Beer and Boomboxes!

I don't know what's cleaner...the box, the floor or the car?

 

Very nice, I love the different speaker grills.

 

He doesn't pop in as much these days, he said he was selling off his stuff years ago but I have to believe he'd keep a cool rarity like that. I think Walkgirl has one as well, she was an early microcassette poster.

 

So I was on vacation but I forgot to put my beer in the photo, oh well, the water was nice and the sunny days were close to 90 F, perfect for swimming and frolicing on the beach and I was the guy that brought music, just like the old days when just about everyone had a box on the beach.

 

I just worked two weeks of hard labor, feeling a little better now that I've crack my Surly Special Edition "13" Maple Barrel Aged Imperial Stout. Boom, this stuff is potent, I think it clocks in at over 12.5% and was a limited release on Friday the 13th but I bought it months ago so I don't know which one. I think I also paid $12.99 USD for it completing the 13 circle. Oh well, since I don't have any boomboxes with 666 on them, I'll post it with an 888'r, yep, the Centrex RK-888. Centrex was Pioneer's Boombox line before they went with Pioneer Branding. Similar to Marantz's "Superscope" Branding, I think this was done because component audio guys did not like portable audio at all and these units would have brought done hifi audio in their eyes.

The Centrex RK-888 is a beast, I'm pretty sure it was their top-of-the-line for the year it was put out, around 1977. The buttons, dials and sliders all move with precision, maybe the guys in the SPEC Department helped out with design and engineering. This has become one of my favorites, it's really good looking and has that 70's heavy build going, check out the pull out antenna on the back right, I love those and this extends all the way to the ceiling. This model also has a memory feature, I need to clean and tune it up so I don't exactly know what that does but I'm sure it's special, maybe the first on a boomer. It needs a good detail job but I think it will look really nice when I'm done, the photos don't do it justice, these are pretty big.

 

Very nice Jorge, your journey has been long and difficult but you seem to be making the most of it. The box looks great! After a hard day it's probably pretty relaxing to kick back with some music and suds and check out the progress. If you have any construction questions you can PM me, I'm not great but I tend to see the issues that should have been dealt with during the construction phase. Garagejournal.com is also a good source if you see something questionable, plus the mid-century moto makeover thread has an Airstream that has been inveloped in his "mission creep." The thread OP is a professional photographer and the trip photos in the Airstream are drool-worthy.

 

I hit the beach again! It's a 10 hour drive but I love the clean water of Lake Huron. Part of my packing ritual now is what box should I bring although the ION Jobrocker still cranks at most functions. This time I'm enjoying some Straub's Hop Blaster IPA! with a Sony CFM-33 Mono Boombox. Straubs is over 146 years old, making it one of the oldest in the US, it's hard to see the little can next to my box.

 

We just landed a super-cold vortex, temps dropped into the 40's F and it may snow tonight. I was itching for some Belgium Brews to warm me up but was luckily greeted with of my personal favorites, pumpkin beer! Tonight's special is Dogfish Head Punkin Ale and it's going down good as I work on some of my equipment. My newest arrival is the awe-inspiring AIWA TPR-910H from 1977 and it's not surprising how nice this little guy is. Just a hair bigger than a mini-boomer, but still slightly smaller than it's big brother the TPR-910, I think they were the only two AIWA Stereo Models for that year. I've added a 1976 AIWA CM-1016 Microphone that might have been used for some late night recordings.