Naked Continental 101 -Norelco Vintage Tape Recorder

The Norelco Continental 101 vintage tape recorder dating from approx. 1964 is documented in this video along with "naked" views of the internal workings of the machine. It was advertised as a "professional quality" portable tape recorder, and sold in the amazing price range of $79 to $129! Considering that many full size stereo reel to reel tape recorders sold for about the same price (i.e. Emerson-Telectro, Webcor, Estey tape recorders, etc.) with many more features, it seems that Norelco had a very high opinion and expectations of the Continental 101 vintage tape recorder. As vintage audio, it deserves to be cataloged for historical reference due to its quality and rarity.

This unit was found in the trash. It had battery leakage and some water damage. Some of the rubber drive parts had actually melted (a common complaint with vintage electronics - they didn't always use quality rubber for the parts) and were replaced with plumber's "O" rings. One special feature was the use of a rubber belt to control both rewind and back tension when in the record or playback mode. This belt has been stretched beyond operational limits and was replaced temporarily with a rubber band (not the best solution, but it did restore function to the machine).

Although touted as a "professional quality" machine, the Continental 101 vintage tape recorder only ran at 1 -7/8 ips, a very slow operational speed notorious for poor high frequency response. Not surprisingly, the amplifier, even as vintage electronics, was only rated at: 80 - 8,000 HZ, a specification that today would be considered ludicrous with today's technology.

The machine ran on 6 "D" batteries and weighed 7 pounds making it one of the heaviest portable vintage reel to reel tape recorders around. Part of this is due to the weight of the batteries, but admittedly, some weight is from the heavy capstan flywheel, which helped ensure a very accurate tape speed.

The Norelco Continental 101 was something of a pioneering machine however. It is very possible that the research and development that went into the design of the tape recorder was later adapted in the first Norelco cassette recorders, which also ran at the slow 1- 7/8 ips speed. The hi fidelity response was greatly improved as the cassette recorder gained acceptance and blossomed in the garden of technology, so much so that such machines are still widely available today.

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The musical selection the Norelco Continental 101 vintage reel to reel tape recorder plays is called "The Running Brook", track 4 of the CD titled "Forestdale, Tone Poems Inspired by Nature" available from ClydeSight Productions. http://www.clydesight.com/forestdale/ . The recording heard on playback was actually recorded with the Norelco Continental 101 vintage tape recorder; however, the stereo interludes are from the CD master file.

Visit ClydeSight for more software products, Bryce tutorials, games, stories and cat lovers gear!
http://www.clydesight.com

And while you are there, check out our Web pages on the restoration of the Wollensak 5750 vintage reel-to-reel tape recorder!
http://www.clydesight.com/wollensak_reel_to_reel_tape_recorder/


The video is intended for educational purposes and historical reference. The vintage reel to reel tape recorder is NOT FOR SALE.

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• reel
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• vintage
• tape
• recorder
• Norelco
• electronics
• audio
• technology

[JerryFreilich]

I owned one of these from 1964 till sometime in the 70's. Yes, it was considered pretty "high end" at the time and they had very spiffy ads in the New Yorker magazine and elsewhere. I remember it had very good sound for the time... and also, a very unusual and distinctive smell! Thanks for posting this vid! (Do away with the big yellow titles, they are not needed and distracting!)

[clydesight]

@JerryFreilich  Thank you for your comments and for watching the video!

[Featureman]

I owned a Norelco tape recorder in 1963 or 1964. It was a sound on sound unit which made home multitracking possible. It had several speeds. 7 and a half, 3 and three quarters and 1 and seven eighths and 15 16ths. It was amazing for its era. I am so happy now with multitrack low cost software.

[clydesight]

@Featureman

Digital makes things much easier, once you figure it out (not all software is intuitive, as you probably know). that 15/16ths speed was probably not very useful for music, but it works great for voice extended time recordings.

Norelco made some excellent machines in their time. We owe them a debt for coming out with a workable compact cassette, they changed everything with that!

Nevertheless, Reel to reel is also very nice and wonderful too.

[phogroian]

My parents bought one in the 60s that I had from '75 to about '92. Very well built. I remember opening it up a few times to clean/make adjustments. It got lost between moves a year or so bofore I got married in '93. Who knows, maybe yours is the one!

[clydesight]

@phogroian They built these to last! I got my machine from a trash bin in a college. It belonged to the Speech department and when they cleaned out their offices, they tossed this.

[clydesight]

It was a very nice machine in its day. Expensive though. I remember they sold in 1967 for around $100!

Out of my budget, that's for sure.

[DSM1G90]

When I found out about the 4inch size, I took full advantage of the extra 150 feet that could be used. Thus, I went crazy in buying tape in this reel size...until 1967 when I finally got a 7inch, 3speed machine. Then the C-101 was used on occasion. I used to record a lot of stuff off the radio using the patch cord that one can use, but that really ate down the batteries since the REC level had to be turned up.

[clydesight]

Thanks for the comment! The cases on these things all seem to have turned yellow by now! I see them in E-Bay once in a while. There is a knock off machine done in "powder blue".

Yes, these machines do take 4-inch reels, though 4-inch reels are pretty rare these days!

[DSM1G90]

I still have my Continental 101 that I got for Christmas of 1964. Shows some age, the top cover has a small crack, case has yellowed some, but still functions.

The frequency range for the 101 was quite high at 1.875ips being almost at 10k when using a good Scotch 120 tape. Philips did a great job with the electronics..and they carried this over to the Continental 150 cassette recorder that came out the following year.

Oh, it will also do 4inch reels.