Jay Pemberton
05-31-2008, 07:35 PM
I thought this would be a good place to come, where one won't get lost in the shuffle with all the queries about turntable set-ups and JICO SAS styli and whatever else.
Digital may have its conveniences of manipulation, but a properly tuned analog deck can sound more 'real' than a lot of digital I've dealt with. And I'm still not shy about going to reel-to-reel to do certain types of editing that I could not similarly pull off with digital.
Here's some of my tape machinery....
Ampex 354, valve 1/4" 2 track: 7 1/2--15 ips, NAB curve. Has 4 head custom block with two channel quarter track repro head mounted between the record and half track repro heads. Date stamped in amp chassis: 5 Nov 1963. Considerably modified.
Tascam 34-B, 1/4" 4 track: Modified with better audio ICs, electrolytic coupling caps galore bypassed, other parts upgraded to better quality items. Used in conjunction with two modified dbx NR 40 type II noise reduction units.
Sees lots of use in my small studio (built into a former store room of a church in Mountain Home, Arkansas) in the production of 'Baptist Karaoke' CDs: these are recordings where a singer or singers bring so-called 'accompaniment tracks' (canned music on CDs or cassettes that are usually well beyond worn out) to the studio, and I simply transfer the music, cleaned up or enhanced as may be necessary, to two of the 34's tracks, whilst their vocals are overdubbed onto the other two tracks.
Tascam 32, 1/4" 2 track: Same mod ideas as for the 34-B, only this is usually used for playback of master tapes from elsewhere that I master for CDs. I also have a modified Tascam DX-2 NR unit that can be used with it for transfer of tapes made with dbx type I noise reduction.
Fostex E-16, 1/2" 16 track: Modified to add 30 ips speed in addition to its original 15 ips speed; uses Dolby C NR. Useful when recording a proper group with their own instrumentation, etc. where lots of overdubbing and punching-in are necessary means to getting something that sounds halfway like music, down on tape. (I'd love to have a group so good [thinking for the moment of bluegrass music] they could record live with a single stereo mike, straight to the 354 running ATR's new tape, but I have what I have here, which ain't saying much for the most part.)
Also handy is a Denon DN-770R dual auto-reverse cassette deck, used for transfers and restorations in the studio.
There's a vintage Roberts 770X (1966? 1967?) right here with me that I managed to get running well, partly by Super Gluing the capstan sleeve on, to stop the horrid wow and flutter it otherwise had. All tube.
Other machines that are works in progress, in various stages of functionality:
Magnecord Magnecordette III--1953 vintage staggered-head 2 track;
Tandberg 4F--1961 vintage mono recorder/mono and stereo player;
Tascam 22-2--7" reels, 7 1/2--15 ips 2 track that survived the car wreck I was in last September, it got its output volume control bent to holy hell, yet everything works fine on it;
Revox A-77 Mk 1--1969 vintage, sports an aluminum plate behind the reels area (I need to post a pic of it sometime, ASAP, so you can see what this looks like)--3 3/4--7 1/2 ips, quarter track, needs recap, one VU meter and the record head replaced;
Akai GX-630D--like-new 1977 deck; various electronic issues being slowly sorted out;
Akai X-200D--nice little 3 motor/3 speed deck;
Otari MX 5050 Mk III, 4 track 4 channel 1/4" tape deck, needs new record and repro heads, and new capstan motor;
Ampex 600--1954 vintage full track mono 7 1/2 ips deck in rack mount adapter;
Ampex 601--1962 vintage deck like unto the 600--mechanism good for parts, amp useful as a backup for the 600;
Teac 2300S--1974 vintage (works OK, used for backup);
Teac A-2340SX--1979 vintage (also works fine, just little or no call for it);
A second Ampex 354 for parts;
Bits and pieces of two Akai X-1800SD reel/8 track machines;
And two Radio Shack SCT-23 cassette decks from 1982.
There's also two wire recorders, a Webster-Chicago Model 80-1 and a Model 180, just to fortify the fun....and I almost forgot, a well-worn Sony TC 200 solid state machine whose transport I had to modify and regulate almost everyday, to keep it running on speed. It was a workhorse from when it was given to me in the fall of 1981. I retired it in 1988 when I bought that first-mentioned Ampex 354.
