SHARP GF-A3 - Any Fans of this one out there?

[Jeremy B]

Just bought a SHARP GF-A3 for $20 and I'm now full of buyer's remorse. Not in regard to the price, as that's dirt cheap, but in regard to whether I should have bothered to get it at all.
I have searched for info on it and there is nothing out there. This lack of info tells me that this model is very much unloved. I'll be picking it up over the weekend, so I'm hoping someone might know this model, and perhaps, just perhaps, have something nice to say about it.
I'm not even sure if it is a 1 or 3 piece. When I first saw it I thought it was a 1 piece, but on closer inspection it could be 3.

All i have is this photo, which to be honest, I think looks pretty good. I started with a VZ a couple of months ago, which was a high class move. I'm a little worried I might have taken a swift fall from grace with box number 2.

Any replies, good or bad, will be appreciated.

 

[mmcodomino]

It's a box.
It booms.
It runs on batteries.

What more can you ask for?
Don't worry what anyone has to say about it if you think that it was worth 20$ to you and you liked it then it is all cool .
I hate overhyping boxes and making them grails although there surely are some nice ones out there we all can agree on but when it comes to boomboxes there is no right or wrong.
As long as it's not a CD egg, you're good!

I can only say that my experience was that after buying everything that was a boombox, I quickly started to get rid of certain types of boxes and focused on a certain category.
Or certain categories ....like unique, loud or just plain big.

The thing is you have to own a box for a certain time to judge it. You either get tired of it or you love it .

This was a good buy for 20$ so congratulations!

 

[bklyn sound]

looks decent...how does it sound

 

[Gluecifer]

At least you didn't plonk down big money for a Sharp A1!! They're the lowest end Sharp model.

This A3 looks pretty good! Definitely a threepiecer. It's got some nice graphics, for sure.
It's definitely a more basic model that would've been released in the mid to late 80s, and probably not as big as you think she'll be.

For $20 you did nicely!

Please post some more pix when you get her.



Rock On.

 

[Jeremy B]

Thanks mmcodomino. I'm feeling much better about it already. You are absolutely right! I've let myself be seduced by the big catch, when the smaller catch can be equally satisfying. I will, as they say, suck it and see, and draw my own conclusions regarding the merits of this model. Thanks for your wise words.

In regard to the sound, I won't know til the weekend. I will report back once I have given it a full work out. I have dusted off a few more tapes from my youth that I am dying to try out as the VZ remains out of action. I'll start off with Oingo Boingo, which I haven't played in 25 years.

And thanks Gluecifer too. I think you're right. Probably between 85-87, which was when it was the in thing to be able to split the speakers and spread the sound. As a kid I thought this was a cool development. Funny that I'm now after 1 piecers. And I see you're in Belmont. I know Belmont well. I grew up in Newtown and then Highton in the 70's and 80's. My parent's owned a cake shop in Belmont in the late 70's early 80's. It was in an arcade, but i'm not sure what the name of the arcade was. I actually purchased my first ever cassette from a record shop in the same arcade. And I went to Belmont High School.

Cheers

JB

 

[Gluecifer]

Jeremy! I remember that cake shop! Centreway Arcade!
Always smelled delicious when walking past it to that old record store you went to as well!
I bought my first 7 inch there, Dire Straits Twisting By The Pool.
Classic!

Keep on rockin' Jeremy!



Rock On.

 

[baddboybill]

These are very easy units to work on perfect 1st time bbx and you can get practice cleaning and rebelting her up it will look SHARP

 

[Lasonic TRC-920]

These are very easy units to work on perfect 1st time bbx and you can get practice cleaning and rebelting her up it will look SHARP

Plus, your not going to be strutting down the beach with that VZ on your shoulder, so that Sharp maybe a good 'round town blaster!

Still a good find!

 

[Jeremy B]

Thanks for the positive replies. I'm actually looking forward to picking her up now. It's funny, but as i couldn't find any info on it on this site I basically dismissed it. Perhaps it is my job to raise the profile of the GF-A3. I'll certainly be providing regular updates as to how it all pans out.

