Sweet! Awesome receiver. Had one back in 1978- early 80's. One seriously cool Christmas present for a 14 yr old! But, it died hard. A beast till that time. Loved watching the VU's.
Al, Pullllleeeeeze! How many times must I repeat that I taught the fellow practically everything he knows. It's been an uphill battle from the start. Regards, John
As the kids would say nowadays; "those flexible LEDs are the bomb!" Way cool. Cu-dos to Brendan for sure on this one. I got the website bookmarked already for future reference! I bet, when new, the display on that stereo was not even anywhere as good as this looks. Wow! Tom
Tom, The bomb is right. The front panel now looks terrific. The best part is I can change colors at will with very little cost. Keep in mind that the Flex LEDs come in more than one base style, not just the wedge types. Regards, John
Hi John, These LEDs in these receivers are great, no need to worry if they burn by excessive voltage, can always put a regulator built into the line voltage of the same as I did on mine and you'll get the leds in service for many years. Thumbs up my friend. Regards , Charlie.
Charlie, The panel lights in this SX-780 are fed from a separate winding in the power transformer. If the LEDs start to blow from a little too much voltage, I can just stick a low value resistor, 500-ohms or so, in one side of the winding. Piece of cake. Regards, John
Good video Lad! I'm no tekkie but I'm gonna have a go at changing the pilot lights in my mint Pioneer SX-770 just as soon as i can find some nice Led's,
Daniel, Yes it did, my friend...much better than expected. I'm delighted with the results. BTW...it's time for another short post-op update, old bean. Regards, John
John, I’ve a feeling you may disbelieve what I’m about to write: or at least find it incredible. Before I begin, I’m aware that I appear to be attempting to solve a problem that does not, at present, exist. Our wind-up LED torch gave up the ghost this last February and, before it was discarded, I salvaged its four LEDs. As you might have pieced together, I’m a bit of a hoarder. I hoarded a few burnt-out MES dial lamps. I broke the glass off one of them and soldered a 1N4001 silicon rectifier, 470 ohm resister, and one of the four LEDs into the brass coloured screw part of the lamp. I screwed my creation into a 6.3 volt Vintage Radio dial light lamp holder and it worked. The problem, however, it is too bright and the tone of the light, therefore, does not look right. I tried the same experiment using an ordinary, indicator-type, yellow LED but the light it emitted was wholly inadequate (things went from one extreme to the other LOL). This, what I’ve just written about, was to be ‘Plan B’ had the warped plastic dial, I straightened in my last vid, not arrived by this very weekend. I may, at some future date, show my LED Vintage Radio dial light experiment with hopes that one of you can help me correct the light level and improve its tone…improving the light tone may present the larger challenge. In the meantime, I‘ll have a little confab in prose with our good friend Brendan. He might have some ideas how to improve my experiment. The days are numbered, so we're being led to believe, before the demise of incandescent lamps. What is your take on this my friend? Best regards, Phil.
John, This might work, try putting some kind of reflective metal, maybe aluminum foil above the bulbs, and that should reflect more of the light through the display. LED lights usually make more light on the top of the bulbs because that is where the light beam goes.
That's one issue you often run into when trying to substitute LEDs for incandescent pilot lamps is the focus of the light beam, they tend to be very directional. However it looks like the ones with adjustable leads did the trick.
Oleg, Correct, the Flex LEDs are the cat's meow, my friend...and they come in so many colors at more than reasonable prices. Very cool indeed. Regards, John
Unfortunately the stereo I have uses those fuse style lamps, so far I haven't been able to find an inexpensive source for the LED versions as yet. On the topic of old radio pilot lamps they have 120 volt LED substitutes for C6 night light bulbs at Walmart. I have not tried them as yet but it looks like a good solution to the issue of burned and melted diffusers in some radios.
Hi John - I just bought a couple Pioneer receivers at a yard sale last week. Both work, but for one the lights don't work. These LEDs might be a fix for it. Thanks for the tip! -- Atco
I saw those receivers in your vid. What steals. Put some purple LEDs in one and orange in the other. It would be way cool. BTW...the Flex LEDs are offered in different types of bases, not just wedge. Regards, John
Hi Joernone first of all I liked your interesting tutorials on this channel cos they are very clear to follow; I am Christian from Chile and I would greatly appreciate if you could tell me where I can find the leds replacements for my receiver pioneer sx 535 as it has some burnt bulbs from the front panel, are they from china? if so could you tell me the adress where I can ask for them. Thanks in advance.
