Dear GAS members,
As to the Rek-o-Kut (I hate that name) acetate recorder, I might note that many, many decades ago (about 1967 I think) I was playing with a very good rock band in Maryville, Missouri. We practiced wherever we could, and one of the band members had an old acetate recorder in his parents' basement. I have no memory at all as to whether it was a Rek-o-Kut. I do know that the four of us looked it over, figured it out, and within about 15 minutes had recorded a song which we then played on a turntable. And the sound was quite good. There were many blank masters, but we didn't spend much time playing with the machine. We thought we would soon be so famous we would be busy recording in the best studios in the world. That dream, of course, met its warranted demise. I've lost touch with all those old band members. The recorder probably went to a landfill many years ago. So it is ancient history. But I note that Rek-o-Kut, although now owned by a different company, is making some phono preamps. About 25 years ago I got an old Rek-o-Kut turntable going for a fellow. It seemed like a heavy-duty Thorens. Very boxy, hard to even lift, not much of anything you could call a "high end" sound, but it certainly looked unique. The turntable seemed better than a Thorens TD-124 or TD-125, but the tonearm was a piece of unwieldy, heavy junk.
I wouldn't want to be the one trying to get that old recorder going. But it would be fun for someone with the time. A few years back I saw a box of old blanks for sale on eBay. I don't at all remember the price, but I remember thinking it was high, especially considering the understandably steep shipping fee.
Thank you for sharing a look at what truly is a piece of vintage gear. But it makes me feel like an old man. That was almost 50 years ago when we cut our record on that acetate recorder. I remember the pile of black shavings on the floor.
When will it be up and running?
All the best,
Francis Baumli
