A mate of mine picked up this grimy Sharp GF-9191X from his local bootsale for me, it cost just 50p. I've seen some disgusting ones before but this really is the pits .
Radio works fine, capstan turns strongly but the tape spools don't move.
When the power off/tape button is touched or pressed there is a loud "motorboating" hum noise when in tape play mode probably due to all the filth inside the switch.
The whole machine is a dirty bronze colour and has no damage or scratches anywhere. It doesn't smell of smoke or anything at all, I thought it would have stunk of cigarette smoke judging by the colour of it.
It's not a European model, the power cord has a funny looking square plug.
I can't imagine what it'll be like inside but I'll have a look tomorrow and post some more pics.

Some of the boxes you guys find are like prisoners of war. They have givin up for dead. Then someone who has a love for them finds em. I will never be a huge collector. But I will say this. For those who are in search of a find. And once you find em. You'll do good by them. That is a bum looking for a bath. Once you take care of it.... I believe it wont let you down.

Nice score

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Fuzzyduck, that 9191 looks like it has great potential. Looks like it just needs a lot of cleaning and polishing, heck even the antennas look good.

It looks like it will be really nice after you clean it up. The 9494 that Fatdog recently cleaned up had a similar look to it to start with and it cleaned up like new. You did really well to find this one.

That box is going to clean up real well.
you will be surprized the shine that is hiding under all that grime.
Congrats that is awesome

a dammn good find for 50p a mars bar or a gf9191
good luck on the cleanup itll be worth it.
happy

Clean it new and maybe get 4+ beans us money for it??

Time to invest in the Q-Tip Corporation...

Looks nice,other than being dirty. I'm sure you will have it cherried out before we know it.

Speaking of that, Skip, check PM.

Yo!

That looks great!

Most of my near-mintballers were dirtier than that!

How does the sound of these compare to a GF-9090?

Can't wait to see the results!

it looks as though it has been in a kitchen or
maybe a chip shop

Soapy water, Automotive plastic cleaner and wax, Q-tips, cotton swaps and cloth bits, and a bunch of elbow grease later, that thing will GLEAM!

I find plenty like that - in fact, they are more the exception than the rule here in Hong Kong. I pass up on the worst, but don't hesitate to get one whose only flaw is some dirt/grime. After a while, you get used to looking past the easily-removable grime and just paying attention to the stuff that matters: Is the chrome pitted beyond what will easily wipe away? Are there scratches into/through the paint? Worn-away paint areas? Broken or missing bits? Those things won't wash away like dirt will. If the box passes all those tests, it will clean up just great.

Yours looks like a winner, and for 50p, heck, you practically stole it! [Although you'll earn it in the end, through the time and effort spent restoring it.] Well done!

Not that big challenge for our Amanda.
I know she will make this one minty
Lookin' forward to the pics

give you a pound and you would have doubled your money,(only joking)

The Force is strong within this box. I can't wait to see it shine! Only 50p?! Man, I keep hoping karma will come my way like that...

When you mentioned "FILTHY BEAST"...i thought you meant me
There may be a few cigarette butts inside.

Great replies everyone, thanks a lot!
I gave my mate a fiver for picking it up for me, he's a really sweet old guy.

I opened it up today and it's not all that bad inside, I was expecting wildlife and stuff.
So far I have completely stripped and cleaned the front half which was easy as it only holds the speakers. All the grime came away with hot soapy water and a toothbrush, it's a very easy machine to work on.
There's a couple of small scratches on the underside of the front and a small scuff near the power button but there's nothing missing.
I'll get to work on the back half tomorrow which will need to have all the electronics removed, the handle is a biohazard.

I've been working on it all afternoon and it's cleaning up well. It was chewing tapes and sounding funny, the pinch roller had turned rock hard and it works fine now with a good one from my spares.
Previously when playing a tape there was a loud hum from the right channel but not when playing the radio. It was still happening no matter how many times I cleaned the switches, I could get it to stop by moving the tape switch from normal to Cr02 position but it always came back after a few seconds with the corresponding VU meter going all the way over to the right.
After changing the pinch roller I played a tape and the hum had completely gone, I didn't touch anything else at all, very weird!!!
It'll be all back together tomorrow so more pics coming!

Exelent score fuzzy im sure it will be good as new when yr done.

I can hardly wait to see the pics of it cleaned up, Fuzzyduck!

quote:

Originally posted by Retro Addict:
I can hardly wait to see the pics of it cleaned up, Fuzzyduck!

OK, all done at last and working great. All the brown crap washed off completely, it looks almost mint now!

INCREDIBLE!! Great job!

I'm jealous of that 9191...

