Fortunately, a lot of useful information on specialized cleaning agents is out there on the web but be cautioned about the veracity of it – you’ll have no one to complain to on the ruined Bakelite case of your vintage radio.  Admittedly these cleaning agents are difficult to discuss in a book as they often go by different names in countries. For example, where the Americans woo their DeOxit, over here in Europe we have Tuner60 and Kontakt. The book in several places talks about using cleaners and lubricants in a general way, leaving the choice of the actual product to the reader, which seems right although a few pointers would have helped even if they were to products on the shelves in UK shops.

Beginner or old hand

I doubt if beginners get much value from the short backgrounders to the basic operation of 70’s and 80’s devices at the beginning of each chapter on equipment. A more direct or even aggressive approach to faultfinding and locating the culprit would have made more sense as that information is scarcer than the operation of, say, the dynamic microphone, or the gain distribution in a stereo amplifier complete with block diagrams. For the aggressive approach with a just a plain signal tracer and common sense, smell, touch and hearing, Bob Pease’s books are great, although with their US no-nonsense approach they may move too fast for the beginner.

The old hand at dabbling with vintage audio gear will find the introductory discussions limited at best, and the dedicated chapters on the tuner, turntable, amplifier, and cassette deck over worded and lacking in diagrams and photos.

Conclusion

Consider all the hours you spent on poking around in old audio gear without understanding what you were doing and inflicting even more  damage on that rare radio than when you first saw it. Instead, the time should have been spent on reading up on the stuff, and this is where the book is fully functional. It seems a long way from workshop creation through parts securing right up to desoldering a smoldering IC and proceed to making the radio play again! It is the way to go though and will pay off in the end, including the investment in the book. Reading from books pays off, as does putting them aside and solder with confidence.

Retro Audio – a Good Service Guide, by Paul Hetrelezis, ISBN 978-1-907920-58-5, available from the Elektor Store.