I purchased my SABA 4000 new sometime between 1968 and 1970 In Des Moines, Iowa, USA.  The dealer was named Chuck Bach.  He specialized in sewing machines and my wife also bought a Viking sewing machine from him.  He sold some other appliances, but I think he enjoyed the Grundig and SABA radios that he carried the most.  The store was located on the corner of Euclid and 2^nd Avenue and was named Bach Sales Center.  SABA is normally seen in all upper-case letters, probably because it stands for Schwarzwalder Apparate-Bau-Anstalt.

You may have wondered about that funny little white box on the table next to the SABA.  That is the wired remote control.

The top slide lever is for the volume.  The black button below that serves as the on/off switch and for muting.  Directly below it is a button to alternate between a speech and music sound setting.  The blue buttons on the left side selects AM and the one on the right selects FM.  Yes, this is a German radio and yes, it does include the marine band and a short wave band.  But only AM and FM are selectable using the remote control.  The slide lever on the bottom starts the automatic channel search down or up.  On the top are two indicators, one for music and the other for speech.  The active setting is lighted when the stereo is on.  The SABA logo is proudly displayed on each side.  The connecting wire is 24 feet long.  The connector itself has 16 connecting points in addition to the center post and a captive connecting screw.

Okay.  Here’s a shot of the whole 24 feet.

Next is a picture of the center of the SABA 4000 with the cabinet doors open.  There is a nice lighted control panel and there are three storage drawers.  The small inset on the right shows the drawers opened slightly.

This picture of the left side of the control panel shows the volume knob (inner ring) and the antenna trimming adjustment (outer ring).  Above the knob is a signal strength indicator to assist in fine tuning.  Because the volume knob is motorized to accommodate the remote control, it takes a little more effort to turn it than one might expect.  The same is true of the tuning knob, but only when the automatic tuning feature is turned on.

The ivory buttons, reading from left to right, are labeled Music-Voice, Stereo, Phono-Tape, AM, Marine, SW, FM, Automatic Off, On-Off.  To the left of the ivory buttons is a bass adjustment knob with a mechanical indicator above identified by a bass clef.  On its left are indicator lights for Mono and Stereo.  A treble adjustment knob is on the right side of the ivory buttons with its indicator identified by a treble clef.  To the right of it are indicator lights for Voice and Music.

The AM, marine, and short wave bands share one indicator and the FM band has its own.  An interesting detail is the small white frame around the FM scale.  It is covered by clear plastic and can be removed so the owner can use the numbered slides to mark favorite stations.  The top row of slides is close enough to the AM, marine, and short wave indicator to mark those favorites.  Slides from either row can mark FM stations.

The tuner knob on the right has only function.  The center and outer rings move together.  To its right is a lighted indicator for the state of the automatic tuning feature.

This next photo shows the legs for the unit.  As you can imagine, they are quite sturdy.  They have never been used because I thought it changed the look of the 4000 to more of a 50’s retro look.

The barely noticeable small button just to the right of the top of the left speaker section releases a spring loaded lever to open the turntable enclosure.  The white button in the front left corner controls a light for the compartment.  Alas, the bracket that holds the shade for the light is broken, but I do still have the shade.  There is a short spindle, a taller one for use in automatic record changing, and the 45 RPM adapter.  The knob at the left rear controls the reverberator and the three-position switch beside it is to control two sets of external loudspeakers.  By the way, the “Type” listed for this model in the documentation is Sonorama 11.  The turntable itself was manufactured by Dual.  It will play at 78, 45, 33 1/3, and 16 2/3 RPM.  If I remember correctly, the red dot is an automatic setting and the tone arm determines the speed for playback based on the diameter of the record.

The white item on the right with the SABA name is a lint remover for cleaning records.  Did I mention interesting details?  The Dual turntable also includes a scale for the tone arm.  Notice how I’ve placed the arm on the red piece to show the weight on the indicator.

This picture shows the compartment for the tape deck.  Hmmm.  That seems to be missing.  Well, our dealer did not have a deck in stock.  But he did have something better – a portable SABA tape recorder.  Before you scroll down, please notice that we had to cut part of the back out of the tape deck compartment to accommodate the portable unit.  You can imagine how I felt when I heard that my 4000 had been attacked with a power saw!  Fortunately, Mr. Bach’s crew did a great job.

Here is the tape recorder all dressed up for the road.  Technically, it is not a tape recorder.  It is a SABAFON TK 220-US Stereo.  The back cover of the manual includes the name and address of Lone Pine Electronic Products Corporation, Parkade Building, 519 Federal Street, Camden 2, New Jersey.

Remove the lid and the handle, and in she goes.  SABA even put a handy electrical outlet right in the compartment.

The left picture below shows the main connections.  I never did order the remote control.  Its main function is for use with a slide projector to synchronize sound with the slides.  I love the little storage compartment for the power cord shown on the right.

It took a little time to learn to use the controls.  The markings are not all that clear.  The knob on the left controlled the source and the recording level.  The one on the right took care of the playback volume and a second recording level.  Without going into a lot of detail, you can dub from one track to another, add a new track, or mix the two.  The two-speed switch is a little strange.  It is also the power switch so you turn it on to either 7 ½ or 3 ¾ ips. 

Are you ready to see the lady’s backside?  I’ll start by showing you the cutout for the SABAFON.

And here’s a shot of the reverberator with a blowup of the label just in case you can read German.

A funny thing happened on the way to my living room.  The SABA 4000 did not come with a built-in FM multiplex unit.  It was an optional add-on.  This little box is called “The Fisher”.  I believe it to be the add-on and the diagram behind it indicates where it is to be connected.

These two pictures show the connector for the remote control and the remote control connected.

And this shows the connections for external speakers.

Now we get to the right-side speaker enclosure.  (That’s on your left as you look from the back.)

The other side is just a little busier.  I think I’ve shown enough of my ignorance about radio parts already, so I’ll just shut up and let those of you who know this stuff enjoy the pictures.

These are the documents and a spare part for the Dual turntable that I still have.

And here is the SABA and SABAFON documentation.

I had fun putting this all together.  My brother in law knows absolutely everything about stereos and speakers and had not heard of SABA, so I just had to do it.  I may scan some of the documents at a later date.  If you would like to contact me, I am lwaldorf@bancado.com.