Look at the difference - WOW!

BEFORE:


AFTER:

OH MAMA!!!!

What a job, well done!

yes you can tell night from day job well done as all these bbx needed at some point a good cleaning to get them back to good looking again

Oh, yes! That's the beauty I thought was underneath the grime. Nice work, you have a real nice 9191 now, they sure are a pretty box.

quote:

Originally posted by MasterBlaster84:
Nice work, you have a real nice 9191 now, they sure are a pretty box.

...better looking than an M70 IMO.

Great cleaning job Amanda

That is spectacular!

Quack Quack!!! She is beautiful! Nice cleanup!

Awesome
I knew that it would gleam once again!!!
Great Job.

Wow is all I can say from a ugly duckly to a beautiful swan!!

Those speakers could they be bleached?

I know Fatdog has a thread about that.

Absolutely inspirational work there! A standard to aim for in cleaning up old boxes, for sure, and congratulations on saving/restoring another one of these old, usually all-too-neglected boxes. GREAT JOB!!!

Love the look of those 9191s, too!

Hhhhmmmm...

Kind of makes you wonder about modern society. People treat even decent things like junk after a while, throw them away when they just get dirty and/or "stop working right" (which in the case of boomboxes usually takes 1/2 hour with DeOxit to fix!), and they sometimes throw out perfectly working things just to "update" to a trendier model.

This may help keep the economy turning over, but it is wasteful and bad for the environment. These older things often can be easily brought back to life, looking and working great once again. When I look at the stuff that gets thrown out sometimes (I check the nearest scrap-recycling place regularly), it sometimes just amazes and sickens me a little. You just know that for some of the stuff, someone, somewhere, would LOVE to have it, and perhaps someone is even at the same moment paying for one, even while a good one is being wasted.

In this day of computers and the net, we ought to be able to come up with a more efficient way to reduce this waste, beyond just eBay. Oh, well... just a thought.

I think we may need a new name for master clean-ups. How about the Drippyduck Treatment!
Very very sparkly Fuzzy! KUDOS

quote:

Some of the boxes you guys find are like prisoners of war. They have givin up for dead. Then someone who has a love for them finds em. I will never be a huge collector. But I will say this. For those who are in search of a find. And once you find em. You'll do good by them. That is a bum looking for a bath. Once you take care of it.... I believe it wont let you down.

Nice score

Great post Godsmacked1068!


Thanks for the compliments guys!
I didn't expect it to clean up so good, I originally thought that the crud had got right into the paintwork and wouldn't come out.

Retro Addict, the 9191 has a nice rich sound but I can't compare it to a 9090 as I've never heard one. There was one at my local dump a while back but was completely wrecked so I had to leave it.

Arkay, it sickens me bigtime whenever I go to my local dump and see all the stuff that's been thrown out, luckily it's a very small site and the guys always save radios for me. The modern throwaway attitude is a tragedy.
I do wish I could find as many radios as you do, I don't have any other hobbies so I'd just spend all my time restoring and selling them to people who appreciate and care for them.

Another sterking effort, Fuzzy. You must feel justly proud

My money is on it having spent an extended period in some fast food place too, probably playing the radio at a sensible volume.

How's the deck? From your original description, it may need a new idler wheel, like many of the Sharp GFs...

quote:

Originally posted by isolator42:
Another sterking effort, Fuzzy. You must feel justly proud

My money is on it having spent an extended period in some fast food place too, probably playing the radio at a sensible volume.

How's the deck? From your original description, it may need a new idler wheel, like many of the Sharp GFs...

Thanks Isolator!
Oddly enough there were no smells of cooking or cigarettes at all.
The deck is fine now. It was chewing tapes due to the the pinch roller having turned rock hard, I also changed one of the belts. The loud hum has now stopped for some unknown reason.

wow fantastic job fuzzy, minty
mine has a hum to might give it a service and see if it fixes the hum to

Superbly stupendous!!! I knew that box would shine like new. Great job, Fuzzy!

Real good job!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am not FILTHY! I take a hot shower every morning...i swear!

quote:

Originally posted by Fuzzyduck:
...The deck is fine now. It was chewing tapes due to the the pinch roller having turned rock hard, I also changed one of the belts. The loud hum has now stopped for some unknown reason.

TLC works wonders on these things, eh?
...of course I mean't "sterling", not sterking...

Hi Fuzzy - excellent work on the 9191 - I was wondering - is it easy to change a pinch roller in one of these? I think this is the problem with my 9191 - I have a couple of potential donor boxes (slightly later sharps) - I'd need to check to see whether they are the same type, but this may have inspired me to fix it because I was a bit stuck with this one!