Silvertone Model 8072 Tape Recorder (Reel to Reel) Schematic Needed

[Wittgenstein]

Over the weekend I picked up an old Silvertone Model 8072 Tape Recorder (Reel to Reel) for $8. I have yet to see if it works or not because I do not have any tapes, but I am having a hell of a time finding any more information about this model. Searches are pulling up radios and phonographs made by Silvertone with the same model number, but I cannot find anything about the tape recorder. If anyone has this schematic or knows where to find it I would be very appreciative.

Depending on its condition and what needs to be fixed, I was thinking about converting it into a small (less than 5W) guitar amp for a buddy who is amp-less.

[g1]

photofact schematic here ($5 seems reasonable): Silvertone 8070 8072 Tape Recorder PhotoFact | eBay

[Wittgenstein]

photofact schematic here ($5 seems reasonable): Silvertone 8070 8072 Tape Recorder PhotoFact | eBay

Meh.... I did see that but I am not down to spend $6.25 shipped for a piece of paper that should be freely shared information. If I did buy this I would be sure to leek it everywhere on the web and try to run the ebay sellers out of business. I'd pay a dollar to just have a photo of that and not the artifact.

[Jazz P Bass]

I don't know but $6.25 is cheap when what you have now is nothing.
And why should it be freely shared?
I know, buy it from the EBay seller & post it here so the next guy will find it for free.

[Wittgenstein]

And why should it be freely shared?

A schematic for an electronic device sold at Sears in the 50's should be in public domain.

I know, buy it from the EBay seller & post it here so the next guy will find it for free.

That's what I'm saying. I would rather freely share any information I can find than try to make a buck off it. If that was not the case than Enzo would be rich and the forums empty.

[Jazz P Bass]

I'll split it with you.

[g1]

Usually I would agree with you about paying for schematics, and I try to avoid posting links to schematics for sale.
This time I made an exception for a few reasons:
-this is a fairly obscure unit and the odds of finding a free schematic on the web are not good, believe me I tried.
-in my experience, free photofacts are rare, I don't know if they are still copyrighted or what, but I only see them for very old radios.
-the seller is selling the original photofact, not copies, and at a reasonable price. I don't get the impression they will keep selling copies after this one is gone.
Hopefully someone here will have this photofact and post it, but I think the original factory service manual is probably unobtainium.

[Wittgenstein]

Right on... I do appreciate the link. I think I will give a day or two to see if anyone has a copy lying around. If not I will just buy the photofact, scan it, and share it here as well as elsewhere on the webs. I figured I would be out of luck when I had a hard time even finding one other picture of this model, let alone specs, schematics, etc..

I will have a chance to open it up tonight, so I will be sure to post some pictures (including gut shots). I really like the styling of equipment from back in the 50's and this Silvertone is no exception.

[Enzo]

Well, I sure ain't rich.

Are you familiar with Photofact? Sams Photofact was a standard of the TV and electronics repair industry for decades. They provided the schematics, the parts layout, voltage readings, repair procedures, parts lists, etc. It's a booklet, like a nice Yamaha or Roland manual. They put a lot of time and energy into it, and the charge is pretty reasonable, I think. They made schematics available that would not have been around at all for many products.

If A customer brought you an amp you'd never seen before and asked you to drawn him up a schematic from it and a layout and a parts list and note useful voltage readings on the schematic, would you give that work away?

The schematic may or may not be in the public domain, this is a book about the product.

[km6xz]

Are you sure it is a 8072? The Radio Museum has it listed, with photos, schematics and parts layout, as a turntable/radio system. There was a 8070 tape recorder.

Enzo is right, the Photofact was a creation of Sam's, it did not simply copy a schematic from Sears or the company who made it for Sears, possible Airline-Wards or if more expensive, Webcor.
Sams had a technical department that took apart the unit and created original hand drawings of all wiring and details, traced out their own schematics, parts lists and a lot of signal and voltage levels at test points they choose. That way, by learning the Sam's way of diagrams, parts call outs, test points etc for one brand or model, worked for all models. It was quite an investment in time and talent to create them. So, as original works, are copyrighted and still are. If you want free, maybe an old Sears in-house tech will send you a copy of the official Sears schematic. Being for in-house use, it will not have all the additional information that the Sams PhotoFact had.

