Nakaholism at its worst (best?)

[perry]

I've got a problem...nakaholism...besides recently buying a complete set of all eight original Nakamichi 2 & 3 head alignment gauges, I just added FOUR more Naks to my collection. An RX202, BX300, Cassette Deck 1, and a 660ZX. The CD-1 was expensive, at $230, the BX300 right at just over $100, and the others in the $80 range. The RX202 and BX300 came today. Literally, (and I am a VERY critical person) they look brand spanking new. *Hi5* The previous owners obviously either never used them, or loved them. The 202 door is perfectly clear, not even a dusting scratch on it. The faceplate edges have not the slightest scratch or dent of any kind, and those of you with black Naks know how hard it is to come by faceplates that clean. SN 34xx, 3rd qtr '83, so only a second year build one, too. All it needs is a new idler tire and flip belt (maybe some pressure roller work), but it plays beautifully. The BX300 is in the exact same like new shape, and it needs nothing. Perfect. I'll check it with the gauges, of course, but it plays perfectly. SN 515xx, 1st qtr '87 so a last year built one. The capstans show no tape staining at all. The insides are perfectly clean and bright. Ironically, neither was listed as stating they were in mint shape, and they had lousy pictures to boot. Sometimes you're the windshield and sometimes, you're the bug. Monday, the CD-1 and 660ZX wil be here. If they are in as good shape as these, I will be beyond amazed. This compares to one of my Dragons and B215s, where you have to wonder just what the hell they did to scratch the faceplates and corners like you see on some of these. I had different reasons for getting them all, but was eventually going to sell them after total tune & alignment and measurements, and getting totally familiar with their workings. Now I'm loathe to think of letting them go, they are so beautiful. *fit* My name is Perry...and I'm a Nakaholic....

[tcp100]

Perry, you certainly have a knack for Naks... Ok yeah I just went there. :)

The Nakamichi gods have certainly shined upon you as of late!

[Scorpion8]

Perry, you certainly have a knack for Naks... Ok yeah I just went there.

Dang! That was a good one. That's some collection Perry. Enjoy it!

[perry]

As Chris well knows, enjoying them will be dependent on how much pain I suffer at the hands of my wife the next time she enters the man cave and sees 9 Nakamichi decks, along with the 4 Yamahas and 2 Revoxs. The old "THOSE old decks? I've always had those" only works so many times...*flame* ...but yeah, isn't it fun trying out a new deck, even though you KNOW it's not going to be anything significantly different than what you already have. I wonder why that is...

[Naknut]

As they say at the meetings "amen brother". I know where you're coming from Perry. There was a time in my life when I had aspirations of owning every model in the Nakamichi line and at the time (about 15 years ago) I thought I could have. I started at what I thought was the top (a Dragon) and was going to work down. Needless to say I had no ideal how many there truly were and how expensive some of them were going to get. I've stopped at 7 for now and I know that I'll never have them all but it won't be for a lack of wanting and lusting. *hypnot*

[perry]

Well the other two decks were not in the same league as the first two. The 660ZX, with it's analogue meters is a looker, and built like a bomb shelter. Really heavy. Very nice cosmetics. Inside clean as a whistle. 1981 build. Eject lever will not release the tape holder. Removed the glass cover. Pressure rollers locked firmly in place. Idler tire hard as a rock, belts floppy. Powers up fine. Went to remove the faceplate to free the tape holder and start an initial service (Slow soak of the pivots) and the large master input volume knob is beyond firmly stuck in place. Slow steady pressure prying with a wide flat blade with plenty of padding and I finally got it slowly moving, until the knob finally came up. Along with the shaft from the potentiometer. Hmmm, I didn't know the shafts came out like that, I always thought...*eyepop* So, now it needs a new pot as well. I've got a line on a spare already, though. STILL can't get the shaft out of the knob, so that's going to be fun....letting it soak with some Goo Gone and penetrating oil for 2 weeks, see if that helps.

The Cassette Deck 1 powers up and plays perfectly well. Good cosmetics, needs a thorough cleaning. Belt a bit loose. What a difference in build and design from the 660ZX. SO much plastic. SO easy to work on. SO much smaller.

[PrimozS]

Perry - my no1 680ZX also came with volume pot broken shaft - but it works normali when placed back to pot. Just the feeling when turning a knob is a bit "easy".

The 680 I got - arrived with hardly working eject - the problem was in broken eject button - the shaft was broken.

LX-3 arrived with totaly stucked eject - the reason was in trasport damage - the hit from underneath bent the chassis so the chassis was constantly pressing on head block - as in play mode when it locks up the eject.
As soon as I removed the mechanism from the chassis - the head block dropes back down and the eject worked normaly.

Maybe any of those hints can be useful for you

[Nakdoc]

With the soldering iron on LOW, head the shaft and pull on the knob. Someone glued it!
My solution to nakaholism is to open a business and keep the decks at work!

[perry]

Thanks for the advice, Tom. I was a little afraid of melting the plastic. The parts board I got with the pots does not include new knobs. Heat will be next, it the Goo Gone doesn't work. I have no intention of servicing other peoples decks for fun or money. It's one thing to snap off the pot shaft on your own deck, and quite another to do it on someone else's and have to try to explain that that "deal" on ebay is going to cost 2 or 3 times what you paid for it to make it work correctly. Helping a friend here and there, or someone local that does not want ship their deck, fine. Calibrations and alignments, fine. Though some decks, like the RX303/505 have to have the faceplate removed to set individual channel bias. I've not had any stuck knobs on them, but you never know.