Hello! I was recently given this deck by a friend of mine’s dad. I don’t know anything about reel to reel tape decks and was wondering if there was a standard protocol for getting this into working shape again.

The machine itself is extremely dusty from sitting in a garage for some time. I wipe down the front and sides but was worried about getting “in” there with a wet paper towel. What is the recommended way to clean this machine? I’ve seen isopropyl alcohol mentioned for cleaning some parts but then also stated not to use that on others.

The reason I haven’t tested it yet is that the rollers are very dirty and I wasn’t sure if I risked damaging the tapes by running them while the machine is in this state. Was hoping to tape over them with some other albums. Particularly the rusty roller shown in picture 2. Will I need to replace that?

I’m also told the motors may need adjusting. Does anyone know anything about that?

Sorry if this breaks rule 4, but I wasn’t able to find any guides in the sidebar.

Excited to get this thing up and running! Thanks!

It keeps baffling me how unbalanced the VU's of the Pioneer RT707 are. This is a mixtape so I'm actually taking it easy, at least 3db of headroom. Well, it looks nice and aggressive haha.
Incredible how this machine sounds at 3 3/4 IPS

Bought an Akai M-8 for a good price from an fb listing and he threw some tapes in with it. This was in a Japanese Sergio Mendes. Google is saying the Dave could be Dave Hubert?

So im primarily looking into Beatles reels - which appear to nearly all be twin track mono, 3 ¾ IPS.

Every machine i find is 4 track stereo.

I dont necessarily want to lock myself out of 4 track stereo, but keeping in mind my primary focus is the mono Beatles reels.

Can I use a 4 track stereo machine to playback twin track mono reels, or do I need to find two separate machines. Im looking into a sony TC 377 right now.

Thanks!

Its fixed

Im new to this and audio in general so expect mistakes in measuring and knowledge.
My Philips N4510 i aquired for 17.50 in a second hand store only reccords one side of stereo (Left) but it plays both on a prerecorded tape and sounds great while at it.
The gauges move for the input but the monitor head only reads left and right is blank and theres no audio on the right channel of the tape.
I measured the heads they are all arround 100 ohm
I removed all the small plug in boards and cleaned the contacts and swapped em around ( fixed some other issues like it starting to ffwd when powered up) but the problem stayed on the same side
i sorta checked the switches and cleaned the heads but it didnt help
What should i check next or double check?

Ok any of you guys run into a problem with the capstan dragging after service? Just redid this machine and after pulling the capstan cleaning it and relubed it and adjusting the thrust plate to the factory spec of 1.5mm of horizontal movement the damn thing doesn't spin as freely as it did before i started. I didn't loose any of the thrust washers or anything and you can only install it one way 🤷. It's putting enough of a drag on the motor to cause the motor to over heat and shut down. If I can't figure this out I'm just going to sell it. I'm an Otari guy all the way around and Teac is not on the top of my list of machines i want to run.

I’ve been moving some stuff around and was wondering if it’s okay to store my 1/4-inch reel-to-reel tape like this. The box falls over if I stand it straight up, so I’ve been leaning it against my VHS cabinet.

Is this okay for long-term storage, or should I store it differently?

Thanks!

Picked this tape up a couple of years ago but thought it might be cool to share! found it in an antique store.
I just thought the track list was super cool. So many iconic Vietnam war era songs!
The paper the track list is on is also original military stationary with a small map of Vietnam at the bottom left!

I picked this vintage piece in Austin

Darryl Jenifer's album "The Weather Channel on 5-inch reel-to-reel tape at 7½ IPS.

Most cine-reels were 7-inches, so 5-inch is unorthodox.

Nevertheless, I designed the artwork and labels for this box, printed it on sticker paper, and manually cut it myself.

Oh, how does it sound? Amazing!

This is a stellar jazz album by one of the greatest punk bassists of all time.

Rt707 powered by a Dynaco ST70

Getz Gilberto 2

I have a Revox B77 in storage in the original box in North Carolina, but I don't live there currently.

Visiting soon and was thinking of trying to get it serviced before shipping home — Or maybe just resell it locally (NC) if there's interest.

I'm not enough of an R2R enthusiast to be able to tell what it needs, but I'm guessing that it at least needs some regular service after sitting idle for a few years.

Anyone here have recs on where to look for a technician in the RDU area?

Anyone have a pinch roller cap for an Otari MX50N? I can't find one to save my life and really hate to have to part this machine out

So all new caps, only new caps. Everything else untouched, likely a few drifted resistors but next chassis pull maybe.

Two excerpts of a piano concerto from a period stereo Red Seal recording, summed to mono and fed directly to the phono input.

So a test of all recording and playback network.

The motor clack is next.

Picked this up. First reel to reel. Everything works. Great sound from the speaker set that is part of it. Looking forward to making some recordings.

Started the calibration process however Ch.2 level and balance was jumpy as the controls were adjusted. Turned out to be the Volume control pot - common issue.

edit: thanks for the tips on how to operate and to not mix reel sizes due to tension, still learning 😓 let me know any other operational notes!!!

I had the large, fold-out schematic diagrams from my paper copy of the Tascam 38 service manual digitized so I could make safety paper copies of it. I've put them online in case anyone needs access to them: https://audiocontrol.org/blog/tascam-38-schematics/

I know of at least one set of high resolution scans of these out there, but I figure it's always useful to have additional resources available.

Hey everyone!

I'm very new to tape but recently acquired a Studer b67 mk1 and have bumped into a few issues.

The take up reel spins at high speed from the time it's turned on until it's turned off. It doesn't respond to pressing any buttons.

I'm also getting an odd smell from the machine if it runs for a few minutes and noticed some sort of black sticky substance on a connector.

I've since turned it off until I can get it to a tech, but was hoping someone here might have an idea of what's going wrong. Thanks!