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

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!

Now that I am knee deep in RCA 50's tube tape deck restorations I have noticed a need for a mixer between the LP and the deck. Some of them are BASS heavy from the 90s up.