Maybe I'm forgetting but I don't remember seeing a Sharp VCR before. Were these good quality? The controls seem interesting, looks like a knob?

Maybe I'm forgetting but I don't remember seeing a Sharp VCR before. Were these good quality? The controls seem interesting, looks like a knob?

That shuttle knob was popular in the late 90's. They were decent machines for the time - all VCRs by that point were plastic and cheaply made with a single motor transport.

Used to see a fair number of the Sharp VC-6800s. Dates back to 1979-1980. Mechanical keys, and probably the first front tape loader. A heavy beast.

http://www.videokarma.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=194764&stc=1&d=1495917686

I once had a RatShack Hi-Fi VCR made by Sharp. The video performance was so-so...the audio was quite good though.
It had metering, dual L+R level controls AND in addition to Hi-Fi, Dolby B!

I think it was a Sharp deck that I had with the 10pin RCA camera connector on it like a portable VHS. Slide the switch between tuner/camera. I want it back.

My first VCR in the mid 90's was a Sharp I used the hell out of that deck and it never died. I still have it in a closet, but don't use much it since it is low-fi mono and can't record in S-VHS.

Recently I found a S-VHS-HiFi Sharp from the same time period that I use some...It has the same awesome 1 minute rapid rewind.

My first VCR was in 1989 and it was a $300(!) Sharp 2-head mono unit. Lasted 11 hard years of daily time-shifting. Surprisingly, it failed electronically, not mechanically.

I have a few similar Sharp Hifi models like the OP.Great machines.I use one daily to timeshift.If I see them at fleamarkets or goodwill .I take them.
The jog shuttle knob is great.

Just yestrday, I was at a thrift, and I picked up a 1988 Sharp Optonica 4 head HQ machine for $7. It needs the typical belts replaced, but it certainly tries to work. Supposedly, the remote would talk to you through the timer set process. I love 80's Sharp VCR's because they are so incredibly easy to service, and this one is no exception.

Sharp VCRs were ALWAYS more-reliable than Hitachi and RCAs made by Hitachi, any year and model before 1992, along with fewer belt problems. Enough said. Relax...

I have a 1989 Optonica VC-G990U S-VHS VCR similar to the one on photo with voice-talking remote. It was the only S-VHS VCR built by Sharp during 1980s, along with the even-rare XA-2500S. But I think Toshiba SV-771 has a little slighter-edge on reliability due to no mode-switch problems, which I think is the longest-lasting S-VHS VCR ever built.

Just yestrday, I was at a thrift, and I picked up a 1988 Sharp Optonica 4 head HQ machine for $7. It needs the typical belts replaced, but it certainly tries to work. Supposedly, the remote would talk to you through the timer set process. I love 80's Sharp VCR's because they are so incredibly easy to service, and this one is no exception.
Better than the Panasonic VCR you picked up that caught your carpet on fire, right? LOL...

Used to see a fair number of the Sharp VC-6800s. Dates back to 1979-1980. Mechanical keys, and probably the first front tape loader. A heavy beast.

http://www.videokarma.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=194764&stc=1&d=1495917686
That's the oldest and very-first Sharp VHS VCR ever built in history. It came with a brass-color (not chrome) video head cylinder that required a flat-belt on top to spin with a pulley motor. It even had a tape-remaining time counter. This VCR also can't be played upside-down since there's no carriage lock, or the tape comes flying out immediately during playback and eats your tape. It was working fine when I sold it for $300 back in 2006 to a collector.

Also, Studio Sound Electronics will be going out of business soon selling VCR belt kits, the owner told me, so it's best to avoid the one that uses a lot of belts, like Hitachi and this one on photo.

Also, Studio Sound Electronics is also going out of business soon selling VCR belt kits, the owner told me, so it's best to avoid the one that uses a lot of belts, like Hitachi and this one on photo.

Does this mean I'll have to start using rubber bands to replace VCR belts and tires ?
Ed