The Australian owner of the Beogram 4000 that I just restored also sent me an AC-motor Beogram 4002 (a Type 5504) for the same treatment. Like the 4000 it came double boxed and so arrived in good shape.
This unit came with a MMC20E cartridge. It was packaged in a very creative way. When I put the unit on my bench, I found this:
I removed the styrofoam 'cover' and this was revealed:
A definite first, but I think actually a pretty decent way to send a cartridge if there is no suitable container at hand. The cartridge's light weight ensures that the tape does not have to hold up to too much force when the box gets bumped around during transport or handling. And so it seems to last and the cartridge stayed put. Very carefully I removed the tape and extracted the cartridge, and put it into a Beolover MMC storage container:
This shows the Beogram as received:
The hood has the usual scratching, but it is not too bad. Under the hood it looks pretty decent, except that the keypad has the usual wear from using it. The clear coat seems to deteriorate over time, presumably from contact with the acids and fats in the skin:
The plinth of the unit is also in pretty decent shape, but it has a few minor scuffs and scratches:
The Beogram 4002 usually has transport lock bushings that are deteriorated, and so does this unit. Telltale signs are the presence of orangeish fragments throughout the enclosure like this one:
This Beogram came with a on/off switch. It seems there was a series of Beograms that came with this feature standard. I saw this before:
After this visual inspection, I looked under the aluminum panels. The unit seems 'original' without significant traces of previous 'human interaction':
I plugged it in and pressed start. It came to life, and the carriage found the set-down position for LPs. The platter motor is also running, all good signs!
It looks like this unit is a good starting point for a full restoration! Stay tuned!
No comments:
Post a Comment
Comments and suggestions are welcome!