joeljoel1947
01-28-2009, 09:22 AM
I got an email from a retired CBS radio engineer here in Detroit who lives by me in the beginning of last month. He saw some of my Otari posts on the internet and wanted to know if I might want to come take a look at an MX-5050B3 (this is the current model that retails for ~ $5600) as it was sort of a parting gift from CBS that he didn't need. Well, I went to his home to check it out and it looked and played in good shape but had a LARGE orange stain of some sort all over the front of it. Anyhow, I offered him $150 for it as I really don't NEED another Otari (this makes 4 Otari decks total now here plus a 5th that is a parts deck). He said, "deal", so out I went with it (pics attached--it's in really fine shape). After some serious cleaning, all the orange stuff came off and you can see the results below. The heads are like brand new too, and although it only came with the 2-track headstack I have a spare 2/4 I'm pulling off a parts deck to give this one both playback heads.
I call this particular one a Christmas miracle because I have had some bad luck with sellers on ebay with the Otaris (and I see here Braxus did too). One arrived in pieces, one arrived and was supposedly "mint" but $400 later at the shop I got it to work, one I spent a LOT of money on from a trusted Ebay seller of open reel decks and it now has several issues, then there was a Teac X-1000r I bought arrived with a busted belt, then there was my Otari console that arrived with a bad switch and capstan motor etc, etc.....
Only twice have I actually gotten what I paid for (i.e. everything worked as stated) and this B3 was one of them (the other my Technics 1506 which is a DREAM machine)! The main reason for my sucess this time though was I was able to go locally and check the deck out FIRST! I cannot stress enough the importance of trying to find a local deck you can actually go LOOK at! I have wasted time, money, and shipping expenses on most of my decks and would not wish these headaches on anyone! *headache*
I will point out though, thankfully, that the issues I have had on Ebay the sellers all helped me out by partial refunds (except one and that's my other B3 that had problems months after purchase) which really did help to ease the pain. But none of the refunds really covered the WHOLE cost of getting them up to proper operating condition.
So all that said, this "gift" that fell into my lap helps to make up for my previous open reel debacles. Also meeting Joseph L from Award Audio here nearby has been a huge gift too as I probably would have dumped thousands into the local repair shop that knows about 1/5th of what Joseph does about these open reel decks.
OK, that's my story, sorry its "late" but needed to get it off my chest.....
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a196/JoelKozlowski/PDRM0016.jpg
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a196/JoelKozlowski/OtariB3.jpg
I call this particular one a Christmas miracle because I have had some bad luck with sellers on ebay with the Otaris (and I see here Braxus did too). One arrived in pieces, one arrived and was supposedly "mint" but $400 later at the shop I got it to work, one I spent a LOT of money on from a trusted Ebay seller of open reel decks and it now has several issues, then there was a Teac X-1000r I bought arrived with a busted belt, then there was my Otari console that arrived with a bad switch and capstan motor etc, etc.....
Only twice have I actually gotten what I paid for (i.e. everything worked as stated) and this B3 was one of them (the other my Technics 1506 which is a DREAM machine)! The main reason for my sucess this time though was I was able to go locally and check the deck out FIRST! I cannot stress enough the importance of trying to find a local deck you can actually go LOOK at! I have wasted time, money, and shipping expenses on most of my decks and would not wish these headaches on anyone! *headache*
I will point out though, thankfully, that the issues I have had on Ebay the sellers all helped me out by partial refunds (except one and that's my other B3 that had problems months after purchase) which really did help to ease the pain. But none of the refunds really covered the WHOLE cost of getting them up to proper operating condition.
So all that said, this "gift" that fell into my lap helps to make up for my previous open reel debacles. Also meeting Joseph L from Award Audio here nearby has been a huge gift too as I probably would have dumped thousands into the local repair shop that knows about 1/5th of what Joseph does about these open reel decks.
OK, that's my story, sorry its "late" but needed to get it off my chest.....
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a196/JoelKozlowski/PDRM0016.jpg
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a196/JoelKozlowski/OtariB3.jpg