SCORE! Trove of Vintage 16mm Sound Projectors & Cabs - RCA, Revere, Bell & Howell, Devry, Victor
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- čas přidán 3. 12. 2017
- By now you know my affinity for finding tube amps in vintage audio gear and repurposing them for guitar. A picker friend found a trove of vintage audio visual equipment from the 1940s and 1950s recently and I was able to score a few very cool relics of a bygone era. There's a 1946 Bell and Howell Filmosound 179 Model B 16mm sound projector with 1704 Jensen speaker cabinet, a Revere Model S-16 sound projector, a Victor Animatograph Corp. Model 65-10 sound projector, an RCA Model MI-1306-A Speaker Cabinet, and a DeVry speaker cab with a Jensen P8Q. These will likely appear in future videos, but for now, let's just look them over and assess outward condition.
- Hudba
The Victor projector makes an appearance in this film. This channel is a good one if you like watching vintage educational and institutional films: czcams.com/video/8UgRJ4V6H8M/video.html
Dropping this here for later too. Shows early BH unit being used: czcams.com/video/VekdqqguTT4/video.html
Hey Brad I have recently been playing through my brother-in-law's 1940s AMPRO projector after showing him your video. It sounds great with a tube screamer in front! He has many more including a Bell and Howell that the amp section comes right out after 4 brass screws are removed. I will try it next hopefully, I wanted to thank you for your videos to give us some common ground for our hobbies. I might even post a video if I grow a pair.
+poot111111 a video would be great. Thanks for sharing.
I love old projectors...Nice finds Brad! Rewatchin this vid yearly.
30 years ago while in the 11th grade I was hired as the first and only projectionist at our towns brand new 6 screen theater. Running 6 beautiful 35mm projectors at once. 😀
It was a flippin awesome first job which I took humble pride in and great care with. Wish I'd hung on to it a lot longer than I did. You said wheeling in the projector at skool was a big deal... I was certainly very fortunate to get that trust x 5000. Sometimes I even went in to splice together trailers and put all the reels together on the large plater system, early Friday mornings, before high skool classes, when new films came in.
How did the films run? I have a 16mm telex projector and it rips up films
"Old-timer" here with some answers. The funny brackets on the rear door of the Bell and Howell 179 speaker case were meant to hold the take-up reel for the projector. Every projector came with one and was stored with the take-up reel. The round 2-conductor connector for the speaker was not proprietary and is still available from Switchcraft as part of its Slimline series. The system could drive both the little speaker in the side door and the large speaker in the cabinet. The Victor and RCA models used "Jones" connectors in different configurations for the speakers and these, too, are still available and widely used. The round black cover you pulled off was actually the photocell cover. If you don't intend to use the projection capability, you might want to pull the photocell and the exciter lamp. The photocell can pick up artificial light if it is not tightly sealed and it will see it as a 60 Hz source and you will get a "ground" hum you won't be able to get rid of. The exciter lamps were actually connected to megaHertz power supplies so they delivered "clean" power the photocell wouldn't read and pass through the audio channel. Thanks for such an interesting channel and providing blasts from the past for us old f- - - ts!
Amphenol, I think, made the original connector for that Bell and Howell. You're right about the exciter lamp. I misspoke there. Obviously that's the photocell. My bad. I went in depth in a previous video about photocells. Been a while though. Thanks for the excellent comment!
Yep, Amphenol. 80 series, if I recall. They were once fairly common on gear of the 40s and early 50s.
Yes! He knows his stuff! One more thing, the speaker cable was originally retractable (like a vacuum cleaner) in a metal case that sat in the lower left side of the speaker when you open the back. It feeds though the hole on the front.
@John Keith thanks for all that useful info mate! You really know yo ur stuff when it comes to projectors! Fascinating re - operating the lamp at a higher frequency to stop the mains hum!
Correct, I have one just liike that, a reel on the back of a cabin
Imagine how much effort, craftsmanship and style went into making these machines. With no computerized equipment, just a lot of human brains in parallel :) Magnificent!
Delatsch never underestimate the power of humans working together.
It's so funny to be watching these dinosaurs on my slim 10 inch samsung tablet!My Dad would have one of those projectors showing home movies and it was a big hassle to set up and sit through all that clickitty slacking watching blurry jumpy red and green saturated silent but for his narration !I don't miss that junk at all!Now making amps out of em,that's pretty cool!
I've now got projector envy. Thank heavens it isn't projectile dysfunction.
@DKY Simcox lol! You're a funny guy! Careful how you write the second half of your handle!
On the first projector you showed with the missing lens there was a cylindrical shaped object on the left hand side of the back door of the cabinet underneath the cord (cable) mounted lens side down, if it was a lens that is, but the picture went by before I realized what i'd seen. I could easily be wrong, but it looked like a lens to me. I just wanted to point this out in case you're like me. The other day I walked around my house for 5 or 10 minutes looking for my Glasses. I couldn't find them anywhere. Then I reached up, scratched my face and realized I was wearing them. In otherwords I could look all over for that lens and not notice it was right in front of my face on the back door of the cabinet.
Peace, Love & Light
Jimmy in NC....
They also have extra parts built every where into the case, always tske your time looking!
Awesome stuff as always Brad. After watching you and Uncle Doug, D-lab, Mr Carlson and Blue Glow for for a few years I finally plucked up the courage to fix my '63 pioneer stereo which I got for nothing and my current favourite amp a Silma sonik 8 projector (also a freebie). When ever I take the silma out people look at me strange until they hear those 3.5 Watts of Italian projector magic come screaming out of a 80 watt guitar speaker. Thanks for all the great videos and don't go changing I love you just the way you are 😘
Wow superb excellent collections of old projectors. ❤ i love these episode
Very cool finds. I was an engineer at B&H’s Pratt Ave. plant in Chicago. It was always interesting to find old things in the back of the building. DeVry was owned by B&H as well.
To love that Revere model so simple
My Dad and I ran a Bell & Howell projector for our church on special occasions like the one you showed. This was connected to the Lafayette PA system. Those were the days when things were built like tanks to last several lifetimes!
I'd buy one of these converted to a guitar amplifier no question, no hesitation - mojo in buckets. Lovely.
Awesome pick up. So facinating how vintage audio visual equipment was crafted and built. Your right...nothing is built like this these days.
My dad had that very Bell and Howell with the matching cabinet. Plug in and dime it and you had you're own poor man's Boogie!
+Tom Armbruster we're about to find out very soon!
@@TheGuitologist what ever happemed to this project Brad? My Dad recently camr into some old bell and Howell gear and we habe a little home band room, im looking for info on them and also would be interested in purchasing them from you if you no longer are interested in the project . maybe I could mert the guitologist! I have a few guitars I need looked at as well 😉 if only there was the time
What a wonderful gathering of classic USA made pieces of audio visual history. Thanks Brad for sharing with us. That Bell & Howell looks like it would have been a fantastic bit of kit in it's day.
1946...all the returning troops, institutions firing up again...hope and prosperity on the horizon...must have been an exciting time to be alive.
Wow! A treasure trove alright! Some just beautiful jewels there, ripe & ready for you to give a new life! - Especially the projectors with missing lenses! The lenses probably make useful little 'telescopes', which may be why they are missing.
You could 'part out' the projector sections, & then turn them into beaut guitar amps, or combo amps. You've got yourself a great source of future videos for us there, & I for one look forward to them all! You know, your channel is becoming more & more one of my favourites of all mate! Thanks!
Oh man! The look of that Revere.
What a nice little amp that would make.
Very nice score Brad.Great to see this lovely old technology landing with someone who truly appreciates it. To many people think old stuff is junk purely because its old and just throw it away. We know better, that stuff is proper quality.
The number of these I walked right by in the 80's at yard sales, makes me cry to think about it.
All of this IS Gold! Man I wish I still lived back in Mo.. I might have a better chance at getting some of these wonderful finds.All I find out west is transistor radios. Yuck! Great find Brad! Happy for you! Thankz
The midwest, and the east too, are still good places to make scores.
They look awesome bro and looking forward to see how you work on each of them. ATB
NICE PICK BRAD! I HAVE THE RCA ONE, MINE HAS 10" JENSON ALNICO, SOUNDS SWEET!