Gluecifer: That's right. Centreway Arcade. I spent a few a few years haunting that place. Our cake shop was called 'Katies Cakes'. My other favourite place was a cafe on the other side of that arcade where i'd get hot chips whenever I could.
I think the record shop was called Brassey's. I would spend hours in there just looking at record covers but buying nothing usually. Thinking now, my first cassette from there was '1980 The Summer', and first LP was The Police - Regatta De Blanc (or something like that). I went from buying records there to going to Missing Link records when they opened a shop in Geelong in 1983. Of course Brash's was the big record store in Geelong back then. Every Saturday we would go into town and play pinball and vid games at either Las Vegas or Panorama, check out the record shops, grab a hot dog from Diggidy's, and if we had any money left, catch a movie at either the old Corio cinema or the Village Twin. This was all before they built the malls and Geelong still had that old country town feel about it.


Great memories. Cheers.

 

[Gluecifer]

Yes! The Corio Cinema was the best. I saw Empire Strikes Back there, and many other childhood classics.
Las Vegas, Orbit, Golden Cue, Replay, Space Odyssey, all were killer Geelong arcades!
Great to find someone else with the same memories.

Where in .au are you now?



Rock On.

 

[Jboogie2384]

I have the A2 and it's a loud little box. Same features as yours but mine is gray. I believe yours is the louder version. Some one on here has the box with all the paper work. I believe it's the 15 watt or possibly 10 watt version you have there. Mine is 2.5 watts ( at least what the magnet says on the back of it) per channel. I wish it had a line-in then it would of been perfect. Oh yea and it's a 3 piece. I paid $5 for mine at a yard sale.

 

[shane higgins]

$20 will get you a feed at macars
this box is 20 years old and will last another 20 years
slowly but shorely the bug will ingolf you

try dancing to a big mac

 

[Strānj-Bōōmbŏks]

Here's my A1... my wife found it in the trash on a curb, you won't believe your eyes brother...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxu2SrH6iXk

 

[shane higgins]

:'-(
wtf hit that thing

 

[Jeremy B]

Dropped on a heater perhaps? Obviously a pretty sturdy unit to still be pumping out the tunes! I might just get 20 years out of it!

Good to know that someone here has the paperwork for it. I'm tipping i'll need it! $5 at a yard sale is a great find. I wish i could find something in the wild.

I'm picking it up tomorrow. I actually don't know whether it works or not. I really should investigate these things better. The thing is, i didn't think i'd win it. If only that would happen with a GF-777! I'll post some pics tomorrow.

Gluecifer: I saw Empire Strikes Back there too! What a coincidence. Unfortunately it closed down before i got to see too many films there, but i also saw the second Star Trek movie there and that other sci-fi classic The Black Hole. I saw a few Bond movies from that era there too. A shame it was demolished. It would be a real asset to Geelong now as an art deco cinema/performance space.
And Golden Cue was a bit of a favourite as well. And was one of the other one's you mentioned located on James Street? I used to go to that one a bit, but it wasn't around for too long if i remember correctly. There was also another one on Ryrie Street, up the same end as Griffith's bookshop. What was that called?

And I've swapped Corio Bay for Port Phillip Bay now, and am living in Black Rock. My folks are still in Geelong so i still get down there fairly regularly. Was there over xmas and went down to the Mill markets but didn't see any boomers worth snapping up. Picked up some vinyl though.

Cheers

Jeremy

 

[Gluecifer]

Ahh very good! I picke dup some rockin vinyl from the Mill Market last week too!

Best of luck with this GF-A3 and finding more boxes, Jeremy!



Rock On.

 

[Strānj-Bōōmbŏks]

I presume it was a candle left there while someone went to sleep WAY to deep to notice the meltdown... :'-(

 

[shane higgins]

I presume it was a candle left there while someone went to sleep WAY to deep to notice the meltdown... :'-(

F..k racked my brain all,day thinking what chemical or light saber done that
But only a candle did not even think of that I'm

 

[Strānj-Bōōmbŏks]

I presume it was a candle left there while someone went to sleep WAY to deep to notice the meltdown... :'-(

F..k racked my drain all,day thinking what chemical or light saber done that
But only a candle bib not even think of that I'm

Hahahahahahha no worries my young Padawan! It DOES look like a light saber doesn't it?
Hmmmmm... maybe A1 stands for Anakin 1?

 

[shane higgins]

I presume it was a candle left there while someone went to sleep WAY to deep to notice the meltdown... :'-(

F..k racked my drain all,day thinking what chemical or light saber done that
But only a candle bib not even think of that I'm

Hahahahahahha no worries my young Padawan! It DOES look like a light saber doesn't it?
Hmmmmm... maybe A1 stands for Anakin 1?

Yes a candle must have been his first light saber :ls-duel: