Stuart, I have replaced more than a few Zeniths with BSR's. And VM's, out of
Benton Harbor. But are you sure those Zenith 78's weren't the infinitely
variable speed "Cobramatics?" They sure looked like 78 turntables but they
had a large pulley under the turntable with an idler that moved across the
face of the main pully under the turntable.
You could set the speed to anything between about 14 and 85 RPM, which was
very handy for folks who seemed to live at a different speed than the rest of
us. A music teacher who insisted middle A was exactly 422 cycles is one who
comes to mind. That gal would set her Cobramatic to her pitch pipe and then
complain about the tempo. Slow!
But probably the funniest thing I was involved in was a Professor who dragged
a high end 8 track in and spent about a half hour alternately bragging on his
wonderful player and demanding I fix it now. I finally gave in and took the
back off. The first thing that appeared was an Asahi Beer logo painted on
the chassis for all to see. Ol Baldy snatched up his player and stomped out
vowing wrath and destruction on the people who sold him the thing.
73 Pete Allen AC5E
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