Cool. Can't wait to try these out. Need to clear a few projects, then can dig in.
Yet another great video; please keep posting!
I remember those DeVry commercials but I didn’t realize they had branded equipment. That’s pretty cool.
Can't wait to hear those RCA and B&H speakers.
Very excited to see what you make of the Bell and Howell 179! Just bought one myself. And a copy of Design and Construction of Tube Guitar Amplifiers per your recommendation. Into the rabbit hole I go.
If I can get a clearing in customer service, that B&H conversion is one I'll get to.
Love the RCA cabinet !
Old Av and vintage rare aV equipment is so awesome looking and built like tanks
I bought a 179 set just the same for £40 here in the UK. I've never had the guts to rebuild it. Can't wait to see you make sense of the guts for me!
It's officially on the long-term schedule.
That RCA cab and speaker is awesome!
this speakers! a vintage tresure! a great hunt- in austria you can forget to find things like that!
rockn rolly brad!
This was really so much fun to watch. I remember, really sadly now, working for the school board as the Health & Safety Officer about 25-30 years ago when all this stuff was going out to the dump. At the time, I couldn’t figure out what to do with it all. My Mom started a School Museum going back to the One Room School Houses and has equipment now from each generation (I set her up but she won’t give it back :-) )
Buddy Martin I wish I'd been around when institutions were dumping their tube AV gear.
Mr. Guitologist, I wish I knew then what I know now. It is a shame what I’ve seen go to the auction site and the dump. Starting about 28 years ago, our district here in Florida got the money through some federal grant to rebuild every school except high schools from the ground up including every f-ing thing. 73 schools, 8.2 million square feet. (If you care I cane tell you why the high schools didn’t get 100%) All schools had a choice, keep the AV stuff or get new stuff. Sometime it went to the auction but after the first year or so it cost more to haul it to the auction place and it was cheaper just to toss it in the dump trucks. One of my jobs at the time and the only reason I know about any of this is that I was to make sure everyone was using the proper PPE and not smoking on campus. I also handle fire safety, asbestos, fuel tanks and little stuff like that. I retired 7 years ago but I’m fairly certain most anything good is gone. The high schools finally got renovated.
Amazing! What a haul!
Very cool! Nice haul.
The projector has the capacity to be every ambient players dream!
Step 1. Acquire surrealist (or similarly fitting) movie reels.
Step 2. Apply ultra ambient sounds via tube amp.
Step 3. Ambience increased to 500%.
This is something I could see the guys at Old Blood Noise Endeavours using. Absolutely stunning!
+Otto Billström yep. If anyone wants to reserve one, let me know
Don't tempt me! What these fellas weighs I'd probably end up paying the same amount on the amp as it would be to have it shipped overseas!
Can't wait to see what you do with them though. Keep up the fantastic work!
I would love one of these amps!
What a find! I would love to have that 8" Field coil Jensen... oh hell, I'd like to have it all!
Super cool!
I remember our hi school gym using those 2 prong speaker plugs for the pa system.plugged a bassman into them for lead guitar
Hahaha, hitcha with the quick click. Great vids always enjoy!
major score ! thanks for the vid.
I used to be in the AV club, and setup and ran film projectors for the classes...it was a good way to get out of class....it was in the early 70s :p
We still had projectors in the early 80s in school too
Filmosound speaker is a Jensen alnico made on the 20th week of 1956. Put the matching filmosound amp in that speaker cabinet with the faceplate and I put a dibs on it.
I saw the code watching the video back too. It's a 1946, I think. This style of stuff with the purple cosmetics screams post war 40s. And the metal used...dead giveaway.
Great Guitar amps !! I have a victor with the speaker, sounds amazing !!
All Alnico speakers... gold mine, ESPECIALLY that Jensen....
The Bell & Howell and DeVry are both Jensen. The RCA is a beautiful speaker. I can't wait to hear that one.
