|
B to D |
"Phantom Productions" is the registered trademark of Phantom Productions, Inc. Copyright 2015
All pictures and content on this web site are the property of Theophilus/Reel2ReelTexas
This is a list of our vintage open reel, analog reel to reel tape recording collection for items beginning with "B." As time permits we'll be building links to more pictures, a bit of history about our items, catalog listings and some recent pricing information. PLEASE NOTE: None of the Reel2ReelTexas.com's Vintage Museum pieces are for sale. This listing is provided to reflect our collection.
NEW! Page dedicated to our microphone collection
Clicking on most pictures will provide a larger the item. A reminder that the prices listed are what the item originally sold for in the year it was released.
Bang & Olufsen Dynaco Beocord 2000 $498 (112 British gns) in 1965
Bell RecordOFone RT-65
(49, 50, 51, 52, 53)
1949 Lafayette catalog listing
1951 catalog listing Photofact #1 #2
Allied 1952 catalog listing and
Bell RT 360 '64 - 65 $449.50 manual
This unit was donated to our collection by Chuck Heger
1964 Lafayette catalog $339.50
1964 tape recorder profile $369.95
1965 tape recorder profile $449.50
1964 Allied Radio catalog $349.95 + $49 for ext motors
Bell & Howell 2297 '68 - '70 $264.95
'68 Directory '68 ad 68 ad #2 69 ad
view brief RealPlayer video clip
Bell & Howell Bass Boom Box 1970 $79.95
Bell & Howell Cassette recorder in round container
1950 (followed shortly after the release of thefirst Berlant Concertone Model 401)
1950 Berlant Concertone 401 and 1401 ads
1951 Berlant Concertone 1401 ads
Les Paul and Mary Ford with Ampex 400's he received from Bing Crosby and a Berlant Concertone 1401.
Berlant Concertone some history
20/20 - 1954 - $545.00 Instruction & service manual cover specifications
On cover of 1957 Tape Recording
Berlant Concertone 20/20
Series 30 1954 - $545
Instruction & service manual cover specifications
Bogen MXM mixer - $144.96 1966 ad
Bogen MXM in Phantom studio 1965
John Lennon with Brunell Mark 5s
given to him by Paul McCartney
"The model BK-503 Mail-A-Voice from "The Brush Development Company", represents an entirely different approach to the problem of storing information on a magnetic medium. The recording material in this case is in the form of a 9-inch disc, and the sound track is a spiral running from an inner diameter of 5 inches to the outer edge. The recording track has a width of 0.014 inch, and the pitch of the spiral is 0.025 inch. Despite this close spacing, no noticeable crosstalk can be detected. The powder-coated paper discs can be folded and mailed like an ordinary letter. No guide grooves are provided on the coated discs.
The turntable rotates 20 r.p.m., resulting in a total recording time of slightly over 3 min. This instrument deserves special mention because it presently represents the most simple and basically the most inexpensive mechanical and electrical design for a magnetic recorder that has been produced commercially. A single crystal headphone is used both as a recording microphone and as a playback earphone". radiomuseum.org
Brush Mail-A-Voice and the Recordon
A small disk based recording device, broadly similar to a small portable turntable or a disk cutter but had a magnetic head instead of a pickup/cutterhead, the recording quality was pretty abysmal. Brush Development Company started manufacturing the device in 1946 and utilised 9" paper disks coated with magnetic particles developed by the company in association with 3M but actually manufactured by Shellmar. The disks and the coating were fairly rugged and paper was chosen instead of a more durable format because the idea was that you could mail it directly without packaging and the long term durability was not a problem since the format was intended for a dictation recording only (this idea resurfaced with dictation belts), but in the 50's disks made out of plastics were available. The unit was not a hit but sold reasonably due to the relatively low price of 40USD which made it one of the cheapest dictation products that you could buy at the time (there was in fact a cheaper model available, the 501), it can be seen in operation in at the least 2 Film Noir movies from the early 50, it died out sometime in the 50's primarily due to the fact that it was difficult to use compared to a tape recorder but there were also problems with lifetime of the magnetic heads, and it was a bit primitive, erasing was done by holding a permanent magnet over the disk. The Mail-A-Voice was manufactured under license by the British company Thermionic Products as the Recordon. audiotools.com
Magnetic recording technology, introduced in the later part of the 19th century, inspired an entirely new world of electronic communication. German-American inventor Semi Joseph Begun made contributions in this field that sped the development of the broadcasting industry. His electromagnetic talking device allowed for the recording and playback of the human voice. Patented in 1934, his was the first tape recorder designed for broadcasting.
