Wollensak

Jon Light (deceased) · Post by **Jon Light (deceased)** » 30 Jul 2009 11:46 am

How many of you once had a Wollensak in your home?

I remember it was the first tape machine we ever had when I was a kid, early '60s. For some reason I have this notion that a lot of other folks had this one too, for their first excursion into the wonders of sound recording.

Tony Prior · Post by **Tony Prior** » 30 Jul 2009 1:07 pm

Wow, nothing like looking back in time ! We didn't have a Wollensak, we had a Pentron, well it was actually my older brothers but I somehow managed to gain ownership. I think this is the one as it looks like the one we had. I remember when I started playing guitar i would play and record a few chords (actually just bang away ) play it back and play another guitar part to the recorded part. My family thought I was like the most incredible innovator in the world, they couldn't believe I figured that out by myself at about 12. Then after all the hooplah we ate dinner and then I had to go to bed. Then right after that I learned how to play Steel, sort of...

Rick Campbell · Post by **Rick Campbell** » 30 Jul 2009 9:00 pm

This reminds me of something. I went on the road with a band once and one of the band members came on the bus with a suitcase made out of an old portable phonograph he had taken the guts out of. It still had the screen wire vent in the side to keep the tubes cool.

Andy Sandoval · Post by **Andy Sandoval** » 30 Jul 2009 10:17 pm

Yeah I got mine sliding down the banister. Oh, I thought you said "Swollensak"

Sorry, couldn't resist.

Chip Fossa · Post by **Chip Fossa** » 3 Aug 2009 1:40 pm

I had one. It was as reliable as heXX; and sounded pretty good (for the time(s).

And was sure EASY to operate.

Ken Lang · Post by **Ken Lang** » 4 Aug 2009 5:59 pm

I had one in the late 50's as a kid. It was called Webcor. Wow, that would be 60 years old. I've got a modern Sony now. It's only 50 years old. Still works.

Tommy Shown · Post by **Tommy Shown** » 7 Aug 2009 11:10 am

I have one that my parents had when I was a child. It was 60's model. And boy was it a good one. I don't know if it still works. My mother told that the heads on it went bad. I would love to find someone locally that could repair it and be able to find reel tapes and take up reels.
Tommy Shown

Ray McCarthy · Post by **Ray McCarthy** » 25 Aug 2009 3:09 am

They had one of those Wollensaks in my high school in the early 60s, and I fell in love with it--something about the design, the simplicity of it, or something. I asked for one for Christmas, but I got a Telectro instead. I still think the Wol is a great-looking machine.

Bill Bassett · Post by **Bill Bassett** » 24 Oct 2009 4:14 am

I have very fond memories of the WEBCOR recorder we had when I was a kid. Did you know you could plug an electric guitar into the mic input and get the coolest overdriven sound. That little amp had to put out almost 3 watts. I used it till I used it up in about 1970. (Don't know what became of it.)

BD

Charlie Tryon · Post by **Charlie Tryon** » 26 Oct 2009 4:40 am

Stil have one and it works just as well now as it did back in the day.

Charlie

Paul Foster · Post by **Paul Foster** » 18 Nov 2009 7:35 pm

HI Gang
I have one just like the picture its a Wolensack, it has at least a million miles on it and it still works like a champ.If any of you have ever heard Waylons "THE RESTLESS KID" cd, I recorded that on the Wolensack and sold the tracks to the bear family, sound is pretty good for the 60,s I was waylons bass player for many years and I did a lot of bandstand recording, still have all the tapes!!

Paul Foster

Bill Hatcher · Post by **Bill Hatcher** » 23 Nov 2009 12:34 pm

Great unit!!

If I see one at a yard sale I will buy it just to get the tubes out of it if it is in poor mechanical condition. One version has 7591 tubes.

Jim Mathis · Post by **Jim Mathis** » 24 Nov 2009 2:35 pm

That Wollensack is a classic. I wonder how many were made. My first purchase with my first money from my first job was a Webcor, which I still have.

T. C. Furlong · Post by **T. C. Furlong** » 25 Nov 2009 3:01 pm

A Wollensack reel to reel was my second guitar amp. My first was a Philco radio that I modified with a 1/4" input jack. It sounded mediocre. The Wollensack wasn't real loud but man I could get Leslie West tone with my Les Paul Jr.
TC

Gordon Borland · Post by **Gordon Borland** » 21 Dec 2009 9:45 am

I bought mine from Montgomery Ward in the late 1960's.
It had sound on sound so you could bounce tracks.
I wore it out.

Papa Joe Pollick · Post by **Papa Joe Pollick** » 21 Dec 2009 11:34 am

I had one but it wasn't my only one at the time.Also had a "Voice of Music" that I liked better..

Don Blood · Post by **Don Blood** » 22 Dec 2009 12:41 pm

I had one, my brother still has it. It wasn't like the one in the picture, it had a walnut cabinet, with separate walnut speaker cabinets. It had 1-7/8, 3-3/4,
& 7-1/2 IPS tape speed. Plus it was a four track, and was easy to ping-pong from one channel to the other.

It was made by 3M, and I ended up working for them for a while in the 80's

Jason Hull · Post by **Jason Hull** » 1 Feb 2010 3:03 am

Bob Farlow · Post by **Bob Farlow** » 6 Feb 2010 3:23 am

I remember the Wollensak very well. I used to do their warranty service back in the '60s in Atlanta. As I recall, they were fairly easy to work on. Most all the problems were mechanical in nature.

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