When re-gluing a plastic post as you have done here, a zip tie around it is handy to clamp it, and may be trimmed and left on unless it interferes with some other protrusion.

It isn't officially Saturday morning until I've watched the latest Techmoan video.

You haven't listened to Bob Dylan until you have heard him on the original 8-track. And you haven't heard that unless it was through a failed Learjet product with dodgy belts.

New Techmoan videos hit like 80's Saturday morning cartoons for us western folk.

I love the style of this "boombox", nobody would expect an 8-track player in it.

When the light went on, I was like _"Wait, it's working now for some reason? Will he notice?"_ and so he did. It's a happy if inexplicable occasion when things you thought were broken just start working again for no good reason.

It's almost like the GE machine actually WANTED to work normal again. The one part you can't get to decides to fix itself. Very nice!

I occasionally tinker with electronics myself and this video gave me that warm feeling again, from when you've really not done anything specific to the light, but it just decides to start working again. Love it!

One of the few good things about waking up at 4AM US time, is finding a fresh Techmoan video to make insomnia worth it! On with the watching! 🤩

I'm going to go against the grain, but I believe the Lear Jet Stereo 8 is the real "diamond in the rough" device here. I'm sure it would require quite the restoring to get it back to it's intended condition, but comparatively speaking, I'm way more impressed with the engineering of the Lear Jet. Full disclosure, I knew Bill Lear, I was his attorney's son, and I had a friend who had this same machine. The intended design of the machine was to leave it in a semi-permanent location, like a dorm-room. Then, you detached the one speaker and took the player as a single-speaker player. There's missing hardware that would secure the two sides together and would separate by pressing that button on the side. I believe this unit was originally sold as early as the late 60s, which makes it considerably older than the GE, which appears to me to be a Sanyo OEM, and probably has a lot of the electronics shared with a cassette version. Don't get me wrong, if I wanted an 8-track 'boombox' to listen to, I would go with the GE. I just appreciate the engineering that went into the Lear Jet. Great video!

I'm a big fan of your videos. May I make a suggestion about measuring belt diameter? Fold the old belt so that it's flat on the table and straight, and measure the inside length in that position. Divide that reading by 1.57 and you have the actual diameter of the old belt. Then order one a tad smaller and you're good to go. This from an audio repair tech who's been fixing stereos since 1977.

Love the rare and obscure equipment demonstrated here, it's always an entertaining education watching this channel

Really like the look of the GE boombox, nice industrial design aesthetic.

I think I realised my favourite musical genre is any music played at the wrong speed... it is glorious

Techmoan’s reputation is so great that No. 1 light bulb knew it was going to work one way or another, so it just fixed itself.

In another time, Techmoan would have been the perfect presenter on Tomorrow's World, or The Open University!!

You can always give ancient plastic parts like this one a soak with glycerin first and a silicone oil rubdown second. This works well against the plastic drying up and becoming brittle with fine cracks eventually.

That Lear-Jet model reminds me of my younger years at the beach as my neighbor had one. It spent many nights outside but each years it was there to entertain us. The simple 8-track mechanism was not affected by the sand they way cassette system were. Thanks!

That light coming on on the #1 channel in the end means that it's happy that you restored it and that you're a #1. P.S. what a great looking boombox that is.

I love that metallic blue color around the knobs on that first device. Gorgeous color blue, would look awesome on the right type of vintage sports car.

Who knew that the 8-track 'program select' button would serve as a 'copyright strike avoidance' button decades later? Also, I love the blue anodized panel on the Learjet unit, that colour really 'pops'.

Thanks to people like you we can still collectively actively remember these devices and continue to have them in our discourse, re-learning them and re-considering their values. This witness/memory duty is a really important part of our existence, I would dare think.

Random sentimental thought, but when I heard "The Times They Are a-Changin'", I thought about my friend Brian. He unfortunately passed away of a fentanyl overdose 4 years ago and they played that as everyone walked up to his casket at the funeral. Thank you so much for the countless hours of entertainment!

It's always amazing to see how much more pleasing mechanical electrical devices were, compared to todays devices. Guess I'm getting old and nostalgic.. :)

My face lit up when the GE roared to life at 20:07 and sounded so loud and clear! I gasped out loud when I saw the light for Channel 1 flicker on for a split second at 23:54, did it start working again?! Brilliant! Thanks for the great video, it's so nice to see these machines getting restored and coming back to life!