Christian, Hello, my friend, it's very good to hear from you and I greatly appreciate your gracious comment. Thank you. Order your LEDs online from cointaker.com They offer several colors to chose from. Go here: cointaker.com/products/555-premium-flex Or you can contact them here via their mailing address, telephone or email: cointaker.com/contact Regards, John
Hmm, makes me wonder if they have them in bayonet base for those #44 and #47 radio bulbs ;) Went and answered my own question, yes they do! The beauty is you can throw that in an old radio but if you change your mind you haven't modified anything and can put the original bulb back in ;)
how to get the bulb out? My 780 does'nt have a "little rubber cap" like yours. there's 2 wires at the bottom and a knurned cap, but I've pulled and twisted on it as hard as I dare and it won't come out. Help! ;)
Frank, Hello there, it's good to hear from you. I initially had the same problem removing those dumb bulbs. That rubber cap is from an earlier experiment I did. The caps worked, but the bulbs weren't bright enough, so I decided to go with the LEDs. Wrap the bulb in a strip of good tape, clear packaging or duck tape. That'll provide your finger and thumb with a good grip for pulling. They'll come out. Be sure to check out part 2!!! It's critical: czcams.com/video/m1NTg6NENNU/video.html Regards, John
Keith, I believe the SX-650 has the same bulbs and same socket setup as my SX-780. I've stuck narrow stripes of Duck Tape along two sides of each bulb and then gently wiggled and pulled upward until they came out. I had to be careful and go slow but it worked. Regards, John
+8xlaxx Also, my tuning dial creaks, pops,...like it gets hung up. I checked the 4 pulleys and they are freed up. Any suggestions on getting it back to being smooth? Thanks for the help.
Years ago it was not uncommon for folks to glue on knobs that had become a bit loose. They also would wrap one or two layers of tape around the tuning shaft and jam the knobs back on. It worked back then, but has now become a problem for those in this day and age. Possible solution: Tilt the rear of the 780 upward so that the faceplate is facing downward. Squirt some WD-40 behind the knob and onto the shaft. Let it sit that way overnight. The idea is to let the WD-40 run down between the shaft and knob. The next day wrap a shoe string one or two times around the rear of the knob, then pull the knob with one hand while pulling the shoestring with the other. You may have to pull somewhat hard. If that fails repeat the WD-40 soaking process over and over until you're successful. Don't use heat on the knob. Good luck. Regards, John
Sounds like dry tuner bearings...around the shaft between the gangs of plates. A couple of drops of sewing machine oil should fix it, unless the receiver had at one time been dropped faceplate down and it landed on the tuner knob. Sewing machine oil can be had in the sewing department at Wal-Mart. Costs about a buck. Regards, John
great job john, thinking of doing that for my back lamps on my vu's on my cassette deck. john please worn people who have headphones on at the end I jump 8ft in the air than you :-)
I think I like the blue better maybe I'll order both colors the green looks cool but I like blue I have my sx-980 between a McIntosh 1700 and a Marantz 2265 the McIntosh has more of a Greener light but the Marantz is more of a blue and I like the blue better
Sweet! Awesome receiver. Had one back in 1978- early 80's. One seriously cool Christmas present for a 14 yr old! But, it died hard. A beast till that time. Loved watching the VU's.
You need to give Brendan more than a shout out. He's a smart fellow and has bailed you out countless times. What a guy. Looked awesome, John.
Al,
Pullllleeeeeze! How many times must I repeat that I taught the fellow practically everything he knows. It's been an uphill battle from the start.
Regards,
John
Great suggestion Brendan! Good job Sir.
As the kids would say nowadays; "those flexible LEDs are the bomb!"
Way cool. Cu-dos to Brendan for sure on this one. I got the website bookmarked already for future reference!
I bet, when new, the display on that stereo was not even anywhere as good as this looks. Wow!
Tom
Tom,
The bomb is right. The front panel now looks terrific. The best part is I can change colors at will with very little cost. Keep in mind that the Flex LEDs come in more than one base style, not just the wedge types.
Regards,
John
That looks great joe, remindes me of a old radio station look to it
Very nice :)
It really looks great at night, a perfect glow, not as bright as it appeared in the camera.
Regards,
John
Wow, very nice and bright!!!
I couldn't agree more.
Regards,
John
Hi John,
These LEDs in these receivers are great, no need to worry if they burn by excessive voltage, can always put a regulator built into the line voltage of the same as I did on mine and you'll get the leds in service for many years.
