Monday, November 15, 2010

GRUNDIG MAJESTIC 8090

Bumped from an earlier post.



This picture is actually more like the one I have, except the reel-to-reel is not a part of the unit. Apparently it did not come with the model, it had to be special ordered. So I have a section with sleeves for the vinyl records on the left, and the turntable is on the right. But this looks pretty much like the one I have. As you can see, it's a beautiful piece, regardless of it's operational capabilities!


I know this is a tiny picture, but trust me, I am having a difficult time in finding out anything about this piece except that someone has/had a service manual online (in supposed mint condition) selling for about 7 bucks on Ebay.

What IS cool, is that this very model is sitting in the basement of my office, and it's been there for years for anyone to just take. I didn't realize the items OUTSIDE of the storage area are like junk you leave on the corner outside of your apartment/house and someone who wants it usually picks it up.

This is not just a stereo, but it is an early version of a recorder. As in tape or vinyl of something. I looked at the little pull out part, and it had knobs labeled bass, treble, record, etc. which is not what one would find on just your basic old school hi fi system. Plus, it's free! As soon as I can, I am getting some guys to haul it to my house, and I'll dust it up, and for the time being, it will be a table/shelf (and I'll move the one that occupies the space this will go into my dining room area). I might even buy the service manual and see what I can do to even start this sucker. It has a turntable, and space for your vinyl albums.

Man, this is so old school! Grundig was the name back in the day. We even owned a reel-to-reel personal tape recorder in the 1950's and taped family things, such as we kids singing like the Lennon Sisters (laughs, already posted about them).

I think this is a fabulous find, and if anyone can get me information about this model (other than the gazillion links to the Ebay service manual) I'd be greatly appreciative!

4 comments:

Carrie said...

Way cool!

Arno said...

You said Morocco!

That's a beautiful item to just be there for you! I've looked meself for details on it with no success. I'm a little bit of a radio type, Grundig and Radifunk are the ones I came in contact with back in that day. It looked like it had an empty side for a tape rig on the right of the console. Does the turntable work?

Something fine.

Carrie said...

Yeah, it's funny to see where my hits come from!

As for the piece, no, I have not tried to turn it on just yet. I am a bit particular of just plugging something into my electrical sockets when I don't know much about the unit. I have to look at stuff about it. But even if the turntable turns, there is no needle kit in the arm, so unless I can find a true replacement, I am going to try and see how I can just simply convert it into a stereo unit, with a turntable, radio access, and maybe a cassette unit where the reel to reel would have been.

I was just stunned by the beauty of the piece, first, and fell more in love with it once I realized it was a musical system.

Anonymous said...

Just picked up the same model on Craigslist - not working but in great shape. I have all the paperwork here, including operating instructions. There is a whole envelope of paperwork and receipts.

What I've gleaned so far is it is the Grundig Majestic Stereo Console SO 191U (followed by a little #1)

Stereo, Record Changer, Reel to Reel Tape deck. This one appears to have been sold new in 1961 - I'll let you know if I come across anything interesting when I get through all this stuff. Feel free to email me if you have any specific questions.
anthony@starmafia.com