Contextual Associations

The Soundwagon phonograph is an electro-acoustic idiophone stylusphone designed and manufactured in Japan but distributed and sold widely throughout the world. Shaped like a Volkswagen campervan (this likeness is officially licensed by Volkswagen), this Soundwagon can be used only to play 33-1/3rpm micro-groove disc records. It is a monaural phonograph (stereo records can be played by it, but as though they are monaural records). Although the word “toy” is sometimes used in writings about this phonograph, the manufacturer (Stokyo Co., Ltd.) warns the purchaser of this phonograph that it is not a toy and that it is “not recommended for children” (bottom of packaging box). The manufacturer pitches the phonograph as “a unique record player unlike anything seen before. While an ordinary phonograph player rotates the vinyl, the ‘Soundwagon’ propels itself around the record, playing music from it’s [sic] own built in Speaker! Whether for record playing, amusement, vinyl digging at garage sales or record stores, the ‘Soundwagon’ is your perfect mobile record player” (bottom of packaging box). It is, indeed, mobile, for it runs on a single 9-volt battery rather than having to be plugged into a wall socket.

Description

Colored plastic is used for the phonograph casing: candy blue and white trim for the campervan body; black for its chassis and tires (which do not rotate). Access to the phonograph’s interior was not possible, so there can be no descriptions provided for the machine’s amplifier, loudspeaker, and other internal components. The stylus is rear-facing and the two electrical wires (one red, the other white) connecting the cartridge transducer to the player’s electrical power source and to its amplifier run nearly the length of the stylus carriage before they disappear into the interior of the phonograph (detail #1). A guide wheel, also part of the pivoting stylus/cartridge carriage, assists in keeping the gem-tipped stylus in the record groove, while the phonograph’s drive wheel, which propels the phonograph around the surface of the disc, is located inside the right-rear tire (detail #1, upper right corner). The on/off switch is in the form of a long antennae protruding from the left side of the phonograph’s body (gallery #1). In detail #5, the speaker grill, located on the roof of the camper, can be seen. The ‘Soundwagon’ is marketed in a cardboard box from which much of the information in this essay was taken (gallery #2).

Player - Instrument Interface and Sound Production

Place either a monaural or stereo 33-1/3rpm disc on a flat surface (such as a tabletop). If not already provided with a 9-volt battery, insert one through the van’s rear door (details #2 and #3). Release the stylus carriage from its storage hook (detail #4 shows the stylus carriage attached to the storage hook), rotate the power switch to its ‘on’ position, and place the Soundwagon on the record so that it moves counterclockwise around the disc it is playing (video clip). It has no controls for volume, tone, or speed. When the operator is finished listening to the contents of the phonogram, the phonograph is lifted off the record and the power switch is moved to its ‘off’ position.

Origins/History/Evolution

A prototype (not marketed) of the ‘Soundwago” called “Chorocco”, made by Sony, was displayed in 1976 in Japan. This novelty phonograph was first marketed in 1982 by Tamco as the “Soundwagon” and was eventually picked up by Stokyo (date unknown) which, later (the mid-2010s), re-designed and renamed it as the “Record Runner”. [The example of this phonograph in the Grinnell Collection is closest to the Tamco and earlier Stokyo designs of the Soundwagon.]