When equipment was built to last

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Sure it wasn’t motorbikes, beer & beaver that distracted ya?
My Sophomore Algebra teacher had a pint of vodka in his desk, and wasn’t afraid to use it. Hard to take it all seriously.

No, I was a good student...slept peacefully through all the ones I didn't like and caused no trouble.
 
Temporary & disposable ball screws anyone?
When equipment was built to last
When equipment was built to last
 
You could get free phone calls at a phone booth using a paper clip! Straighten the clip, insert in into the base of the phone receiver where the cord is attached - slide the paper clip alongside the cord into the phone. When it bottomed, touch the other end to any unpainted metal part of the phone box - the lock on the money box was the best place - and VOILA! a dial tone and dial/talk all you wanted!

It was easier than that when I was in high school. With the pay phone on the town square you just picked up the handpiece and clicked out the number on the hanger. No money needed.

When I was younger you just picked up the handpiece on the side of the wooden box and gave the crank a good long spin. Then you told the lady who answered the phone who you wanted to talk to. She would make the connection. Our party line number was two longs and four shorts....
 
When my Grandfather came back from Flanders in 1919, he set himself up as a farrier, rented a forge from his uncle & took himself off to the local big town to buy some tools. When he produced cash to pay they said, "there's a discount for cash" to which he replied, "I'd rather have something extra instead". That extra was a cats head hammer, which still comes out of my toolbox occasionally for anything serious. I don't know if the handle is original but Is certainly the same one from 1980, when I broke a piece from the side of it fighting with a rear tyre fitment on my Laverda, and it wasn't anywhere new then.
 
Our party line number was two longs and four shorts....:D:D


Some may not know what you're talking about..:D:D

It was a different world....
 
My Tannoy Monitor gold speakers in daily use since 1970 .. Still sound superb .
Have you rotated the drivers at all?

Since I am a Yank, I like the West Coast sound and have a set of Altec 604s (like were in Abbey Road and many other studios in the day) and every couple years I rotate the drivers so that gravity takes its toll in different directions and you dont end up with the big rubber surrounds falling in one direction and changing the gap in the voice coils.
 
Our party line number was two longs and four shorts....:D:D


Some may not know what you're talking about..:D:D

It was a different world....
Long and a short here. 10 party line. ‘Telephone News’ traveled fast.

I also climbed poles for a telephone company in Minnesota. 10 pin arms. 10 below, ice covered poles.
 
A different world????

A few years ago I brought home an older Company truck,
I was driving my daughter and she says, it's hot. I say roll the window down.
She says, 'Where's the button?' as she is staring at the crank...........
 
Long and a short here. 10 party line. ‘Telephone News’ traveled fast.

I also climbed poles for a telephone company in Minnesota. 10 pin arms. 10 below, ice covered poles.
Nice. I remember colder than that in MN in the early 70s. Ice fishing.

In high school, one of my mates had a butt set. That was useful. :)
 
Yeah, -44 sticks in my mind. Minnetonka.

I remember some opening days outside Bemidji that felt almost as cold in a 14ft skiff in driving sleet.
 
Yeah, -44 sticks in my mind. Minnetonka.

I remember some opening days outside Bemidji that felt almost as cold in a 14ft skiff in driving sleet.


‘Opening day’ will have to be explained to some.
 
Have you rotated the drivers at all?

Since I am a Yank, I like the West Coast sound and have a set of Altec 604s (like were in Abbey Road and many other studios in the day) and every couple years I rotate the drivers so that gravity takes its toll in different directions and you dont end up with the big rubber surrounds falling in one direction and changing the gap in the voice coils.

No I built cabinets for them when purchased in 1970 and since then left undisturbed. They were very expensive at just over £32 per bare chassis speaker . A possible problem is failure of condensers in the crossover units.But so far so good. A good idea to rotate the drivers , had never occurred to me and thanks for the suggestion.
What I have found difficult is to find modern amplifiers that are underdamped The Tannoys are very highly damped. Am very reluctant to purchase a vintage Rodgers or an old valve amp because of the likelihood of component failure
 
Thank you Jim for an interesting thread.. A further recollection of mine is Cat dozers. Talking to a retired service engineer he said that never ever when he was called out on site did he have a bolt /thread failure. With stuff of European origin this used to happen all the time and made his job difficult . I think he retired in the late 70s early 80s so maybe the change over date if there is one might be later than one supposes..
Remember listening to an Alistair Cooke Letter from America in which he bemoaned the passing of a proud old American company name US Steel for USX. One primarily made steel but USX was primarily about markets and stocks.
 
No I built cabinets for them when purchased in 1970 and since then left undisturbed. They were very expensive at just over £32 per bare chassis speaker . A possible problem is failure of condensers in the crossover units.But so far so good. A good idea to rotate the drivers , had never occurred to me and thanks for the suggestion.
What I have found difficult is to find modern amplifiers that are underdamped The Tannoys are very highly damped. Am very reluctant to purchase a vintage Rodgers or an old valve amp because of the likelihood of component failure

Yeah,I run a custom xo which is much better than the Altec designed xo's, which were never that good.

Damping is an issue. Even though my Altec's are 8 ohms, I run a modern valve amp off the 16 ohm taps, as it sounds better. Try an amp with a 16 ohm tap.

Oh, and £32! Have you seen what Tannoy Gold 15s go for these days? If not you are in for a shocker.

Sorry for the multiple digressions on this thread...
 
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