Begun was born in Danzig, Germany, on Dec. 2, 1905. He became interested in magnetic recording as a student at the Institute of Technology in Berlin, from where he graduated in 1929.
He immigrated to the United States in 1935 and began working for the Brush Development Co. in Cleveland, Ohio. With Begun’s help, Brush, which was mainly a manufacturer of phonograph pickups, began making magnetic tape sound recorders in cooperation with Western Electric. Begun’s magnetic recorder was used for broadcasts during the 1936 Olympics.
When World War II broke out, Begun promoted the development of magnetic recording as a member of the National Defense Research Committee and began experimenting with recording media, developing various types of coated paper and magnetic, plastic tape. In 1943, he was named Brush’s Vice President of Research.
Begun secured a funding contract at Brush from the NDRC to research possible substitutes for a stainless steel wire component used in recording devices that made them somewhat expensive to manufacture. He invented a coated, non-metallic tape that lead to the development of the first consumer tape recorder, dubbed the Sound Mirror. He also invented the Mail-a-Voice, which magnetically recorded on one side of a paper disk for letter correspondence. Begun was honored with a Presidential Certificate of Merit from President Truman for his work with the NRDC. In addition to his inventions, Begun lead the charge in forging a sourcing partnership for magnetic tape with 3M. This would later become a billion-dollar product line for that company.web.mit.edu
Begun founded his own technology consulting firm, Auctor Associates, in 1971. He died on January 5, 1995. In 1998, he was posthumously inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame.
Brush Sound Mirror BK401 (wood cab) 1947 $367.50 (BK403) pic1 pic 2
This is one of the first commercial reel tape recorders on the market. See 1947 ad from the Saturday Evening Post dated October 11, 1947. This unit has a date stamped on the main board dated Jan 22, 1948. Here's movie of the recorder running. The tape that came with the recorder included the Joe Louis and Jersey Joe Walcott fight in the late '40s.
This recorder model was used on the movie The Aviator. Interestingly, Phantom was contacted by Montgomery Pollack in May 2003 asking if we could provide a recorder for the movie - "We are working on a new film to be directed by Martin Scorcese, starring Leonardo DeCaprio. It is called "The Aviator" It is about Howard Hughes love of flight. There is a scene that has Hughes using a reel to reel tape recorder in 1947. The director has requested a Rangertone or a Magnecord, Magnetophon or a Ampex 200A. I need to purchase this items. Do you have or know of anybody who might have such an item. It needs to work and be in very good condition. I can be flexible in my timeline. I can use any reel to reel recorder from 1947-1950. If I cannot find such a beast we will just use a Webster wire recorder. Any information would be extremely helpful." We came up with a Magnecord M30 & M33 and a PT6-AH. However they found the Brush which met their time period perfectly.
Brush Pro Recorder 2105 1950's full track
Brush Sound Mirror BK-455P (portable) 1953 $289.50
Brush Sound Mirror (wood cab)
Brush Mike BA 106
This microphone was acquired from an instructor of voice (opera) in San Francisco.
1937 ad for similar Brush BR 2S
BSR Equalizer
BSR Spectrum Analyzer
Calrad 500C ($4.95 new)
We had this microphone in our early years (1964-66). It sold for $4.95 and now averages $125 in auctions. Amazing!
