Sony Reel to Reel Tape Recorders

Sept. 1945  Masaru Ibuka established “Tokyo Tsushin Kenkyujo”(Totsuken), or “Tokyo Telecommunications Research Institute” with old friend Akio Morita.  Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo, perhaps a short form, is the name on some of the early tape recorders made up until 1954.

1946  The company began experimenting with wire recording and were able to see a demonstration of a Wilcox-Gay tape recorder. The NHK (national broadcasting station) asked them to convert military-use wireless equipment into relay receivers for broadcasting applications, to restore a national broadcasting network. The company relocated to a new factory at Gotenyama, in Shinagawa.

1947- 48 Impressed with an American wire recorder, Totsuko built their own. A friend in the United States gave Morita a Webster recorder kit that used stainless steel wire. Nobutoshi Kihara, an ex-student of Ibuka’s at the Mechanical Engineering Department of Waseda University completed the kit assembly with an amplifier.
While still working on the wire recorder, a member of the Civil Information and Education (CIE) section showed them a tape recorder. The sound was remarkably better than that of the wire recorder, and Ibuka and Morita resolved to make a tape recorder no matter how difficult it might be. The Totsuko engineers began experimenting with tape, trying many variations of magnetic coating, bases and methods of bonding, at their new Yama-no-ue factory until finally towards the end of 1949 they suceeded in making a suitable quarter inch magnetic tape.

1949 The first prototype (Japan’s first tape recorder) completed in September 1949, was a vertically designed tape recorder modeled after the “Magnecorder,” which was already in production in the United States. 

1950 The G and A type prototypes were made in January and February. The G-type was designed for institutional use, with a recording time of 1 hour while the A-type was designed for home-use, with a recording time of 30 minutes. Although the A-type product did not advance beyond prototype stage, its concept was fully incorporated into the H-type, which was later marketed as the first home-use tape recorder.
In marketing the G-type tape recorder, Totsuko registered it under the trademark name of “Tapecorder.” At the same time, the Totsuko tape was commercially named “SONI-TAPE.

1951 G-type product variations. The G-type “A” incorporated a limiting amplifier for better articulation of sound nuances. The G-type “B” designed with emphasis on frequency characteristics and sound fidelity. All the G-type tape recorders were very heavy.

 Totsuko engaged the services of an industrial designer, Sori Yanagi to design Sony’s first consumer model the H Type, launched in March 1951 (a portable version of the G Type) which included an external mic and came in a suitcase weighing 13kg (a third of the original G-type) .
One of the keys to Totsuko’s success in tape recorders was the fact that they had patent on AC bias recording which gave them a monopoly in the Japanese market.

March 1952  Ibuka visits the United States for a three-month inspection tour to see how American consumers used tape recorders. At the time, tape recorder sales in Japan were limited to the educational market. Ibuka keenly wanted to widen this market and if possible, he wanted to observe how tape recorders were manufactured by American companies on their assembly lines.

Sony introduced the Type M, a portable recorder developed for professional broadcast use. Radio programs that interviewed ordinary people on the street using the M Type enjoyed a surge in popularity.

1954 Sony introduced the TC-301. It was the first small tape recorder designed for the consumer market and was the start of the mass produced Sony electronic products. Later in the year a 401 was released and is branded Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo (included below)

1955 The first Sony-branded product, the TR-55 transistor radio introduced

1950’s Sony’s TR-63 radio sold an estimated 100,000 units from 1955-1968

1957 The company name was officially changed to Sony. The name is a mix of the Latin word “Sonus” and “Sonny”, a familiar American term at the time. The 553 recorder was the first Sony reel to reel sold in America

1959 Sony introduced the Model 101, a version of the H Type that was more compact and used 7-inch reels

1960 Sony co-founder Akio Morita founded Sony Corporation of America

1961 Sony introduced the TC-777, the first fully transistorized Japanese reel-to-reel recorder with a built-in amp. Developed for the home, it used buttons instead of levers and was affectionately known as “Three Sevens”

1964 Sony launched the TC-263D reel-to-reel recorder with the familiar vertical form factor

1969 Sony introduced the TC-1150 tape recorder with a built-in condenser mic. This model used the compact cassette format and was very small and portable for its time.

1975 Sony launched the Betamax videocassette recording format

1977 Sony made its last reel to reel tape recorder, the TC-765, which would continue to be sold into the early 80s

1979 The Sony Walkman was introduced, using the compact cassette format. The Walkman was wildly successful across a huge number of models and has been given credit for keeping analog alive with prerecorded tapes achieving sales levels in the mid-80s that were previously unheard of. Some record companies reported over 50% of their sales were in cassettes around that time.

1982 Sony introduced the Digital Audio Stationary Head (DASH) standard for multitrack studio recording and mastering, makes 2 DASH recorders, the 24 track PCM3324S and the 48 track PCM3348HR

Sony History From the Sony website (Part 2- Tape Recorder Specific)

Full Sony History