Pioneer CT-F9191

[cowboygames]

Hi All, not a jukebox, but it plays music, does that count? I've got this Pioneer cassette player from the mid '70s and the thing doesn't play. It came from a friend who's having health issues and would like to enjoy it again before he can't. He'd been told the drive motor was probably bad. Upon opening it up the first thing I found was that the shop that had it for 3 years had disconnected the power lead to the drive motor and all the belts are pretty well shot. A belt kit I can get, but I can't tell where the power lead on the motor was pulled from to test the motor itself. The lead drops near a buss bar mounted on the top back side of the cassette mechanism framework, but without drawings I don't want to just hook it up to something and hope it's right. Does anyone have any wiring info laying around on these? A mechanical breakdown would be great for belt replacing. Any info on where parts might be available if needed beyond the belt kit? As always, thanks in advance for any and all help.

[StatFreak]

I can't help, but thanks for the trip down memory lane. I almost bought a CT-F9000 at one point, but I decided that it was more show than go with the florescent display and memory and all that.

My uncle still has a CT-F1000 (although I think it finally died) which I wanted badly but was never able to find for sale at the time. Almost every feature on it was designed to improve or tailor the sound rather than pander to consumer tastes in gadgetry. It had two large double input knobs for recording levels: one LR knob for mic and one for line, and had two 1/4" inputs on the front panel. It used mechanical fast-response meters that started at -40db (or lower?), not -20. Automatic tape retention and Cr sensor, two Dolby settings, filters, 1khz reference tone and adjustments, Bias voltage adjustments...  and all on the front panel !

You could put in a new tape, record some reference tone, play it back and make adjustments, and have the deck tweaked for that particular cassette and ready to record – all in just a couple of minutes.