Thumbs up my friend.
Regards , Charlie.
Charlie,
The panel lights in this SX-780 are fed from a separate winding in the power transformer. If the LEDs start to blow from a little too much voltage, I can just stick a low value resistor, 500-ohms or so, in one side of the winding. Piece of cake.
Regards,
John
Wow, what a difference! You might be able to read by those dial lights. Thanks for all the great information.
Ansel,
I could certainly jack-light deer with them. :-)
Regards,
John
Looked really nice.
Now that we know the Flex LEDs work, I'll probably try a few of the other available colors. Should be fun.
Regards,
John
Good video Lad! I'm no tekkie but I'm gonna have a go at changing the pilot lights in my mint Pioneer SX-770 just as soon as i can find some nice Led's,
That's it,right there!!! I might have to try that,in my Pioneer SX-1250....... That makes a world of difference.
Jim,
Be sure to see part 2 before installing LEDs.
Regards,
John
Good man Brendan.
wow that turned out pretty good!
Daniel,
Yes it did, my friend...much better than expected. I'm delighted with the results.
BTW...it's time for another short post-op update, old bean.
Regards,
John
joernone
I'm working on one :-)
Whoa, that is great! And saving power too :-)
Thanks, my friend, but I hadn't thought of the power savings. :-)
Regards,
John
John,
I’ve a feeling you may disbelieve what I’m about to write: or at least find it incredible.
Before I begin, I’m aware that I appear to be attempting to solve a problem that does not, at present, exist.
Our wind-up LED torch gave up the ghost this last February and, before it was discarded, I salvaged its four LEDs. As you might have pieced together, I’m a bit of a hoarder. I hoarded a few burnt-out MES dial lamps. I broke the glass off one of them and soldered a 1N4001 silicon rectifier, 470 ohm resister, and one of the four LEDs into the brass coloured screw part of the lamp. I screwed my creation into a 6.3 volt Vintage Radio dial light lamp holder and it worked. The problem, however, it is too bright and the tone of the light, therefore, does not look right. I tried the same experiment using an ordinary, indicator-type, yellow LED but the light it emitted was wholly inadequate (things went from one extreme to the other LOL).
This, what I’ve just written about, was to be ‘Plan B’ had the warped plastic dial, I straightened in my last vid, not arrived by this very weekend. I may, at some future date, show my LED Vintage Radio dial light experiment with hopes that one of you can help me correct the light level and improve its tone…improving the light tone may present the larger challenge. In the meantime, I‘ll have a little confab in prose with our good friend Brendan. He might have some ideas how to improve my experiment. The days are numbered, so we're being led to believe, before the demise of incandescent lamps.
What is your take on this my friend?
Best regards,
Phil.
Phil,
Sorry, I'm not sure I understand. In what will you be using the lights?
Regards,
John
John,
This might work, try putting some kind of reflective metal, maybe aluminum foil above the bulbs, and that should reflect more of the light through the display.
LED lights usually make more light on the top of the bulbs because that is where the light beam goes.
I thought the same thing...but I'd fear overheating
Thanks. I am doing something similar on my sports car. A TR 4 and Sunbeam Tiger.
Now for my Firestone Radio.
Thanks
Charles Jinks
Charles,
When done, upload a vid. Let's see the Firestone results.
Regards,
John
That's one issue you often run into when trying to substitute LEDs for incandescent pilot lamps is the focus of the light beam, they tend to be very directional. However it looks like the ones with adjustable leads did the trick.
Oleg,
Correct, the Flex LEDs are the cat's meow, my friend...and they come in so many colors at more than reasonable prices. Very cool indeed.
Regards,
John
Unfortunately the stereo I have uses those fuse style lamps, so far I haven't been able to find an inexpensive source for the LED versions as yet. On the topic of old radio pilot lamps they have 120 volt LED substitutes for C6 night light bulbs at Walmart. I have not tried them as yet but it looks like a good solution to the issue of burned and melted diffusers in some radios.
DO you know if this is applicable to the SX-580
Man! I like that.
Mike,
So do I. :-)
Regards,
John
Thank you
Hi John - I just bought a couple Pioneer receivers at a yard sale last week. Both work, but for one the lights don't work. These LEDs might be a fix for it. Thanks for the tip! -- Atco
I saw those receivers in your vid. What steals. Put some purple LEDs in one and orange in the other. It would be way cool.
BTW...the Flex LEDs are offered in different types of bases, not just wedge.
