Workshop favourite songs.

[Retired]

Hi,

For years I've played my favourite 60's songs from CD on a mini hi-fi stereo system in my workshop but the CD's only stores about 20 songs each. I'd like to copy lots of songs to something like a memory stick but my system won't accept these sticks. Please bear in mind I'm a dinosaur who doesn't even use a mobile phone. Any suggestions are most welcome as to what my options are and best way to play the songs; I'm not bothered about radio etc just wanting to play the songs of my choice.

Kind regards, Colin.

 

[Doghouse Riley]

I'm into various genres of music from modern jazz to Motown



Unless your mini hifi has an input socket, you've a problem.
If it has. you could record tracks from your computer to a third generation iPod and plug that into it.
You can get these cheap enough second hand on eBay from around £6.

I have three, which I use for this system in our front room. They are played through my vintage hifi system. I'm limited to the number of records that a jukebox wallbox was designed to play, which in this case is 80. But you don't have to have any dodgy "B" sides so each box will play 160 different "A sides."

But then I've "the real thing" in my tea-house at the bottom of the garden. Two vintage jukeboxes which play 45rpm records.

This from 1976 has 30 X 50s/60s pop 30 X 70s/80s pop, 10 X doo-wop and 10 big band jazz standards

This from 1969 has 50 sixties Motown and similar.

This is a mint condition fifty-seven year old recording, I bought quite cheaply on eBay a couple of weeks ago.
I like "the Cookies," I've several of theirs.

The TV at the beginning of the first video will play mp3s via a stick in the side, but I don't as the sound from flat TVs is rubbish.

 

[Ian]

Clever setup there @Doghouse Riley!

Oh wow, those 3rd Generation iPods are cheap! Yep, that might be a good way to do it - 8GB of storage for less than a tenner. Should hook up to your hi-fi easily enough with a 3.5mm cable too .

If you fancy going really high-tech, you could get something like an Amazon Alexa - it's a hands-free speaker that you can use with a music subscription service (about £8 month, but has pretty much every song you could ever think of). They're great for hands-free playing of music while you're working. I use one in the workshop as my hands are often grubby - it's also handy for setting timers/reminders. I suspect this may not be what you are after, but thought it was worth a mention. I avoided these voice control speakers like the plague for a long while, but I'm a recent convert.

 

[Doghouse Riley]

I should point out that three recordings heard on my jukebox wall box/adapter/iPod/hi-fi system were all YouTube rips.

I've not bought a CD in decades.
My 45s I get from either eBay or Discogs.

 

[Silentrunning]

Now that we have such sites as Pandora and Spotify we can listen to pretty much anything we want. I have an older stereo in my workshop that I plug my iPhone into. My music of choice? Pink Floyd.

 

[Doghouse Riley]

As well as my hi-fi with it's turntable and cassette deck and CD/DVD player, the jukebox wallboxes and the two vinyl jukeboxes, I've other ways of producing music.

This above my desk in our boxroom, although a fifties jukebox wall box, I just use the speakers to play mp3s on my laptop.

In the same room as the wall boxes I have my Yamaha tenor saxophone. I keep it behind the TV in that room so my wife doesn't clout it with a vacuum cleaner.

Then opposite the wall unit I have my Yamaha Tyros 5 leccy piano, (or work stations as they like to call them).

I play a variety of genres on that.

From fifties pop. This is a version Neil Sedaka played a couple of decades after he recorded the original, at half the tempo which I prefer.

Breaking Up Is Hard To Do.mp3 | Powered by Box

app.box.com

Elvis

Suspicious Minds.mp3 | Powered by Box

app.box.com

Sixties pop

I Can't Stay Mad At You.mp3 | Powered by Box

app.box.com

Seventies pop

I t Started With A Kiss.mp3 | Powered by Box

app.box.com

How Deep Is Your Love.mp3 | Powered by Box

app.box.com

Eighties

Easy.mp3 | Powered by Box

app.box.com

Nineties

Dancing in the Moonlight.mp3 | Powered by Box

app.box.com

Motown

This Old Heart Of Mine.mp3 | Powered by Box

app.box.com

Jazz standards.

Laura.mp3 | Powered by Box

app.box.com

Box

app.box.com

Sometimes I hear a tune in a film on TV and like it enough to learn to play it.

This was a song by Brandi Carlile that was used in the film "Safe Haven."

Heart's Content .mp3 | Powered by Box

app.box.com

There's a couple of hundred more, I've recorded.

 

[Retired]

Hi,

Many thanks guys for your informative and interesting replies.

WOW Doghouse; if I had all your kit in my workshop I wouldn't have space for tools let alone machinery; you've got a wealth of entertainment at your fingertips; thanks for sharing and taking the time to post such a comprehensive reply;

Thanks also Ian; all information is most welcome; just by posting this thread I'm now into ipods and Amazon Alexa; all this modern technology goes over my head because there's so much of it; five year old kids are more up to date than I am.

