What's up, gang.
As previously discussed in a prior post, our friends the Larsons recently hosted a huge disco-themed party to commemorate Danielle's 40th Birthday. They went all out with decor, catering, an open bar, fancy costumes, you name it. Morgan even went so far as to purchase an old light-up bar from the '70s off Facebook Marketplace for the event. He talked the guy down from, like, $300 to $175, but after setting it up in his house he realized that this thing definitely didn't match his house's aesthetics. He didn't want to keep it, and intended on Yours Truly perhaps being interested in acquiring it afterwards.
Well, I saw the bar in action during the party, and I was certainly intrigued by it. Kris and I had talked about building a bar in the basement at some point once the kids got older, or perhaps when they left for college, so it was already in the back of our heads that this was something we'd be down with. Granted, this bar's look isn't something that would easily blend in with just anyone's house, but fortunately our basement already has a somewhat retro look to it. The added bonus with this bar, of course, was the fact that a.) it lit up, and b.) it had vintage electronics already installed - an 8-track player, an AM/FM radio, and - brace yourselves - a turntable.
Taking all of this into consideration, I assured Morgan that I would, in fact, buy the bar off of him after the party, and he sold it to me for a mere
$100 (which included his assistance in moving the heavy-ass piece of furniture down into my basement, with the help of Erik as well - definitely a three-man job.) It took me a few evenings to clean it out and mess with the stereo equipment, but by
St. Patrick's Day (which was fitting) I had it all set up and ready to roll in it's new home in our basement.
Check it out. . .
Took a video to show how the sound and lights work.
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| The AM/FM radio works flawlessly, but I don't own any 8-track tapes to test out the player - gonna have to hunt around on Discogs for some so I can see if it even plays 'em. I reached out to Jim at Radio Wasteland and he's gonna keep an eye out for some for me. |
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| This is where I decided to set it up. Obviously gonna have to replace the existing wall decor with some more bar-appropriate stuff. I have a bar table and stools already that my brother gave me, and the stools actually match the bar, which is cool. |
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| The bottom shelf here I'm going to stock with larger half-gallons of booze. |
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| Port for external speakers, if I ever need them. |
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| This turntable that came installed in the bar was in really rough shape - covered in dust and grime, and probably not salvageable. That thing sticking up in the middle, I believe, is a 45 adapter of some kind, though I've never seen one like that. |
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| This hurts to look at. |
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| I thought this was the turntable input/ground, but when I hooked it up it didn't work - so maybe this is for the 8-track player. |
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| Did a ton of research online into this and couldn't find much about this bar at all. There are other stereo bars that are somewhat similar, but nothing quite like it. |
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| That white cable in the back is wiring for either the speakers or the lights, so I can't remove it. I can just barely tuck the large white box into the hole in the back of the cabinet, so that's gonna have to do for the time being I guess. |
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| The installation process begins. I decided to junk the old turntable and cut my losses, and replaced it with an old Panasonic turntable (thanks again, Granny) that was small enough to fit in the designated space. |
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| Had to calibrate the toner arm, it was waaaaaay off. |
The finished product. Until I can buy a pre-amp for the stereo, the sound is gonna be quiet and tinny like this, which sucks, but. . . whatever. I have a whoop-ass turntable set up in the Captain's Quarters, ten feet away from the bar, and we have Alexa devices all over the basement - the bar's sound system isn't that paramount.
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| My first drink/record combo in the new bar, appropriately held on St. Patrick's Day. The Clancy Brothers and Jameson Stout Edition go together ridiculously well. |
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| Slainte, f***ers. |
- Brian
As previously discussed in a prior post, our friends the Larsons recently hosted a huge disco-themed party to commemorate Danielle's 40th Birthday. They went all out with decor, catering, an open bar, fancy costumes, you name it. Morgan even went so far as to purchase an old light-up bar from the '70s off Facebook Marketplace for the event. He talked the guy down from, like, $300 to $175, but after setting it up in his house he realized that this thing definitely didn't match his house's aesthetics. He didn't want to keep it, and intended on Yours Truly perhaps being interested in acquiring it afterwards.
Well, I saw the bar in action during the party, and I was certainly intrigued by it. Kris and I had talked about building a bar in the basement at some point once the kids got older, or perhaps when they left for college, so it was already in the back of our heads that this was something we'd be down with. Granted, this bar's look isn't something that would easily blend in with just anyone's house, but fortunately our basement already has a somewhat retro look to it. The added bonus with this bar, of course, was the fact that a.) it lit up, and b.) it had vintage electronics already installed - an 8-track player, an AM/FM radio, and - brace yourselves - a turntable.
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