Another outstanding show. Thank you. Not sure how you can tell if something's not playing right by using Bob Dylan though! Poor Bob 😂

6:08 you just switch the radio on and it's playing "Gimme Shelter". I love it

When I saw the 1st program light coming up I really felt that it was a way of the device to say Thank You for bringing me back to life and for your kind words! Great video as always mate keep up, cheers from Greece

As an old school B-Boy, I would have happily carried that RCA 3-5531A Boombox, as me and my crew carried our rolled up canvas/cardboard, down to the shopping centre, to bust some moves. 😃 Love a Saturday morning with a cuppa and A Techmoan video upload, so relaxing. B-Boys will always be boys!! Respect, peace and love!

The reason the tape came out of the cart is that you were playing it upside down. This wasn't a problem with very early made carts because it had a mechanism inside that kept the tape spooled on the reel. Modern carts just mostly re-spool using a guide in the plastic of the tape housing and gravity to spool. If a tape is played upside down, it will unevenly spool and may even jam once it reaches the middle, causing a stuck tape.

Hail from Chicago. I've had the honor of repairing an early Lear Jet automobile 8 track player. Lear himself invented the eight track player. On an early model, It did not have a belt. The flywheel was mounted directly to the capstan that drove the tape and it was also the armature of the motor,it was direct drive.. It was a wonderful piece of engineering. Very heavy and industrial looking. I don't believe the unit was repairable, but to see it in use was a marvel in itself.made in the U.S.A.

Love the light coming back on for no particular reason, always nice for the gremlins to throw you a bone!

At 21:05 you can see that there is also a black screw that attaches the black plastic you tried to remove to the front. The knob seems to go to the cog visible in the yellow-ish metal below that black plastic, it may not hinder you removing the black plastic once you loosened all three screws. Edit: Well, as the light is magically working now, there is ofc no need to remove it anymore.

Competent yet down to earth as always, Mat. Very enjoyable. Loved the cynical pop at the 'ooh, you can't mix batteries' brigade! Extra points for the epoxy; I'm so tired of youtubers trying to repair structural elements with CA glue.

Tip about the knob that wouldn’t come off…sometimes there’s a setscrew in it in the end of the raised section, usually opposite the side with the indicator arrow.

A boombox with an 8 track player that's so frigging cool. Your channel has reignited my passion for "old school" audio equipment (particularly boomboxes). Have so many fond memories of using them

Best I've ever heard Bob Dylan! Great stuff takes you right back

A fiberglass pen cleans up battery contacts well, also, winding string around the back of a knob will lift it off without damaging the plastic surface.

General Electric radios from this era had some of the best AM tuners to be found in portables. The track 1 indicator light was likely out due to oxidation of the mechanical track position switch linked to the tape head positioning mechanism. Operating it a few times scratched through the oxidation.

Bob Dylan too ... My parents had that same album on 8 Track! These old devices you demo are just plain awesome. And the fact you get most of them back up and running is even more awesome!

I like to think Mat goes to lots of local dance battles and that’s why he is always after the next best boombox!

Ooh, got a Varta battery in there. Best get that sorted! These repair videos are always great, I always really appreciate how you keep things in chronological order rather than just saying it needs a new belt, here’s one I ordered earlier. Regardless of if the thing under repair works at the end it’s a joy to see inside these machines with you!

I was so happy when bulb 1 started working just because you talked about it and wiggled the bit near it.

Yes, that olive drab, military hardware look was very popular in the late 70s. Every piece of portable audio equipment had that styling. I remember it well. Oddly, it's hard to come by now. I've looked for it in the usual places like ebay but I rarely see examples of it

Well, that's my Saturday night sorted 😁 A new Techmoan video is one of the highlights of the weekend these days.

When these portable 8-Track players were new they were noted as battery-eaters because of the excess friction of tape feeding from the center. That also made tape breakage more likely. When cassettes came along everyone was more than happy to abandon the 8-Track, and portable players would play 3- 4 times the music off the same set of batteries.

Your videos have the best outro soundtrack on KZfaq and with that Six Million Dollar Man computing sound at the end, it’s just brilliant. Never change it.

I actually got hyped when that #1 light went up! Wow, my Saturday is on fire 😂

Another brilliant video, Mat. Makes me wish my parents hadn’t thrown out the eight tracks and the player they had in the late 70s, early 80s. I was too young to object even if I had seen them being chucked, though. I was far more upset to discover that my football cards had been deemed surplus to requirements.