Digital may have its conveniences of manipulation, but a properly tuned analog deck can sound more 'real' than a lot of digital I've dealt with. And I'm still not shy about going to reel-to-reel to do certain types of editing that I could not similarly pull off with digital.
Here's some of my tape machinery....
Ampex 354, valve 1/4" 2 track: 7 1/2--15 ips, NAB curve. Has 4 head custom block with two channel quarter track repro head mounted between the record and half track repro heads. Date stamped in amp chassis: 5 Nov 1963. Considerably modified.
Tascam 34-B, 1/4" 4 track: Modified with better audio ICs, electrolytic coupling caps galore bypassed, other parts upgraded to better quality items. Used in conjunction with two modified dbx NR 40 type II noise reduction units.
Sees lots of use in my small studio (built into a former store room of a church in Mountain Home, Arkansas) in the production of 'Baptist Karaoke' CDs: these are recordings where a singer or singers bring so-called 'accompaniment tracks' (canned music on CDs or cassettes that are usually well beyond worn out) to the studio, and I simply transfer the music, cleaned up or enhanced as may be necessary, to two of the 34's tracks, whilst their vocals are overdubbed onto the other two tracks.
Tascam 32, 1/4" 2 track: Same mod ideas as for the 34-B, only this is usually used for playback of master tapes from elsewhere that I master for CDs. I also have a modified Tascam DX-2 NR unit that can be used with it for transfer of tapes made with dbx type I noise reduction.
Fostex E-16, 1/2" 16 track: Modified to add 30 ips speed in addition to its original 15 ips speed; uses Dolby C NR. Useful when recording a proper group with their own instrumentation, etc. where lots of overdubbing and punching-in are necessary means to getting something that sounds halfway like music, down on tape. (I'd love to have a group so good [thinking for the moment of bluegrass music] they could record live with a single stereo mike, straight to the 354 running ATR's new tape, but I have what I have here, which ain't saying much for the most part.)
Also handy is a Denon DN-770R dual auto-reverse cassette deck, used for transfers and restorations in the studio.
There's a vintage Roberts 770X (1966? 1967?) right here with me that I managed to get running well, partly by Super Gluing the capstan sleeve on, to stop the horrid wow and flutter it otherwise had. All tube.
Other machines that are works in progress, in various stages of functionality:
Magnecord Magnecordette III--1953 vintage staggered-head 2 track;
Tandberg 4F--1961 vintage mono recorder/mono and stereo player;
Tascam 22-2--7" reels, 7 1/2--15 ips 2 track that survived the car wreck I was in last September, it got its output volume control bent to holy hell, yet everything works fine on it;
Revox A-77 Mk 1--1969 vintage, sports an aluminum plate behind the reels area (I need to post a pic of it sometime, ASAP, so you can see what this looks like)--3 3/4--7 1/2 ips, quarter track, needs recap, one VU meter and the record head replaced;
Akai GX-630D--like-new 1977 deck; various electronic issues being slowly sorted out;
Akai X-200D--nice little 3 motor/3 speed deck;
Otari MX 5050 Mk III, 4 track 4 channel 1/4" tape deck, needs new record and repro heads, and new capstan motor;
Ampex 600--1954 vintage full track mono 7 1/2 ips deck in rack mount adapter;
Ampex 601--1962 vintage deck like unto the 600--mechanism good for parts, amp useful as a backup for the 600;
Teac 2300S--1974 vintage (works OK, used for backup);
Teac A-2340SX--1979 vintage (also works fine, just little or no call for it);
A second Ampex 354 for parts;
Bits and pieces of two Akai X-1800SD reel/8 track machines;
And two Radio Shack SCT-23 cassette decks from 1982.
There's also two wire recorders, a Webster-Chicago Model 80-1 and a Model 180, just to fortify the fun....and I almost forgot, a well-worn Sony TC 200 solid state machine whose transport I had to modify and regulate almost everyday, to keep it running on speed. It was a workhorse from when it was given to me in the fall of 1981. I retired it in 1988 when I bought that first-mentioned Ampex 354.