Removing Old Masking Tape from Smith-Corona SCM Galaxie Typewriter

Weapon of Choice: 1976 Smith-Corona Galaxie Twelve.

Suggestion: Put this on in the background for soundtrack while you read this post. (:

Digitizing cassette tapes again – gotta do this in batches so the memories don’t sweep you away.

Let’s remove this calcified masking tape that was originally applied at the factory to protect the paint, but is now 40+ years old.

Let the stuff soak in for an hour or three.

Once it’s soaked in, scrape away with stiff plastic scraper.

Well, that’s busted until I can find a replacement for that plastic/nylon bit. There’s a chance that someone on the Facebook maintenance group might be able to 3D-Print a replacement. Come to think of it, maybe they can print the carriage release lever too – someone has to have modeled that by now.

Hey look – remember when Bic Cristals were commonly used as cassette rewinders after the tape got eaten by the player?

I’m finding a lot of my interview tapes have subjects who are now dead. This probably is the last time I was able to tape Calvin before he drank himself to death “Leaving Las Vegas” style. Total dumbass, but still miss ‘im.
http://downthelinezine.com/cue/doku.php?id=ted_worthless

http://downthelinezine.com/cue/doku.php?id=worthless_records

http://downthelinezine.com/cue/doku.php?id=no_laughing_matter

When you first start a band, one tries out a few punk rock names. In ’85-’86 I started with “Trip Stripe” which was quickly shortened to “Stripe“. That didn’t last long, either before I settled on “Ted Worthless”. Hey, jeans jackets were cool in the 80’s. :D

Dave was known as “Echo” when the first official “NLM” cassette was released. I made maybe 20 to 25 of them, back when local actual physical record stores would happily take a few of your band’s crappy handmade tapes and sell them at the counter. This was basically the pre-release of “It Bites K-Mart Shoppers” and this tape features some of the same songs that were instrumentals on K-Mart Shoppers, except I sang them on this tape.

Updated: October 13, 2019 — 9:33 pm

11 Comments

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  1. I love the sound of a Galaxie 12 power spacer through a Marshall at 11!

    1. Had a Marshall 4×12 for awhile, but I preferred Fender Twin/Super Reverbs.

  2. If you know the dimensions of the plastic power spacer piece, McMaster-Carr has teflon or nylon or probably some other kind of plastic tubing also. I use it for chassis feed-throghs for RF amps and other high voltage applications. Neat synth on the link. Makes me miss my old analog synths. Ah, the great Fender spring reverbs. All of that old analog still sounds better than the harshness of digital.

    1. Well, they have specific threads on the outside, and screw into the metal part. It’s not quite a simple tube. /:

  3. Thanks Rev. for the great tape tip! And love your 80s rocker getup.

  4. Hi. I am trying to find out the type face (font) of a l of Hermes 3000. I tried to look at the typewriter data base and got a little lost with no luck. this is the serial number.3236470. Also any advice on the top amount one should pay for a working machine supposedly serviced and what advice can you give me about expressing to seller the need for special packaging? Thankd

  5. Those Galaxies do not get the respect they deserve – I really like the way they type. I just wish they were a little smaller and lighter.

    Love the 80s flashback and the double denim look. My daughter recently informed me that denim on denim is called a Texas tuxedo.

    1. yep, very competent machines – but there are some weak plastic parts that are increasingly becoming problematic. That adjustment buffer for the repeat spacer, the ribbon spool posts and probably the plastic ribbon drive gears will all doom these machines eventually. /:

      1. 3D printing to the rescue! I just saw a photo on Facebook (Chestnut Ridge Typewriter Fall Rendezvous) that showed a collection of 3D printed parts – including the notoriously fragile SC carriage release lever.

        1. Honestly – I’d prefer it if someone machined sets of those carriage release levers in billet aluminum. It occurs to me that 3-d printing them in plastic is just an invitation for future failure.

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