Columbia Stereogram 5396 - When was it made?

[PMurrills]

Hello,

This is my first post here so please be gentle!

I bought a stereogram last year, and despite it being made of melamine-faced MDF I truly love it.

The model number is 5396 - it came with all original paperwork, spare styli etc and is in excellent overall condition. The only thing I really want to know is the year it was manufactured, and I can't seem to find this information out.

I know it's not important in the grand scheme of things, but it niggles me constantly! If anyone out there is able to shed some light on this rather unimportant trifle I would be forever grateful.

Many thanks in advance, and thanks for having me

Just in case you wanted to see the thing.

[rontech]

A quick google search for "Columbia Stereogram 5396" gave a date of 1960.

[PMurrills]

Yes, I've seen that but I don't think that's reliable, it's a listing for one for sale and on one hand it says '1960', then further in the listing it states '1960's' so I can't be sure 1960 is the actual year of manufacture.

[vidjoman]

The original papers probably are dated.

[Herald1360]

Yes, look for any copyright dates. Failing that, some components were dated- back then probably only large can type capacitors. Either source of date won't say when it was actually made, though, just a date before which it couldn't have been. You might possibly find a dated test sticker or the like inside.

A close up pic of the record deck may help- it looks later than 1960 to me.

[Edward Huggins]

Your Radiogram (Stereogram) comes from 1967/68. It's all transistor and was made by Thorn using their rarely used rights to the Columbia brand. I can't quite see enough detail, but the autochanger might be a Garrard 3000. If it is, that's a good deck.

[PMurrills]

The turntable is a BSR C129 I believe. Can't get a closeup as I'm at work at the moment!

Originally Posted by Edward Huggins

Your Radiogram (Stereogram) comes from 1967/68. It's all transistor and was made by Thorn using their rarely used rights to the Columbia brand. I can't quite see enough detail, but the autochanger might be a Garrard 3000. If it is, that's a good deck.

Edward - thank you for that information, where did you find it? Sadly not a Garrard table, BSR... but it works right enough

[Techman]

Originally Posted by Edward Huggins

Your Radiogram (Stereogram) comes from 1967/68. It's all transistor and was made by Thorn

Yes, I pretty much agree that this is late 60s, possibly even 1970. The earlier post stating 1960 is a good example of how a google search often throws up nonsensical information put on line by others who don't really know the answer, then someone finds it and passes it on, and on - and so it goes. I've seen that radio control panel in other radiograms, possibly Alba, from around the same date. As said, the instruction book may well have a print date code somewhere, possibly at the bottom of the rear cover.

[PMurrills]

Thanks for helping out with this, very grateful for your input. I've checked the paperwork and couldn't find any dates, unless there is some kind of code I need to decipher somehow. I haven't actually opened it up and looked inside the back of the unit because I'm not electronically minded but I may well have a butchers this week and see if anything is there which will give me a certain date.

On a side note - the power/volume and tone control dials are a bit scratchy when turned (audible from speakers) and the tone control in particular seems to drift in and out of wherever it's set to. Is there something simple to remedy these issues, perhaps a simple clean will help?

[paulsherwin]

It certainly has a late 60s look to it, so Edward is probably correct.

You should clean all the controls and switches with contact cleaner such as Servisol 10 (not ordinary WD40). Squirt some inside through a hole or gap.

[PMurrills]

Thanks again everyone for your input on this, you've all been very helpful. Took a couple of pics of the TT and the back of the paperwork so thought I'd share in case it gives any extra info.

[vidjoman]

Dated 5.72 on the book. That's the publication date of the book.

[Radio Wrangler]

At the same time Thorn were turning out loads of other models of stereograms under their Ferguson brand. It's highly likely that it shares a chassis with one of them. Photos of the controls/tuning scale and of the insides may help someone recognise what you have.

David

[paulsherwin]

Originally Posted by vidjoman

Dated 5.72 on the book. That's the publication date of the book.

Indeed. That's very late for a British made stereogram.

[PMurrills]

I didn't even register that as being a date - how stupid do I feel. That does sound late, could it be a later reprint? Seems unlikely. However I'm of the understanding that 'British Radio Corporation' was renamed as 'Thorn Consumer Electronics' in 1970. The more you find out, the more confusing things become!

@ Paul Sherwin - you mentioned Servisol as a means to clean the switches and knobs - do you know the best way to do that? Do I need to try and remove the knobs and spray down into them from the outside? Apologies for all the questions, I'm a massive novice

[paulsherwin]

You need to get the cleaner into the internal moving parts of the controls. Spraying it on the outside will achieve nothing.

If you really have zero expertise with these things, it may be better to pay a professional to service it for you. A number of forum members offer restoration services and could do the work.

[PMurrills]

I have a guy locally who runs a TV repair shop, but also deals with vintage audio equipment. I can contact him and find out if he could give it the once over, not sure if he does home visits though and it's a bit of a lump to drag round to his shop. Thanks for suggesting though, I'll see what he says.

[ben]

Definitely early 70s. That c129 deck with plastic arm was typical of the period, mostly used in lower end stuff like fidelity. It was the successor to the UA25. They changed the model prefix from UA to C around that time, I do have the date in a book somewhere.

[PMurrills]

Thanks Ben, yeah it's not the best turntable, no doubt about that haha! I think it might be a C109 though, rather than C129 but whatever. It plays my old records pretty well, but if I put any modern electronica on it (Leftfield for example) it literally can't cope with the low end at all!

[ben]

Sorry, you're quite right, I did mean c109!

You could always upgrade it to a c141R, or MA70, which have better arms and antiskate and should play pretty much anything. The deck cutout is the same so it'd be a drop-in swap. You'd have to check that the motor does not supply the AC for the amp though, which was sometimes the case. Unlikely in a radiogram but you never know.