First-ever reel to reel sold in America: 1946.

DexterMiller

Member
Jan 20, 2019
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New Jersey (U.S.)
More than a full year before Ampex would deliver three Model 200 broadcast recorders (bought and paid for $50,000 by Bing Crosby himself) to the ABC Radio Network, a little government contractor in Cleveland, Ohio named Brush Industries (which had been making wire-spool data recorders for the U.S. military during WW2) developed the first-ever, consumer tape recorder for public use....
The Brush "Soundmirror" type BK-401:
(credit to the Web owners of these images) BrushBK401a.jpg
It was a three-motor, rec/play, full-track mono machine with the speeds of 7 1/2 and 4ips (3 3/4 had not become standardized yet). However, it could not be fast-forwarded(!). The self-contained amp was a 10 tube affair with a frequency response (approx.) between: 200Hz-7000Hz. It was (for its day) certainly no cheap item either; costing $379 when it came out in the Spring of 1946. The white packing of the tape is not 70 years of mildew but, in fact, the PAPER BASE ancient precursor to the red oxided acetate 3M 111 which would appear in 1948.
(more pics.--- showing the advertising and technical features of it) vinAd48Brush6.jpg BrushBK401Bottom.jpg vinAd48BrushBK401Bro4.jpg

Probably, though, the most fascinating historical relevance of this machine is: what it would inspire a X-Ray equipment engineer halfway around the world to do (after his having procured an example from the flood of American goods arriving in Western Europe at the dawn of the NATO-era). See, none other than WILLI STUDER would be motivated to create the ReVox audio marque...from having built a prototype of the first Studer machine based-upon a heavily modded Brush "Soundmirror" 401.
The first production ReVox recorder ("evolved" out-of the American Brush unit); the 1951 Dynavox T26: StuderDynavox3.jpg
 
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