What is this Radio Shack EQ Everybody's Talking About?

[vvv]

(Lemme note the seller made good.)

Now, who wantsa buy this EQ?

I'll not accept less than, say, US$500.00.

I may not accept more ...


On second thought, nope, not for sale, it's ALL MINE.

[germaniac]

. . . I almost convinced 'em all this thing is a fake - whaddya tryna do? . . .

Apparently no one has noticed that, where you failed, I have succeeded completely. I'm now choosing to reveal the evil brilliance of my original plan only because in the meantime I bought up the last RS "super EQs" remaining on the market and now own twelve of roughly thirty (so I'm told) that were ever produced. Pix available soon. Not for sale. Rentals possibly considered.

Mwah-ah-ah. . . .

[leigh]

(Somebody called you an "atheist," then you said to me they'll probably call me an atheist too, so I requoted to you what you said to the first guy. . . .)

That was me - although I didn't call Derrick an atheist, I merely asked if he was one, after he said "Till I see one, it doesn't exist."

And then I clarified in my subsequent post that there's nothing wrong with it if he was an atheist (as I am myself).

Let the record also show that Derrick claims to have seen God.

[leigh]

To all the doubters: if the Radio Shack 7-band blackface EQ doesn't exist, then how did my buddy send his to Black Lion Audio a few weeks ago to get modded?

Still trying to get some before and after audio clips from him.

[Rob Coates]

Foolery, schmoolery. The 7-band, black-face, Realistic EQ:

I'd put up $100 vs. anyone who says it's a fake. Any takers?

I hope yer messin' around, I really do.

That's the one I just bought - the very one!

It's a plastic face - see the broke part on the two left sliders? Also, note how the face is a plastic shoe-box-like lid fitted on the front of the metal box.

It's a vertical circuit board inside mounted on the back of the face with no inductors, and a 10-pin ribbon cable on the back to attach it to a Realistic receiver. I believe it's basically useless without the receiver, certainly not worth even trying to mod to have output jacks and power in.

I'm not above larfin' at me, I got taken, see here for a description (last post), here is the one I bought.

For added larfs, here is my bitchin' at the seller (a pawn shop).

1st bitch:

Dear ***,

Item is not in "excellent" condition; has broken faceplate missing the broken part and your statement, "Power cord not included" was deceptive in that it does not advise that same is a special cord as opposed to a standard power cord and same is not clear in the picture you posted which hides the jack end..

1st response:

Dear mmmeeevvv,

I am sorry to hear that you are not satisfied with yuor purchase, we think that some one who specifically searches for this unit would know the type of power that is needed; about the cosmetic damage, I think that may have happened during shipping.

If the unit is not working out for you, you can send it back for a full refund

My reply:

Dear ***,

Upon magnification and review of the first picture, the broken face-plate is visible by the first two sliders.

Your statement, "we think that some one who specifically searches for this unit would know the type of power that is needed" is offensive. I think that someone such as yourself selling such a unit would/should note that it is specifically intended to match a certain receiver; at the least you could have been accurate in stating it is a ribbon, not a "power cord", and not concealed the same under the unit for photographs. And BTW, I did no "specific" searching for this particular unit; I wanted a 7 band general-use Realistic equalizer, not knowing that you would be selling a unit that requires other related equipment to function, which fact you also failed to note/did conceal.

Let me state further that your postage charge ($25.00!) was ridiculous, and un-noticed by me as I made the purchase somewhat in haste, relying upon the text - while I have had good luck in all but 2 of the 40+ purchases I have made in the last 9 months, this one is a reminder to not trust sellers such as yourself to accurately describe merchandise, its condition, or to be fair with shipping charges, including you apparent expectation that I bear the cost of return shipping.

You clearly wanted to unload a dog on the unsuspecting, and I was the sucker.