That lunch box amp and rca cab would make a killer little setup man
Those meal worm things might be moth larvae...I had some moths iin my house and they looked simular. Great score brad. If anyone deserves these old Amps and speakers you do. U can keep em running
Good find Brad
For those thinking of getting an antique 16MM projector, please be aware that some projectors of the WW2 era had field coil speakers and require surgery to eliminate that issue. Otherwise you will have to use the amp with the original speaker. Some have the field supply built into the speaker cabinet (not to be confused with the booster amp used in later B&H and Graflex/Singer units) so it would not be an issue in those cases.
hi I've got one of those Bell and Howell speakers but never seen the projector before they are just nice things, that was a nice collection to come across.
+Jon Ault thanks Jon. Yeah, I was happy with the haul. Hearing a guitar through them should be fun.
I have the Belle&Howell projector if interested
I also have my Kodak Pageant 16mm sound projector and it is fully functional and the amp is now working, and it has a switch for both film and phono input for connecting to Bluetooth and other devices for playing music that it works with a basic amplifier.
Nice! If you decide to separate the 1st Bell and Howell set I would be interested in the cab. I have a few different models of B&H from that era and love the way they sound with my little champs running to them.
Thanks for another great video!
J
Just by reviewing on youtube visually you can see the quality of equipment they made back in those days... just like the automobiles and furniture of that time period just solid and super well built... to get that quality today would be a fortune
Back in the day, they got economics of scale by selling to institutions and government contracts, then the consumer could also afford some of this stuff. But to stay in biz, they could not put out a product that broke down or people would associate the brand with inferiority. Nowadays, there's no such thing as a superior brand hardly, in anything. It's all made side by side in the same factories overseas.
@@TheGuitologist Hi Brad! Yeah lol! Try & find a 50 year warranty on a guitar amp!
Nice one lad. Score indeed. ;) I'm salivating. Lol. ....Lucky. 5:09 I was thinking how lovely that thing is & then you said it. They dont make em like they used to man. Spot on. Its a shame this stuff is dying out. That is smart. Just lovely. Cheers Brad & I apologize as I got into a feud with some knob on here the other day. My bad. ;)
You can feud with whomever you choose. Just try to keep it impersonal. I don't censor comments unless they are threats of violence, slanderous, or otherwise illegal. Beyond that, suit yourselves.
Thanks lad. It wont happen again. I promise. A litre of vodka can do funny things to a man. ;) Keep it up & great score. Im jelly!
Damn these things are pretty! Also, Make sure to ask the guy who was buying them for the lenses. If the guy was a hoarder, maybe they're somewhere to be found.
Clips and spindle on the speaker cabinet doors are for the film take up reel. The Bell and Howell speakers are Jensen P12P, the connectors are Amphenols, metal sockets and plugs are generally mil-spec these days, still on Digikey/Mouser.
That Victor speaker cabinet is really cool. I hope you incorporate it into the amp build.
Nice little late '50's Jensen speaker. Probably worth a lot more than you paid for the rest of the stuff. Good salvage job!
1:40 for a film reel. I have a couple of Victor/Projector cabs, use to have the amp, it sounded great. Good score.
15:14 You and me both...the old RCA logo is awesome. But when you opened it, I messed my drawers, ;)
Wow!! Wow!! Im having a heart attack!! Wow what a find.
How cool is that !?
I graduated in 81' and I remember watching movies on 16mm in films class in 10th grade, lol. The projectors they had at that time were newer than these though (1978). On The Waterfront with Marlon Brando, that was too long ago!
I know thu is an old post but I thought you might like to know that RCA had a manufacturing plant in the UK too. I think it was based at Sunbury on Thames. I have an RCA speaker in the garage, very similar to the one you have but the baffle aperture has a cloth like material rather than the pressed metal on yours. I also once owned a British built RCA Hollywood projector there were three variations, optical sound, mag/ optical sound and a mag /optical sound with nag record. Mine was the middle one with a 1kw lamp running on 240v. I aquired the afore mentioned cabinet after I part exchanged the projector for two Indian built 'Photophone' machines which were based on the American 400 series. These had a transistor used amps and 200watt lamps quite well built but the quality of the screw on spool arms were not as good as the proper RCA ones but they ran nicely. I no longer iwn them. I assume RCA sold the design and the use of the Photophone name. There are a couple featured on CZcams but there seem to be subtle variations.
Genuine Monophonic sound!