Here's a few Calrad spotting's!
Here's great Calrad 500C conversion by Jim Wood
'62 catalog listing $5.85
'65 McGEE catalog listing $4.95
'67 Burstein Applebee catalog listing
'67 Radio Shack catalog listing $4.95
Calrad DM-15
'62 catalog listing $9.85
Calrad DM-21
'65 McGEE catalog listing $14.95
Calrad DM 16H/Lafayette
'62 catalog listing $13.95
Concertone (Berlant ) 20/20 Series 30 1954 - $545
Instruction & service manual cover specifications
Concertone tape timer in original wooden box
Concertone (Berlant )
20/20 - 1954 - $545.00
On cover of 1957 Tape Recording
Concertone 505
1960 - $495
This concertone was built by Teac. Here's the Teac version. some history also see Concord below
'60 ad '61 ad '63 ad #1 '63 ad #2
Concertone 507-2 two track
Donated to the Museum of Magnetic Sound Recording by Conrad Gates
1962 - $655
Concertone 800 series "Reverse-O-Matic"
1964 $468.47
Phantom used one of these in the middle '60's, however the solenoids failed and we moved to Sony products. What a great looking recorder.
(64, 65, 66) catalog specifications
click to enlarge image 1965 ads 1 2 3 4 5
Phantom's Concertone 800 six head ad was used in the feb 2007 Radio magazine
'65 catalog listing $397.46 '65 Directory '66 catalog listing $468.47
'66 Allied Christmas catalog $349 '66 Lafayette catalog listing $359.50
'64 Ad with Doris Day & Rock Hudson
This is an operating unit with two external matching speakers.
Similar unit owned by Phantom Productions in 1966-67 (below). Sold in 1966 for $468.47.
Martin's equipment in 1967 (above)
Concertone 801 was featured in the Doris Day - Rock Hudson movie "Send Me No Flowers!"clip
Concertone 800 Brochure
'67 catalog listing#1 $439.95
'67 catalog listing#2 $349.95
'67 catalog listing#3 $299.95
No longer in collection
Concertone Tape Timer
Other Site resources:
Go to Get Reel's Concertone page
click on picture for larger view
Note Concertone recording tape in picture above
Concertone 707
transistor portable '66 727 ad '67 770 ad
Concord 444
'65 Directory Concord built by Concertone/Teac Japan
Crown Prince (58, 59) $395
Crown 3M (54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59) $435
Crown SS 700 1964 $1,295 1965 $895
Picture of this unit used in Big Head Todd's album
Crown SX824 1966 $1,790 1976 $1,995 1977 $1,495 brochure Specs
Donated to the Reel-to-Reel Museumby Dr. Charles Davis & Don Nattinger, Corpus Christi, Texas, April 2014
Crowncorder CRC6250F
Briefcase recorder(68-69)
'67 catalog listing $149.95
'68 catalog listing $139.95
Crowncorder CTR-5400
This was one of Martin's early portable recorders and was used to record compilations of favorite music to have in the car.
'66 catalog listing $79.95 '66 Holiday Catalog
made by Denki Onkyo manual schematic 1 2
55lbs $1,199.95 list '76 Review 1974 ad
(click larger view)
made by Denki Onkyo brief history
Dokorder 9020 (1976)
made by Denki Onkyo
Dokorder PT-4H 3" portable reel tape recorder donated by Christopher Buchanan
Services Resources Links Contact Go to page dedicated to our microphone collection • Reel to Reel Tape Recorder Company Histories
Thanks again for looking!
PLEASE CLICK ON A LETTER TO GO TO ANALOG RECORDERS BY MANUFACTURER
PLEASE NOTE: Price listings by items reflect the original "list/retail" price (from best sources available).
A B-D E-K L-O P-R S T U-Z For Sale Prices Unusual & Unique By Year