- mmmeeevvv

Funny, because I was looking at that same exact EQ as well when this thread was only about 10 pages long. I kept e-mailing the seller asking for a model number, and asking him what's up with that ribbon cable sticking out the back. He was very vague when answering: "it's a Radio Shack, and it's just a cable" were his answers.
I knew something was very fishy.

[vvv]

I have two disputes goin' on Ebay right now, one re a mic that requires a Hi-Z two point connector not shown in the pics and not disclosed, the other a pair of Minimus with a blown woofer.

The first is making good by sending me an adapter to replace the cable the mic was originally sold with (not disclosed as missing)

The second called me a "scammer" and accused me of blowing the woofer on purpose, and so I opened a complaint with Paypal.

This EQ guy actually refunded the money ...

Sorry for the OT - now, who wantsa rent this EQ?

[Rob Coates]

Just can't let this thread die. If it wasn't for this thread, I would have never discovered a great EQ (the 1987) for my ribbons. Perfect for reducing the muddy region, and pulling back a tad at 10K (which usually needs taming after the mud is cleared up). Not bad for $30.

[toothpastefordinner]

I know I haven't posted in this thread in 6 years, but I still think the Radio Shack EQ is the most vital part of my studio.

[Smitty]

I know I haven't posted in this thread in 6 years, but I still think the Radio Shack EQ is the most vital part of my studio.

I didn't even know you were posting on this board anymore... or still doing music for that matter? Glad to hear it if you are.

Also... christ, this thread is still going? I don't know whether that makes me secretly proud or a little sick.

[vvv]

So, ...


... :blows on nails graemlin:, ...


... anyone know of any mods for this RatShack EQ?

[germaniac]

This thread has grown into a dinosaur that's so gigantic, it's head no longer knows what it's tail is doing. . . .

I posted this in 2006 on this same thread:

I don't know anything aboyt the RS 7-band, but the RS 5-band model 31-1987 is pretty sweet. All-discrete, all inductor, not an op-amp or gyrator in sight. Bump up the power-supply caps and put film caps in the signal path, and it's one friendly-sounding EQ. Cost me about the same as dinner-for-two at Baja Fresh.

Also wrote this to a fellow TOMBer who PM'd me:

I think the power supply had a single cap, 470 or 1000uF. I took that out and paralleled two Panasonic FC Series 1000uFs and bypassed this with a .1uF polypro cap. I also replaced the 1N400X rectifiers with larger types. Since the supply isn't regulated, I was hoping all this would help clean up a little more noise.

On the main input/output board, I replaced the electrolytic coupling caps with bigger Panasonics--47 or 100uF IIRC. Those could also be bypassed with polypro film on the underside of the board, but I haven't got around to it yet.

On the slider PCB, IIRC the original caps were film greenies and some electros or tants for the low frequency bands. I replaced all caps with polypro film. For the small ones, I like the Panasonic P-Series (Digikey) and for 1uF and above I use AEON, which are normally used in speaker crossovers, but they work fine as couplers too. A place like Parts Express will have these and similar large-value polypro film caps. Films caps on the low frequency bands make a big difference over the originals. The things is, you will have to mount these bigger caps on the foil-side of the board, instead of where the originals went, but there is plenty of room inside the case for this.

Last but not least, I replaced the TAPE MONITOR switch and rewired it as a hard-bypass.

With those upgrades, it sounds pretty good. If I were to do any more, I might put in a toroidal PS xfrmr, because the inductors are sensitive to hum. Beyond that, I also contemplated racking the thing and putting in switches to select three different frequencies for each band, Q control, and a shelving option for the high and low bands. I may get around to that someday. . . .

Hope that helps. . . .

Joe

[vvv]

Nope.

We are talking about the 7 band.

And, it's gotta be black.

[germaniac]

VVV, I think you should just change your avatar from the tube to the icon.

[joelpatterson]

"BLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK is the color... of my love's true... EQ...."

[vvv]

VVV, I think you should just change your avatar from the tube to the icon.

Aiight.