Geeze Louise that wrinkle paint is right over the TOP!
In 1983 when I started at DeVry Columbus OH for electronics they were affiliated with Bell & Howell.
That filmosound projector looks like a motorcycle engine. Lol.But that speaker an cab would make a cool looking amp! Which you already probably have one or two or three,tehehe!Peace!You got some great stuff bud,have fun and I look forward for the videos!
It does! Or some kind of gas powered generator used in war.
The Guitologist Yeah that was a good score!Thanks for the reviews!Peace .
Imagine a Gasoline Powered Guitar Amp, now that would be Cool....
Just think of the looks you'd get when you broke out your Amp somewhere and began filling it up with "Hi Test" there's a couple of words you don't hear nowadays.
My Victor projector is older than that one. It has a Model A sound reproduction amplifier built-in. It took me a while to find the schematic. It wish I remembered the whole tube complement but it has two 6V6 output tubes. The projector itself is in excellent shape. The amplifier almost works right but it might be a while before I can rebuild it since I need to source some replacement capacitors for it. The originals are large oil and wax filled hybrids; if I remember right it has not a single electrolytic capacitor. I would like to find some good hermetic oil capacitors to put in it.
I think the RCA speaker cabinet might go with an RCA 400 projector. I've got two of those projectors (but no speakers...) that I salvaged from the local church who was just going to throw them away. They are in bad shape but both amps are still intact. I've thought about converting them to guitar use but I haven't got around to it yet.
got a natco 12 inch speaker cabinet from a 16mm rig . its a nice old cab , the speaker blew right away testing it oiff the projectors solid state amp that it came with ... very odd . i tested it at low level but it popped the speaker and also a compression tweeter i had connected .... so i replaced it with an emminance 12 off CL for 25 , it sounds a lot better with that speaker in it though , more low end and definition . . i paid ten for the cab its just a killer looking piece of gear . a bit larger but it sounds very nice on a guitar . i used a rog tone mender (for eq and gain controls) as the front end for a tpa3116 100 watt mono chip amp board , we run it off 24 volts with 2 12v 7 mah sealed lead acid cells or an lcd tv external powersupply i got at good will for 3 dollars , its 26 volts 7 a . i enjoy your videos well done .
Back when Bell & Howell actually meant something . Nice RCA speaker sweet.
very fine .
I bet your wife was wondering how long this stuff is sticking around! Don't ask me how I know... Robert
Really cool stuff. I remember DeVry. So the older speakers you were showing... They are large as far as the Magnet or bell area I think you called it.
1. Do you need to worry about how dry the speaker paper or cone material is? Do these old large bell speakers have a different sound than today's speakers. I mean I'm sure they will be different but is there a tone that makes them sound cool so to speak? Sorry I'm not even smart enough to form a question on this stuff... But it is sure fun watching you investigate this stuff. So much engineering and metal in these old projectors and even reel to reel recorders... Just very cool ..
Ain‘t that maggots? Nice vid as always
boggsty they are larvae, but not fly larvae.
0:38 yes I believe they were made to go together. I have one just like that with a speaker, but it has a dark green/brown colour to it. The speaker has a wooden frame (or atleast wood in it). Mine is a Bell & Howell Gaumont Model 601, manufactured in Great Britain between the years of 1940 to 1946. But it was designed in 1940. This one has a serial number just over 3000, so I imagine its an early one from 1940 or 1941. I weighed the projector and it literally weighs 54 pounds (with arms) but without cords, or films on that. It seems to be extremely rugged and very high quality. The projector has a couple issues, and needs some TLC. (film is popping out of picture gate (bottom loop), and I could never get the sound working. Although it's important to remember that it is over 75 years old, and its remarkable that it was even working. Cool vid!
Mount the Filmsound amp to the bottom of the speaker box. I've got one done that way. It's magic
+Hero Zero thanks. I may.
When you stop thinking about "What does this do?" and start thinking "What can I make this do?" the possibilities open right up.
That projector looks like a single piston engine.
Christmas time!!
