I killed one of those through over use:
 

 
and later sold it to someone who had one as well and thought the mixer section was so sweet he wanted a second mixer section. :-S

My first studio was an old Grundig reel-to-reel.  Sorry, no pix. 

Mesh
I still have my 4 track Fostek and did similar things like Spacey did (bouncing tracks). These should be collectors items by now no?
 

 
 

Just to clarify....
I used a stereo VCR for transfer so I wouldn't have to bounce. Bouncing sucked with these units.
Transferring helped with not only mixing but sound quality.
 
I also used a Marantz system with this that had a very cool feature on the amp; it was an A/B switch
so one could monitor either of two different units- meaning I could hear the tracks of/from the cassette or listen to those tracks after being recorded by the VCR....a great comparison feature.
 
 

In my day, we couldn't afford any of those fancy gizmos.  We had a cassette recorder with a built in mic.  Put that in the middle of the room and it would make any song sound like a train filled with glass bottles striking a semi-truck filled with geese and nitroglycerin.
 
It was our signature sound. 

UbiquitousBubba
In my day, we couldn't afford any of those fancy gizmos.  We had a cassette recorder with a built in mic.  Put that in the middle of the room and it would make any song sound like a train filled with glass bottles striking a semi-truck filled with geese and nitroglycerin.
 
It was our signature sound. 

Before my first studio, I did the cassette thing in the middle of the room, ermmmm garage. We had a three piece and no real P.A. So, DUH!, we recorded the rhythm tracks and then somehow blended those tracks with the guitarist singing and playing lead guitar parts. Somehow I lost the overdub versions but to this day I still have the first generation cassette tape of the rhythm tracks. That was '77/'78.

 



 

 

 
 

My first 'real' studio was the campus radio station where I was dutifully assigned the job of rebuilding a ton of old broadcast junk - they wanted a few extra desks for the students to do spots.
 
Missed a cap on one if I remember, Might've zapped a student or two..., but got a good grade of the course...
 
Them old step-attenuators are worth their weight in gold!
 
 

 
Uh, yeah... I despise cart machines....