I wasn’t aware 8 track was a thing in a compact boombox design especially so late in the 70’s.Thanks for the video.👍

I normally like my videos around 10-15 minutes long, but with your videos, I really like them around 30 minutes.

I love the look of that Lear Jet 8-track.

The loose belt on the LearJet 8-track transforms Bob Dylan into Kris Kristofferson!

Hello Mat. Thanks, as always, for a very entertaining video. Must say I'm glad to see you looking so well - you're obviously looking after yourself properly...which I'm happy about. We, your audience, value your work hugely and would like to see many many more interesting videos in the future! Take care.

what a delightful video, so happy that old belt worked and that light turned on! pure joy

@techmoan Hey Mat! I find it funny you give the twits any time by bringing up the fact that you put the right speaker on the left side accidentally. You should just let them stew in their own juices. Those of us like me thoroughly enjoy your videos BECAUSE of who you are! Please keep them coming! This takes me back to when I’d ride around with my dad in those old trucks he used to drive, delivering paint and whatnot. Please take care and have a great rest of your weekend!

The Lear Jet logo is soooo cool. That player is wonderful.

That is similar to how my Dad's reel to reel tape recorder from the 60s had speakers attached. They did latch on better, buy you had to hide the wires inside every time you put it back together. It did sound pretty good though.

GE carried quality electronic products in those days. I found a GE 1985 19" TV at a antique store that I just plugged in and worked with just a few adjustments to the pots inside to bring back the picture brightness. Was made in Indiana but was close to the last few TV models made in the US. I have not found any GE products from the 80's with leaking caps yet, knock on wood.

Brings back memories. As a kid I used to look at the Allied Radio and Lafayette Radio catalogs and dream about getting a 8-track portable. My dad vetoed it and since he held the pursestrings I never got one. Good things come to those who wait as several years later I had a component stereo system and my folks got me a Wollensak 8-track recorder for Christmas. I think I was about 13 or 14. My first car at sixteen was the perfect opportunity to experience my own tapes on the go. The thing that bugged me most was the track change which would either require expert planning in my recordings or, as I came to prefer due to ease, just let it segue right into the next track with that little glitch in continuous sound. By the time I graduated high school I had to have a cassette though and I got a Pioneer Supertuner one which was pretty good. I actually still love cassettes for probably nostalgic reasons and the fact they were mini reel-to-reels which before all the portable stuff I had a Wollensak 4-track 1/4" recording deck in my component system. There's just something about making your own tapes. Anyone in the US remember Burstein & Applebee Electronic Company? They specialized in parts and close-outs so I got that reel to reel when I was about 12 from them. Those electronic catalogs were my personal Sear's Wish Books! I definitely enjoyed this trip down 8-track memory lane.

Those GE boomboxes really were the last great 8 track players in my opinion. They were built like absolute tanks and you still see a ton on eBay from what I remember.

It was very common for 8-tracks to sound like that even when there was nothing wrong with them but we used to do is wedge a matchbook with the 8-track cartridge until it sounded correct usually done the trick

When the first light started working , I was more excited than anyone should have gotten. lol

With all sincerity, please bring back the puppets. I know I can't be alone in missing them. Thanks for another wonderful video!

this is great. it's good to see you back to exploring old audio/video devices. it's really my favorite kind of video you do!

That RCA player sounds quite nice, and actually seems a pretty nice device if you still have a use for an 8-track player.

I love how You tune in to the radio broadcasting "gimme shelter", suits in perfectly

The "Lear Jet" design/concept reminds me of the Hitachi TRQ 233s portable cassette player I had as a teenager in the late 1970s. It was from the early 1970s and had detachable flip out speaker "doors". That really looked like a "proto boombox"!

Brilliant video as usual, I never got into 8 track (although we had a stereo at home with a player/recorder) and I think one of the cars we had did have a player in the early seventies but not as standard. Considering 8 track was designed to go into Leer Jets originally, its amazing how popular they became. I might have to look at getting either a car one or finding a recorder to add to the home system I have just to be completist... That will please the wife no end.....

Another wonderful episode. Very appreciated on a lazy Saturday morning. Thank you, Mat!

I LOVE the the blue color of the knob panel.

When you’re sure that a knob has to be removed and your fingernails or screwdriver aren’t up to it, try a pulling on the loose ends of a shoelace fully wrapped around the shaft. The pulling force mostly acts in the direction of OFF. A flat sports lace for very difficult removals has worked for me (thanks to the tape-heads forum who helped me when the big flat knobs on my Revox reel2reel tape recorder wouldn’t budge. Thanks Matt!

