This guy's getting monster views, for some reason TV boombox repairs do great on YT. I tend to watch these videos while doing dishes, which takes a looooong time. Good stuff and it looks like he's got a few portables he's repaired, can't wait to dive in. The video needs to be watched on YT, just hit the link
He has 13 restoration videos and most have big view counts. Downloaded that one for later viewing Thanks Mr.X As many of the viewer comments say... astounding level of patience and skill.
I still haven't gotten to the big reveal (and I have a ton of dishes to do). Some of the methods he's using are very helpful, it reminds of the early days of the forum where a few members were restoring boomers and posting with a ton of photos, unfortunately most of those were wiped from the internet over time. I love that these creators can make some decent money doing this type of video, there's a reason mainstream TV is crumbling, the tired format of taking junk to something nice, but it has to be done with a tight deadline and lot's of fights is over. I've also noticed that the semi-forgotten TV boomboxes are starting to get some love and prices are spiking.
I watched it last night. What I like is the complete lack of voice over commentary and no stupid music. (Just a small 20 second music during the brief 3D print model creation screen.) I am going to download a few more now! (Youtube videos I have been downloading for many years to filter out all the ads. Playback the file and all ads are gone. heh heh. And of course ya have a copy of the video in case it is taken down one day etc,. though I only keep a few.)
@Mister X Thank you for sharing the link. This guy is brilliant, and his methods are very, very helpful. It is nice of him to share the restoration tricks. Even though I don't care much for the TV B-boxes, I care about bringing back the good ol' audio equipment.
YT has become a great resource, I love watching while cleaning or wrenching or other chores. I used to watch lot's of home/car fixit shows on cable but the same tired formula was used in just about all of them and it got really repetitive. These guys are creating great content, sometimes with something almost no one cares about (a big ole TV boombox) and they make it very fun to watch. Don't forget the OG My Mate Vince, he started with little skills but uses the comments to build his equipment and knowledge. His boombox video is almost at four million freakin views! These poor boomers had almost no love back then but now I'm actually bidding against people on them.
spoke to my restorer guy, and he's not impressed with the 3D part... well he's not impressed much at all but he's also very secretive about his methods lately, sort of trade secret or IP; about the 3d printing - it depends on the compound but these can be brittle...but nice videos plus the zoom in sections are nice to watch. Just to say there are lots of really good people who are not on YouTube and refuse to reveal their skills to the public... But it's good that there are ones who are keen to share, because this is more like the community spirit.
I tend to think... it may be a waste of talent... to work on such low end boomboxes... the sort that have fake tweeters. Like that Interfunk 1881 he worked on. Kinda like it's a contest to pay as little as possible to get the projects to work on and make a video about
@Hyperscope I know exactly what you mean — I thought the same thing. But on the other hand, you’ve got to get some practice with the “low-end” gear before moving on to something rare and special. I restored my inexpensive Panasonic RX-F5s from the ground up to learn and practice the disassembly and reassembly of its tape transport. It turned out to be a great learning experience, and now I know this mechanism inside and out. The bonus is that many Panasonic models from this era use the same transport design, with only minor variations. Not a waste of time, not entirely
I think the attraction is that he demonstrates unique makeshift tools and techniques to clean and repair things. And allegedly does it in a small apartment without a workshop.
I have no idea what YT pays but on the high side it might be .02 (US cents) x 500,000 (views)= $10,000 USD (so far). There's guys working on all kinds of cool vintage electronics on YT with big views, it's a very popular subject along with just about any restoration. The big thing is the personality, voice, visuals and subject matter. For some reason you can take a roached out boombox and make it interesting. YT seems to be exploding now with everything getting more views than ever before.
@Mister X Personally, I find restoring and repairing things—rather than throwing them away—a deeply fulfilling and rewarding experience. Each project teaches me new skills, and completing one feels like a small victory. Watching these videos is also helpful for learning how to tackle simple yet tricky tasks, such as removing e-clips. YouTubers often demonstrate their techniques step by step, showing the tools and methods they use, which makes the process much easier to understand. What's not to like about that?!
Well if anyone else has links to YouTube channels fixing old retro boomboxes etc.,then I wanna see em'
Here's some more. They don't post often, but the old videos have some useful ideas. https://www.youtube.com/@retro_restos https://www.youtube.com/@restoration-RC-Studio
I'm not sure if the ones with projects that look like they were found in a swamp count. It is interesting to see what they do but are they real? For all I know they're doing it backwards. I like this guy a lot but he's mostly R2R but his videos are excellent although his views are very low. https://www.youtube.com/@the6r/videos
I just watched 6r's AIWA TP60 Restoration last night, if you like mini-60's R2R, he has some great points with the project including what to lube and with what. These are rim drive so the sonics aren't great but they look fantastic when the front plate is shined up. Audiopub has some info on this model. https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sou...FwoTCJjsyaLip5MDFQAAAAAdAAAAABAi&opi=89978449
