazy high impedance. The input socket is proprietary to the machines as well, although i’m sure a person smarter than i could wire it up… i think you would run into a problem tho. the machine is anticipating that crystal element impedance. i suppose if you know how to change impedance on the way in it could work 🤔 thanks for watching!
@@MadeOnTapeI realize this is a year old comment so you may have learned more since then, but note that the microphone input has three pins. One is common, the second is for the crystal microphone, and the last is for a line level input!
Super fascinating! I had only seen Techmoans video recently so this is a great little follow up. I'm guessing there's no way to get a direct in/out to that beast?
@@MadeOnTape Suspected as much! The built in speaker still adds to the amazing sound of this thing - sounds extremely Bioshock-esque, if you ever played that game.
oohhhh i didn’t play that game. the big thing we take for granted these days is the lack of 60 Hz hum in our equipment. The wire recorder has a LOUD 60 hz hum that has to be notched out 😆
@@MadeOnTape Is it possible to use a better mic with it? Those carbon mics weren't exactly high fidelity (they were cheap to produce, which is why they were used in old telephones).
it’s not just about the fidelity, but those Ceramic or crystal element mics also produce a HIGH voltage compared to other mics. i don’t think the mic is the main issue with fidelity either, but maybe down the road i’ll get help wiring an XLR to Webster adapter and see what happens
i could be totally wrong, but the invention of wire recording is credited to Valdemar Poulsen in 1898. I don’t much care for splitting hairs on this stuff and i’m happy to be proven otherwise psap.library.illinois.edu/collection-id-guide/wire
That first spool is sample gold man!!! Love finding archival “lost cupboard tapes”!! Love how much grain and grit these machines have!! Cheers!
I have more spools I need to archive! More wire recorder fun this year 😈
I have one and had to overhaul the insides so when you stopped it, the reels would stop and not continue to unspool wildly- very cool piece of equipment there!
wooo i’ve seen the schematic. how long did that take you to fix? it’s a beast!
You've got a later model wire recorder with the revised head design! I'm still doing research on it myself to see all the improvements that were made, but notably this later design has a tensioning bar that should lift the wire off of the record head during rewind to prevent playback or erase in rewind mode.
Webster-Chicago (later Webcor) seem to have made a number of small improvements over time to the design to improve recording quality and user experience. Like the single button over the lever that made it a little easier to operate. Or the revised head design that covers more of the wire surface with sound information. This model also has an "emergency stop" feature that is supposed to detect a broken wire and stop the reels very quickly, though I have seen a few posts from people who say theirs doesn't work anymore.
wow thanks for sharing! very cool. have you learned anything new in your research?
Love this. I have one just like it (my mic needs repaired with a new crystal element) and I have one that is a combo unit that can record and play wire, play 78 RPM records AND can broadcast what it's playing via FM to radios. So... if you have a party in the park everyone can tune in their car radios and you can rock the sound all over the park. lol
The hour long spools are especially prone to snapping during rewind! I lost a couple spools of a 1951 lecture because of that. And be sure if you have a Webster-Chicago machine get the spools that have the string type leader and not the plastic leader more meant for Silvertone type recorders.
good to know! I have a silvertone spool that I haven't tried yet...i'll be sure to have my archiving rig set up when I do!
Ah yes, yet another piece of technology we were able to snatch up during project paperclip. 👍🏻😉
how are you liking yours? Such a little beast of a machine...
@@MadeOnTape unfortunately I don’t own one, I was just referring to technology that the USA “acquired” after WW2. Great video though, such a neat piece of recording history!! 👍🏻👍🏻
bahahaha i was like “where have i heard the term ‘project paper clip’ before?”
out of context i wasn’t getting it 😂
@@MadeOnTape 👍🏻😁👍🏻
Almost bought a wire recorder in the late 90's.
they’re not expensive cuz no one wants them 😂
Next one i see it is mine for sure!
Impressive recorders.
I am curious about the input. You seem to have a different mic in the lovely Beatle ditty you played. If one came with out a mic, can you hack one in?
good eye! I have two because my first one was broken. I ordered a second and that was also broken, so i sent them both into get fixed.
These are both old crystal element mics, which have crazy high impedance. The input socket is proprietary to the machines as well, although i’m sure a person smarter than i could wire it up…
i think you would run into a problem tho. the machine is anticipating that crystal element impedance. i suppose if you know how to change impedance on the way in it could work 🤔
thanks for watching!
@@MadeOnTapeI realize this is a year old comment so you may have learned more since then, but note that the microphone input has three pins. One is common, the second is for the crystal microphone, and the last is for a line level input!
Very good rendition of a day in the life!
thank you! 🙏
Super fascinating! I had only seen Techmoans video recently so this is a great little follow up. I'm guessing there's no way to get a direct in/out to that beast?
not that i can tell!
thank god for Izotope RX software. it’s a magical clean up machine (plugin)
@@MadeOnTape Suspected as much! The built in speaker still adds to the amazing sound of this thing - sounds extremely Bioshock-esque, if you ever played that game.
oohhhh i didn’t play that game. the big thing we take for granted these days is the lack of 60 Hz hum in our equipment. The wire recorder has a LOUD 60 hz hum that has to be notched out 😆
@@MadeOnTape Judging by those frequency response graphs then you're not losing too much! 😎
Pretty good sound.
it's definitely narrow band EQ! Just so crazy the thing still functions. They used to build stuff to last!
Who would be best to contact about getting parts and pieces to fix one of these
ooooh i'm sorry for slow reply but I don't know.
I think there's someone in Chicago who does it?
Too cool! Loved the end song choice 😉 🪲 🕳
thanks for watching! gotta love me some Beatles
So it's slower than a pro reel to reel? (24 IPS in comparison with 30 IPS)
correct. and you still get a telephonic sound, so add that to the pile of reasons why this format was doomed.
@@MadeOnTape Tape going past the heads at 7.5 IPS looks pretty fast. I can only imagine what it looks like at nearly 3 feet per second!
for real! I may be able to make some content with an Ampex machine down the road, but that’s just a seed in the works 😉
@@MadeOnTape Is it possible to use a better mic with it? Those carbon mics weren't exactly high fidelity (they were cheap to produce, which is why they were used in old telephones).
it’s not just about the fidelity, but those Ceramic or crystal element mics also produce a HIGH voltage compared to other mics.
i don’t think the mic is the main issue with fidelity either, but maybe down the road i’ll get help wiring an XLR to Webster adapter and see what happens
How much should be a working one worth?
that’s a good question: i can say i got mine for about $200usd. definitely not as sought after as old tape machines
You are wrong about the date my friends it was at1915 was made
i could be totally wrong, but the invention of wire recording is credited to Valdemar Poulsen in 1898. I don’t much care for splitting hairs on this stuff and i’m happy to be proven otherwise
psap.library.illinois.edu/collection-id-guide/wire
25 pounds is ?????? KG ? damn you talk to much
old video i’m sorry 😭
should i make an update? you might like this vid with no talking
ua-cam.com/video/Q6AZcKV5nJ8/v-deo.htmlsi=wx9y3JwV1PqsIor3
also the conversion is 2.2 pounds per KG
@@MadeOnTape no man it's 11.33 kg another word + / - 12 kg. heavy shit for a small thing
@@DjBrancoOfficial they made shit heavy in 1951