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8/04/2010

Sony 8F-56W Vintage AM/FM Radio

This Sony Gem arrived recently.
Rare and Exceptional this Sony is classic, clean and great sounding for a tabletop unit built in Japan in 1973. 















Great find as I'm quite partial to old Sony gear. 
Ultra sleek styling for it's era.
The teak was aged so I sanded and oiled it to it's original tinting. An overall cleanup and some pots spray and its back to new. I replaced the bulbs...briefly thought about going with the blue bulbs...briefly! Went with the original bulbs. Just not the right unit to customize. I'll save that for a Carver or a similar unit. This little package has great tone and I'm sure its early sixties. Nice to see an old unit that has been taken care of so well.

5 comments:

  1. Great! Nice to see your radio. I was searching around for information on the Sony 8F-56W. Just yesterday I picked one out of the trash (shame!). It is in decent condition. It too needed a shot of pot cleaner. It is fine on AM but very insensitive on FM because of a broken FM antenna connection. There is a shielded wire that is connected to the tuning cap but the other end is just hanging. I don't know where it should be connected. I guess that the power cord is used as the FM antenna but I am not sure how it is used as the antenna. I am a bit reluctant to experiment. Could someone tell me to where it goes? Help is much appreciated.

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    1. Hey , I actually just picked one up at a thrift store for 7.99 because It just is the KoolEst thing Ever dude I totaly dog these old skool electronics and other vintage mem. Do you think it's worth fixing up cause maybe works fine except to the little lights , I don't Wanna deck it causE It is a little tatterd on the cloth but it sounds so good, do you reccomend repairing anything? This is deffenitly. Sticking with me but do you know how much these are worth, I thought it might have a value cause you took the time to put up these pics and repair yours, Please get back to me, chikko.morin@gmail.com thanks Shane

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  2. What is the year of this radio?

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    1. Hi fegravel...
      Sorry for the delay responding. This unit was Sony built in their Japan facility in 1973-1974. It was not a massive seller for them thus only two years of production. I think she's a beautiful unit.
      Thanks for your query!

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    2. Hey vintagesound! It's me again... 2 years later. I actually didn't remember I had ever commented on this. lol!

      I'm replacing the dial lamps in my unit (which has a black dial, maybe there was a change during production). I'm wondering what type of lamps they are? Do they have some sort of code?

      Have a nice day,

      Félix (fegravel)

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