Regards,
John
Definitely brightened things up. I'm left wondering how the red lights would look? Or blue? lol
Hi Joernone first of all I liked your interesting tutorials on this channel cos they are very clear to follow; I am Christian from Chile and I would greatly appreciate if you could tell me where I can find the leds replacements for my receiver pioneer sx 535 as it has some burnt bulbs from the front panel, are they from china? if so could you tell me the adress where I can ask for them. Thanks in advance.
Christian,
Hello, my friend, it's very good to hear from you and I greatly appreciate your gracious comment. Thank you.
Order your LEDs online from cointaker.com They offer several colors to chose from. Go here:
cointaker.com/products/555-premium-flex
Or you can contact them here via their mailing address, telephone or email: cointaker.com/contact
Regards,
John
Hmm, makes me wonder if they have them in bayonet base for those #44 and #47 radio bulbs ;)
Went and answered my own question, yes they do!
The beauty is you can throw that in an old radio but if you change your mind you haven't modified anything and can put the original bulb back in ;)
Eric,
Right, my friend...but who would want to put the old bulbs back in? :-)
Regards,
John
how to get the bulb out? My 780 does'nt have a "little rubber cap" like yours. there's 2 wires at the bottom and a knurned cap, but I've pulled and twisted on it as hard as I dare and it won't come out. Help! ;)
Frank,
Hello there, it's good to hear from you. I initially had the same problem removing those dumb bulbs. That rubber cap is from an earlier experiment I did. The caps worked, but the bulbs weren't bright enough, so I decided to go with the LEDs.
Wrap the bulb in a strip of good tape, clear packaging or duck tape. That'll provide your finger and thumb with a good grip for pulling. They'll come out.
Be sure to check out part 2!!! It's critical: czcams.com/video/m1NTg6NENNU/video.html
Regards,
John
What about the voltage difference compared to the incandescent Bulb
Jason,
What about it?
Regards,
John
Does the sx650 bulbs come out as easy?
Keith,
I believe the SX-650 has the same bulbs and same socket setup as my SX-780. I've stuck narrow stripes of Duck Tape along two sides of each bulb and then gently wiggled and pulled upward until they came out. I had to be careful and go slow but it worked.
Regards,
John
... Sold
How do you take the Tuning Knob dial off? On my 780, it will not come off easily at all. Any suggestions? Did you just pull it off?
+8xlaxx Also, my tuning dial creaks, pops,...like it gets hung up. I checked the 4 pulleys and they are freed up. Any suggestions on getting it back to being smooth? Thanks for the help.
Years ago it was not uncommon for folks to glue on knobs that had become a bit loose. They also would wrap one or two layers of tape around the tuning shaft and jam the knobs back on. It worked back then, but has now become a problem for those in this day and age. Possible solution: Tilt the rear of the 780 upward so that the faceplate is facing downward. Squirt some WD-40 behind the knob and onto the shaft. Let it sit that way overnight. The idea is to let the WD-40 run down between the shaft and knob. The next day wrap a shoe string one or two times around the rear of the knob, then pull the knob with one hand while pulling the shoestring with the other. You may have to pull somewhat hard. If that fails repeat the WD-40 soaking process over and over until you're successful. Don't use heat on the knob. Good luck. Regards, John
Sounds like dry tuner bearings...around the shaft between the gangs of plates. A couple of drops of sewing machine oil should fix it, unless the receiver had at one time been dropped faceplate down and it landed on the tuner knob. Sewing machine oil can be had in the sewing department at Wal-Mart. Costs about a buck. Regards, John
great job john, thinking of doing that for my back lamps on my vu's on my cassette deck.
john please worn people who have headphones on at the end I jump 8ft in the air
than you :-)
Jim,
No need to warn people..."SHOUTOUT" means just that. One must be ready. LOL
Regards,
John
Love the lights!! But I think blue would been cooler . . . :) Rog
Rog,
If these LEDs go belly up, I'm thinking purple would be cool-looking replacements.
Regards,
John
haha . . . purple is cool too!!
Cheers... hip hip oorah, hip hip oorah!
Don,
It too a while and a little experimenting, but we all now know how to do it.
Regards,
John
I think I like the blue better maybe I'll order both colors the green looks cool but I like blue I have my sx-980 between a McIntosh 1700 and a Marantz 2265 the McIntosh has more of a Greener light but the Marantz is more of a blue and I like the blue better
Holly maccaroni
never mind, lol
the other LED lights are a thousand times better