The Victor's "dressed" sort of like an old Marshall. Very cool stuff Brad. Speaking of old Marshalls, did I hear correctly (I think on last Friday's Tone-Talk/Boozefest. Dave got kind of assertive 'bout some topics near the end, was actually really cool to hear him address the matters he spoke about at that moment) that Marshall will be discontinuing all British production? Jim's spinning if that's true.
None of these companies are what they used to be anyway. Nothing is made like it used to be by the big, established companies.
Could it be some sort of midrange attenuation that goes on the door? Like a board that adjusts the amount of gaps that are open. Just an idea, great video, cheers
Oh snap, Brad comin' at us from the Zoombox!
And you have a "picker" friend.....of course,
+Adam Rainstopper I can't go find all the cool stuff in its natural habitat.
You mean like time-travel? BTW, "animatograph" would be pronounced like "animate oh graph." Get it? Like, animation....
@@AdamRainStopper We're a gonna hafta learn the old Bradsky how ta tork proppa aint we? But I have me some troubles unnerstanin what fork ya'all are even sayin?
Ah school memories... Wow... Has it been that long ago? Ugh.
Roger Philabaum yes it has.
The Guitologist I was hoping it Hadn't and I was imagining things. Good memories tho. Good stuff. Love you videos.
Speaker porn. Ya gotta love it!
Very cool stuff. Can't wait for some transformation.
The mildew inside those would have me sneezin in minutes.
+Brick Breaker I'm used to it.
@@TheGuitologist Hey Brad I bet they have that fantastic 'old' smell ay? They should bottle that stuff.
brad , i have a very similar RCA cabinet. built a 5 watt tube guitar amp into it...sounds killer. wish i could share some.pics.
Any possibility of getting a copy of the Revere 16 instruction Manuel from you, please? I have the projector, but need instructions. I would appreciate it.
When Made in the USA meant something. The build quality is awesome.
You can literally SEE the quality of the equipment. I can see why this guy was a collector.
Great vid as always, thank you.
I am refurbishing a bell and Howell cab myself. The speaker is 42 week of 48? P12p c5960. 16 ohm 25 watt. It has connections on the speaker 🔊 as two jacks that are smaller than 1/4 inch but larger than banana. I have never seen anything that sized before. I am totally stumped. It’s a great looking speaker, I would like to hear how it sounds. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you Brad.
Did you try the P12p ? How does it sound?
Unfortunately the voice coil was blown. So my good friend Jim the speaker doctor was able to take care of it. Now it sounds vary warm and round, big roll off on the highs. It doesn’t sound like any other speaker I have and it looks great 👍🏻
@Guitarzan11 hi! You could probably drill out those 'sub 1/4 inch' sockets to fit actual 1/4 inch plugs if you're careful, & there's enough 'meat' around them! I saw those odd sized plugs used by telecom australia in telephone exchanges in the 80's.
Wow you score some awesome stuff!! Hey you dont happen to have a small to med sized Tube amp for a stereo for sale do yea? Or even have the means to build one from all those old tube amps you have. Doesnt have to be big just a nice vintage tube amp. Doesnt even need to be pretty. LOL
don't know if you noticed but cab #1, the bell and howell, had a 220 speaker stamp on the rim, jensen??
I did.
Find a 16mm silent film classic like the old b&w Phantom of the Opera, plug in your guitar and make your own musical accompaniment. I had a friend that would show silent films and play prog rock albums at parties.
+Russell Hltn yep. Imagine the impression your projector amp head would make at the gig.
The clips in the 179 speaker case might have been to hold a spare takeup spool.
They were for that exactly. Usually a 1600 ft reel originally.
Did you ever do anything with the Revere 16? I acquired one recently - wondering if you attempted a conversion of the sound amp. Thanks, by the way - great stuff!
Also wondering what ever happened to these
RAD DUDE!!!!!
Many times old projector and camera lenses build up fungus between the elements and when that happens the lenses are pretty well stuffed so lenses that are actually still good are outnumbered by the projectors that fit them. Best that the projectors that are still going to be used to project film get the good lenses and the rest can become guitar amp conversions.
These are fairly sought after and used for tube guitar amps especially the Bell and Howell..I used a VIctor for this purpose...
I used to have 179 set. All I have now is the cabinet, without speaker. This thing sounded great, but I didn't have money to restore it. Pity.