I imagine that Wittgenstein publishes all his original songs or records into public domain also. Any links to your best original songs?

Scrapping a potential collector item for a little 2 watt marginal performance amplifier seems like a bad use of time and resources, building a small two tube amp would be cleaner and work better for its intended purpose. It is sort of like junking a old collectable car because someone wanted to repurpose its leaf springs or gas tank.

[Wittgenstein]

Are you familiar with Photofact? Sams Photofact was a standard of the TV and electronics repair industry for decades. They provided the schematics, the parts layout, voltage readings, repair procedures, parts lists, etc. It's a booklet, like a nice Yamaha or Roland manual. They put a lot of time and energy into it, and the charge is pretty reasonable, I think. They made schematics available that would not have been around at all for many products. The schematic may or may not be in the public domain, this is a book about the product.

Ahhh.... I was not familiar with Photofact or Sams, but that makes it a much easier decision especially if it has parts layout, voltage reading, how-to fix, etc... I was under the assumption it was the booklet that came directly from Silvertone / Sears back in the day. Thanks for the info!

[Wittgenstein]

Are you sure it is a 8072? The Radio Museum has it listed, with photos, schematics and parts layout, as a turntable/radio system. There was a 8070 tape recorder.

Yes, it says right on the unit Model 8072. I did open it up last night to find there is a schematic and parts list glued to the inside in a very awkward to read position. I still think I will opt to buy the Sams book now knowing what it is.

I imagine that Wittgenstein publishes all his original songs or records into public domain also. Any links to your best original songs?

I am not opposed to sharing my original works, but sadly I do not have any at this point, or at least not recorded. I am a huge fan of Creative Commons however.

Scrapping a potential collector item for a little 2 watt marginal performance amplifier seems like a bad use of time and resources, building a small two tube amp would be cleaner and work better for its intended purpose. It is sort of like junking a old collectable car because someone wanted to repurpose its leaf springs or gas tank.

I picked this unit up for $8 and it is currently not working. I suppose that I could try to fix it up, but then it would be just sitting in my basement as a "collector item" not being used, not to mention the cost of tapes if I did try to use it. Looking at it last night I noticed it uses a 6V6 power tube, and 12ax7 + 12au7a preamp tubes which makes it easy for me to convert. Do you really think it is that "collectable" or "valuable" to not repurpose? I guess I just see these (not this particular model) on sale quite often, this one just was cheap enough I figured I couldn't go wrong.

[Wittgenstein]

Here are a few pictures that I took last night. I need to borrow a good DSLR camera from someone to try and take a better shot of the schematic. The print is so small that I can barely read it, especially since it is located in a awkward spot.

[Wittgenstein]

Sam's PhotoFact Silvertone 8072

As promised, here is a pdf scan of the Sam's PhotoFact for a Silvertone models 8070 & 8072 Tape Recorder.

[tubula]

Hi,
I was wondering if you had any success converting your silvertone 8072 reel to reel into
a guitar amp. I just picked one up and, while the belts have fallen off or come loose, it
appears to be in pretty good shape.
I noticed, after taking the grill off that covers the tubes, that one of the tube holders tilts
back when pushed on. I haven't taken the chassis out of the cabinet yet, and was wondering
if this is normal or if that tube socket got knocked loose. I have no idea how it could have
unless an old rivet just fell apart or something. The unit shows no signs of abuse so it seems odd.
Also, I was wondering if those 4 screws on the bottom are all you have to take out to remove
the chassis. I guess I'll try it and see, but I'm just wondering what kind of luck you had with it.
I may either try to convert it to a guitar amp, or trade it to someone else who wants to do that with it.
Anyway, back to my point. (1) Just wondering if you had any luck with it or ran into any snags, mainly with regard to guitar amp conversion.
(2) Whether yours has a 'tilt to the side' tube socket/holder, and (3) if removing those 4 screws on the bottom
allows the chassis to come out.
Thanks,
Tubula