1970s Mickey Mouse Record Player Demo and Rebuild

Mickey is once again able to bring us stories and music because a horribly engineered motor system was removed and replaced with a more modern version. I will demonstrate how I did it in this video. Now we can relive the memories!
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[@georgeprice4212]

OMG! The Mickey Mouse Close And Play! I remember seeing these!

[@ronschultz6336]

I’ve never seen a “Mickey mouse” record player like this, the one I had, was Mickey Mouse arm was the tone arm & the stylist was under Mickey’s hand 😊

[@kevtris]

we called these "close and gouge" (they called them "close 'n play") since it wasn't the best when it came to record longevity

[@shaunsiz.itsbetterbytube2858]

Love the Advert. Can you imagine Yes complete your sat up with the new uranium filters .

[@asn413]

my dad used to use the term "mickey mouse" to describe cheaply made things. Its interesting to see a literal example. way to go on the improvements!

[@musicnerd72]

Nice mod on that old thing!!! And BTW..... Looking super handsome in your channel pic! 😍

[@TheWASHINGMACHINEBOY]

9:47 i know what that noise is and what causes it: the motor connects and disconnects electrical contacts as the shaft spins to give the best magnetic properties to the coil of wire that the power is connected to, this creates an electrical disturbance (a humming sound) which the speaker turns into sound

[@briangoldberg4439]

neat. i like your style. i think maybe if i was going to do something like this, i would try to attach a metal disc to the bottom of the plastic one with a smaller diameter. that would 1) lift the whole thing up 2) allow you to mount the motor inboard from the edge of the platter, eliminating the need to cut out the plastic 3) add weight to the platter and reduce speed variations

[@TheDanno210]

Don’t recall if you’d said you replaced the stylus or not but likely all it needs to fix the tracking issues - probably a worn conical tip, coupled with tightly squeezed together grooves on that long-playing 7” disc. Great vid, creative repair!

[@digidoridvideos3672]

Very nice record player!

[@lasskinn474]

neat. the speed regulation is probably a lot of what made it fun to play with as a kid, make everyone speak like mickey mouse

[@obedbrinkman]

great work!

[@coondogtheman]

Cool record player and mod you did to get it working. Another mod I'd add is an audio out. I know it's mono and not the best audio quality but all of these kids players only have a speaker and no audio out.

[@TilmanBaumann]

That thing is gnarly

[@Capturing-Memories]

You should have kept the speed control knob by adding a potentiometer to its axis and connect it to the 3 legged potentiometer on the speed control board and get rid of the small potentiometer.

[@Dedicatedtolivinginthepast]

Man, I was unaware of none os this crazy modding you had to do to get this working! I would personally have made one switch control both the amp and the motor and just leave the dial for the volume and I would have put connectors for the 3V and 9V on the back so it didn't have to run off of batteries! I wonder what one of these would have sounded like when new! I might get one sometime and try to get it working with all the original design!

[@50shadesofbeige88]

2 in one day? Nice 👍.

[@LASERDISCDREAM]

Wow a mickey mouse turntable Player I wonder where you able to play just regular records?

[@rarbiart]

Whoever did rework for the top lid hinges set the mood for the further modifications (like the motor mod)

[@ninjamaster3453]

I really enjoyed this. I'm sure some people aren't into modding a vintage toy, but I am.

[@frankowalker4662]

Nice mod. Those rubber wheels are notorious for going bad. The rubber they used goes soft for a while, so it forms to whatever is touching it, then the rubber hardens, setting it to the new shape. It was used in many reel to reels back in the day for drive wheels and even belts.

[@SmithMrCorona]

Considering these things would been knocked around for a year or two by the the kids who had them, they were engineered just fine.

[@DAVIDGREGORYKERR]

Have you ever tried a NE556 as a output stage you know using one half as a clock and the other half as the modulator which would drive the speaker?

[@RCALivingStereo]

I have a few of these type kiddie players The speakers in these are only 3” and unfortunately won’t get the best sound quality out of them Is that speaker in that have that red plastic for a backing? If so you can swap it out with a regular 3” speaker or is that just a cover that protects the speaker?

[@robertgaines-tulsa]

If you wanted, you could get a voltage booster module to power the motor off of the 3 volts. You might even be able to take the power off the amplifier board where the old motor connections went so you could turn it on and off with the amplifier. I never had one of these record players. Back in the 80s, I just had a beige and blue Fisher-Price turntable. Eventually, the amplifier died on it something like 20 years ago. I didn't know about security bits or capacitors at the time, so it might have been an easy fix if I knew what the problem was. I'm sure I threw it out. I really don't have any interest in getting another one. I never got any loud, nor was the sound quality any better than a shoe box tape recorder. A Crosley probably would sound better. I doubt the Crosley would last ten years like the Fisher-Price did. A never had a Crosley.

[@BersekViking]

The turntable goes faster when the motor assembly is near the center of the turntable and slower at the edge. I think you said the opposite in your video. 😉

[@JackieWohlenhaus]

Junkman sent me.

[@isaiah4427]

'promosm' 😔

[@SmithMrCorona]

What a terrible design! Boomers needed the best hi-fi sounds for their Tweety Bird Singalong 45s - I can’t believe this product sold as-is. To say that the original mechanism was under performing, is putting it mildly. Any discerning post-war tot would have been disappointed. Mightily.