Gallery: The Glorious Old-School Gadgets of Ferris Bueller's Day Off
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__The Audio Stack__ Ferris seems pretty pleased with his hi-fi audio stack (right). I would be too if I had (from top to bottom) a Carver M500t power amp, AudioSource EQ-One equalizer and spectrum analyzer, a Carver DTL-100 CD player, and a Carver Receiver 2000.
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__Carver M500t power amp and AudioSource EQ-One__ Here we get a closer look at Bueller's amp and equalizer. The latter is used to dial in the optimal sneezing and coughing midi track sounds he plays on his...
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__E-MU Emulator II__ $8,000 keyboard/sound sampler. Musicians and sound designers in the '80s loved the 8-bit Emulator II. It was used to produce the Shakuhachi flute used in Peter Gabriel's "Sledgehammer" and the Marcato Strings in the Pet Shop Boys' "West End Girls." Ferris, of course, loads his with sick kid sounds.
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__IBM PC XT__ "I asked for a car, I got a computer. How's that for being born under a bad sign?" Oh boo-hoo, Ferris. Your IBM PC XT seems pretty good for drawing flipped versions of Modigliani's Reclining Nude and hacking into the school computer system.
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__Bose 901 speakers__ Audiophiles typically don't have very nice things to say about Bose speakers. But the 901s were a rare exception. Critics simply fawned over them. Seen here in the far left corner of the screen, they're the perfect complement to the rest of Ferris's ridiculous audio system.
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__Gretsch White Falcon__ What this iconic guitar (left corner) is doing in Ferris's room is anyone's guess. Perhaps he's a fan of the west coast California fuzz sound. Neil Young helped make the hollow-body White Falcon one of the most desirable guitars on Earth. Hopefully, Ferris is better at playing it than his clarinet.
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__Cobra AN-8500 Answering Machine__ Today, it's mostly known for making police radar detectors, but back in the '80s Cobra also made cordless phones and answering machines. This tape-based beauty comes with "One-Touch" something-or-other and Vox controls.
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__1961 Ferrari 250 GT California Spyder__ If you're going to pick a car to symbolize a father's neglect, the Ferrari 250 GT is fantastic choice. A bunch of furious car enthusiasts wrote letters to the producers of the film, believing they had trashed a real Ferrari (only 104 were ever produced). The totaled car was actually a modified MG sports car, made to look like the 250 GT.
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__Sony CFS-950 Sports Boombox__ For kids who grew up during the '80s, this 15-watt Sony Sports Boombox should look very familiar. I never understood the "Sports" designation (perhaps it was the splash-resistant casing?), but whatever. Here, we see the yellow version accompanied by a bunch of other product placement right before Cameron succumbs to his angst coma.
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__Fender "blackface" Bassman and 2x12 cabinet__ Presumably, this is what Bueller plugs his Falcon into when he wants to jam. As its name implies, the Bassman is technically a bass amp, but guitars sound great through them too. Here, the whole setup is being used as a bedside table and a place to put a copy of Kerouac's *The Town and the City*.
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__Doorbell hack__ In what is both an act of prescience and 1337 hacking skills, Ferris rigs the doorbell on his house so that it triggers a tape recorder with a prerecorded "sick" message. Mr. Rooney almost falls for it.
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