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My set of Lafayette catalogs and flyers (complete 1957-end, with a few from the late 30s to early 50s) are in my warehouse so I am glad Richard found these ads. Especially glad since it is great to find a suburban NYC paper on-line. I've needed access to ads like this for my research! Like Richard I was a regular at Lafayette, but at the Route 17 Paramus NJ store. I'd fill out a blank for parts I needed and turn it in to the counter and they NEVER had all of what I needed and I had to do a mail order anyway! My first ten reels of tape are Lafayette brand, bought in the Paramus store in Jan 1960 and STILL in fine playable condition. 1-1/2 mil acetate 1200 feet in a blue box. I have one Lafayette orange box 1 mil mylar 1800 feet and it also is in great playable condition. Lots of Jack Paar shows including his final Tonight Show. Mike Biel [log in to unmask] -------- Original Message -------- Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Need helping identifying a reel to reel deck From: "Richard L. Hess" <[log in to unmask]> Date: Wed, July 03, 2013 2:21 pm To: [log in to unmask] Hi, Peter, I remember going with my father to Lafayette Radio -- and later my mom took me -- when they were still in Jamaica, NY. They had a multi-story old factory-type building there--I remember an old wood water tower on it, but I could be mis-remembering. Later they moved to Syosset and expanded into a multi-store chain and then collapsed. For the Washington's Birthday Sale in 1968, they were selling the machine for $99.88 "Save Over $30". http://fultonhistory.com/newspaper%2010/Yonkers%20NY%20Herald%20Statesman/Yonkers%20NY%20Herald%20Statesman%201968%20%20Grayscale/Yonkers%20NY%20Herald%20Statesman%201968%20%20Grayscale%20-%201619.pdf Later, on May 1, 1968 they were advertising their Gala 47th Anniversary with this machine at $99.95 "Save $30". http://fultonhistory.com/newspaper%2010/Yonkers%20NY%20Herald%20Statesman/Yonkers%20NY%20Herald%20Statesman%201968%20%20Grayscale/Yonkers%20NY%20Herald%20Statesman%201968%20%20Grayscale%20-%201619.pdf It was a three-speed machine 1.88, 3.75, 7.5. The Sams Photofact is now available. I'm glad to see Sams has gotten with the program and is selling these as downloads...they would have had many fewer pirated versions out there if they had done this on day one! https://www.samswebsite.com/en/photofact/details/index/id/92447 COMMENTARY: I do not know who made this stuff for Lafayette, but the quality of most of their store-brand products was on the low end IMnsHO. The original "falling apart" is not a surprise. I doubt (m)any survive that will also not "fall apart" today. Sorry for the red herring of it being European--it felt that way, but yes, the 1/4-inch jacks mounted that way did feel wrong. So, what do the buttons do below? I think that triggered my thoughts as I don't think the Lafayette is an electrically remotable deck. If you are rebuilding the display, can you leave the broken machine visually (and maybe even get the reels to turn and do the actual audio in a solid state recorder behind the scenes? Cheers, Richard On 2013-07-03 1:30 PM, Peter Oleksik wrote: > Hi Richard, > Good sleuthing! It is from the Juan Downey piece. The original deck > fell apart and I am trying to track down a replacement or something > comparable. Thanks to Shai's Lafayette tip, I've been able to confirm that > it's a Lafayette RK815. Also, thanks to everyone who chimed in! > If anyone knows how I may be able to track down another RK815, please > let me know. It can be in any condition. > > Thanks! > Peter > > -- Richard L. Hess email: [log in to unmask] Aurora, Ontario, Canada 647 479 2800 http://www.richardhess.com/tape/contact.htm Quality tape transfers -- even from hard-to-play tapes.