Nice one Silent Running; here's one just for you;

I've just bought one of these to play with; hope it's the right thing but it's cheap enough for the workshop;

I restored vintage valve radios as an hobby for ten years; I used to connect a Walkman to one one of the radios. I dislike batteries so perhaps I can rig up a PSU and if I'm stuck I think I could tap into the stereo internal CD connection ; I enjoy tinkering around; the problem is one of time; I'm retired and working flat out; I've just enjoyed a mug of tea so time now to get off my backside; I pressure washed the bungalow roof yesterday turning our pathway and patio into a slurry filled farm yard so I've been out since early this morning cleaning up; the gutters are full so these are the next job. Thanks again guys.

Kind regards, Colin.

 

[Retired]

Hi,

What a delightful little thing this ipod player is; it's just arrived and I've briefly played with it; all I need now is workshop time.

Kind regards, Colin.

 

[Retired]

Hi,

Thanks to a friend who kindly pointed me in the right way I've now got over 100 of my favourite sixties pop songs in MP3 and added them to the ipod. I used to download lots of movie videos years ago so I found MP3 easy enough; create playlists on my computer then transfer them to the ipod.

I've ordered a jack lead to connect the ipod to the mini hifi;

Not wanting to keep charging the ipod battery I've bought a double 13A socket with double USB chargers in the hope I can simply switch on the 13a socket and at last play lots of my favourite songs without needing to change CD's.

The lead and sockets are yet to arrive but I hope to be fully sorted by the weekend. I don't have much interest in all this modern technology but I select the bits which are useful to me. I've owned a pay as you go mobile phone for years and it broke my heart to top it up with £10; the phone new cost £5 through eBay and at the time I added £10 credit to it; years later I thought I'd top it up so went online and added £10 to Vodafone; whoops the credit was returned; it's on O2. As a child I remember not having electricity in our cottage.

It's going to be like summer again over the next two days so I'd better get off my backside and make the most of it whilst it lasts.

Kind regards, Colin.

 

[Silentrunning]

To me the most fun item today is Bluetooth. It is so amazing the amount of information that can be transmitted. I have almost no wires left on any of my systems.

 

[Retired]

Hi,

To me the most fun item today is Bluetooth. It is so amazing the amount of information that can be transmitted. I have almost no wires left on any of my systems.

When I first the term "Bluetooth" I thought it was a tooth disease?

I'm definitely not up to speed with all the modern electronics; our new TV is on wifi but that's about it. Our Skoda Yeti car has the Infotainment system with all kinds of media and bluetooth but I never use it; when I'm driving I'm driving not wanting any distractions.

I popped into the workshop a few days ago armed with the ipod and new cable but it was a real disappointment; I couldn't get it to work with the hifi system so quit until I had more time. I had installed the new 13A double sockets with USB connections but first impressions weren't favourable.

Yesterday I advertised on Gumtree a fully working Hoover Junior vacuum cleaner with two new spare drive belts and three packs of new bags all totally free to anyone who would collect from my home address; a guy quickly responded saying he could collect straight after he finished work at 7pm so this was agreed upon and I deleted the advertisement; the guy said he would email me when he was setting off to collect.

I placed the items outside on our pathway and whilst I waited I played with the ipod. It was the new 3.5mm connection cable at fault; if I pushed the connector all the way into the ipod it was dead but if I pulled it out slightly it worked and the hifi was happy putting stereo sound out; it also helped this time in that I'd become more familiar with the ipod controls so success at last the ipod and hifi are working together; I've ordered another but shorter 3.5mm connection cable hoping this will work fully pushed home in the ipod. I hadn't realized there were 3 and 4 pole cables so I learn something every day.

At 7:55 the guy hadn't emailed me so I emailed him asking if he was still collecting the vac? He apologised saying his car had just been serviced and he was awaiting the RAC rescue because his car was putting out dense clouds of black smoke; he didn't think it was serious but could he now collect tomorrow (today)?

He hadn't emailed me to say he was on his way and I waited 55 minutes before contacting him; I was polite in letting him down saying another guy was promised the vac if it wasn't collected as arranged; the other guy was me; I've just completely stripped the vac of useful components and junked the rest; the new bags are in the bin and the new drive belts are in the workshop where they might come in handy. If the guy was telling the truth about his car breakdown then I feel sorry for him but he had his chance twice and let me down twice. It's hard work giving items away these days.

I've just come out of the workshop having now stripped the vac and the hi-fi has been playing but I can't charge the ipod and play it at the same time although this isn't a huge problem; I'm aware of docking stations so I'm not yet beaten; little by little and with lots of patience miracles can be obtained.

Time now to do a bit more work in the garden before another day slips quietly by. Life is busy and interesting.

Kind regards, Colin.

Temporary set up but working; please note jack cable connection not fully home but it works. I hoped to plug in the USB cable to charge the battery but the system doesn't like this.

The mini hifi with one of its speakers; it's nice to have almost 200 favourite songs stacked playing in the background; I'm happy.