I love your repair videos Matt, very entertaining

The advantage of wobbly audio is that it will defeat KZfaq Content ID.

When looking through electronics sections of catalogs from stores like Radio Shack, Penneys, Sears, Wards and countless others (Im sure the UK had their equivalents) Im amazed at the variety of models!!! Always wondered where these designs came from as they varied from store to store. There were name brands like Sony, GE, RCA, etc, store brands, and then just generic names.

We used to make a concoction of cleaning agent for plastics when we had a computer shop back then. It's just a combination of Wipe Out and Denatured Alcohol. It cleans the discoloration of plastics like that. We use it on CRT monitors. My older brother taught me about that because thats what they use in the company where he works. They service big companies (they are one of the official service center of IBM) that uses POS, computers, typewriters etc. that has plastic housing on the machines

The portable tape player technology definitely improved very quickly between the early and mid 70’s. I don’t think that market was taken seriously at first, but once the tech improved they really caught on and manufacturers couldn’t wait to outdo each other and make better players.

Maybe not as convenient but I loved the separating speaker concept!

It’s funny how the songs playing on the various radio stations were time appropriate.

We had one that speakers that snap together like the one you have but smaller with six inch speakers which sounded quite good because they were insulated well and you could set them 8 feet apart This one had a feature I've never seen anywhere else, it was able to record on to 8 track tapes. We were able to get a blank 8 track tape from Radio Shack, and that was also the brand name that was on the 8-track player. Radio Shack was the go to store for electronics in the 70s and 80s. Great Video.

A much more successful "two speaker detachable" 8-track portable stereo design is one I used to have back in the day - the Channel Master 6201. On this one, the speakers had a metal hinge, could detach from each other, and, for carrying, folded up into a kind of little suitcase. GE made a very similar model - the M8614A

The Learjet reminded me that there were a few pesonal stereos ("walkmen") that would come with a pair of speakers to use it as either a mini stereo set, or would attach to the tape player to become a mini boombox. I wonder if you ever stumbled upon those.

Nothing like Techmoan cleaning & polishing his knobs on a Sunday afternoon 😉😁😂 Great job that man 🍻🍻

Hi. In America, we had one just like that Branded for a chain over hear. Western Auto. 8D cells. Thank you. Was about 72. My mom's. She died in 75. Didn't get to use it long. Thank you for the memory. 8 tracks. Cool sir😁😜♥️

The Learjet unit reminds me of one I used in grade school as a child. And I suspect that’s the most common market where a teacher would set it up for the classroom and not move it much throughout the day/week/semester depending on the class. It wasn’t really portable as much as presentational. I could see that similar to a slide presentation stereo.

Great video . I hope I don't sound foolish but i honestly never knew portable 8 track cartridge players existed .

That second one really looks like the direct ancestor of a boombox. Love your channel!

The beauty of the 8-track system is you only ever had to listen to a maximum of 4 Bob Dylan tracks

You most definitely will need your own knob cleaning brush😂😂

As always, very interesting videos.

It was a lot of fun to watch ya fix those old buggers! I liked the tape you were playing! I like Bob Dylan!

Your restraint was rewarded on your "1" light. I think that was my favourite thing in the whole video, tbh.

Great video, as always! Sorry to hear yr voice is giving you trouble. I like the grading you used on this video, the warmer tone and bit of extra contrast looks great.

I'd say the track 1 lamp not working initially is down to a dirty switch contact on the selector cam.

There is just something so satisfying about hearing Bob Dylan on a super lofi 8 Track.

the condition of the plastics or that all these buttons and lights still work astonish me!

@Techmoan In case it breaks again you might have missed a screw on the lamp cover. Looks like there's a horizontal one on the piece of plastic covering the bulbs: it's visible at 21:08.

Matt, one thing I'd really suggest for prying is picking up some of those plastic pry tools. There are ones made from glass fiber reinforced nylon, and they work great for popping things apart without marring plastic! I want to say Menda made the ones I have, but there are others. Also, for some reason the design of that General Electric model seems very familiar to me. I know they did some other ones in similar designs, but I can't for the life of me remember where I saw them.

I can just see your wife's reaction when you say "Sorry, I cleaned my knob with your nail brush"😆

11:30 The best I've heard Dylan in quite a while 😂😂