Vintage cassette playlists

Programmable turntables were great for selecting specific tracks to add to cassettes we made, then copies in double decks

Now I have one of these Technics SL-J33’s downstairs. Linear, scans LP, finds spaces between tracks, track buttons light up, pick what you want to hear or copy.

I had a Pioneer, also programmable, it was a case with a pull out drawer, advantage, you could stack it, no overhead clearances needed

Now, also downstairs, I have a Sony Drawer TT, pivitoting arm, to fit more in the ’stack’, getting my dual cassette and 8 track back in play. not programmable, just a space saver. Damn thing came with a Shibata cartridge.

Sony beta tapes, well you got sucked in by it’s superior quality, both video and audio.

Failure of BETA: 2 tapes were needed for a full movie (public went for lower quality longer playing single tape VHS).

That’s what determined the size of Compact Discs, chairman of Sony said: 1 disc must fit Beethoven’s 9th!!!! (he learned from BETA failure)!

My cassette player (the last of, I think, three) bit the dust maybe ten or fifteen years ago. The cassettes themselves seem long gone -- including all the live recordings of me, both solo and with my various bands. Alas! My history is history🙄.

I never knew there were programmable turntables!

OP

There were, Linear Tracking to ’see’ the blanks space between tracks. Adjustable Sensitivity to successfully find the blanks. Most if not all P-Mounts. P-Mount was an industry standard: same size/weight/tracking force, And no alignment issues, 

https://www.lpgear.com/category/T4P.html

MyTechnics SL-J33 has become my ’loaner’ to friends having trouble with their TT’s. It has an AT Microlinear Stylus, everyone is very happy with the compact little fella’s sound. It is quartz locked direct drive with impressive performance, the model I was advised here to look for.

https://www.vinylengine.com/library/technics/sl-j33.shtml

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I was using it in my Garage/Shop system, but switched to the Sony Front Loader FL-1 (pivoted arm), so I could stack it, and ger my dual cassette and 8 track units back in that system.

Sony has unique headshells, an alternate adapter that allows standard 1/2" cartridges, which I was going to switch to after it arrived. Luckily it came with the adapter and best available Shibata cartridge already on it. Don’t think the seller knew what he had.

P mount with alternate 1/2" adapter

not mine, web photos

Cover comes off the top to make all the adjustments.