reel to reel adventures -- help!

lilcapn

New member
i've had a tascam 8-track reel-to-reel for a few months now ("upgrading" (retrograding?) from my vs-1680, which was an upgrade from a portastudio) but am just now getting to use it with regularity, learning to use it, etc.

trying to record acoustic guitar with a C1 through a joe meek, and i'm hearing this repetetive noise -- its the tape machine, one reel sounds like the tape is hitting the side every time around.

anyone have a hunch as to whether is this a major "everything needs realignment" kind of deal (i never had work done on the thing when i bought it -- i just started using it!) or just a "you threaded the tape on the reel in a weird way" kind of thing?

with only one room to record in, i gotta fix this in order to record anything quiet to tape (or it's back to digital land)....

thanks!

ps if this helps, i notice that on the tape reel (not the take-up reel) after recording or listening and then rewinding, the tape on the original reel is at all these different "levels" on the reel, like it's coming back unevenly from the take-up reel....
 
Did you try unscrewing all the reels and then screwing them back on again? This has happened to me before when one of them is loose.

If the repetitive noise is really low, then chances are you need to do a more careful job erasing the tape.
 
What do do:

1. Ask the same question in the analog forum.
2. Check out the takeout reel. If it's warped get a new one.
3. Not everything should need realignment, just the reel hub that causes the noise. However, how this is done may differ from machibe to machine. On my Fostex A-8LR I had the same problem, and I adjusted it by very carefully hitting it with a screwdriver until it moved. :-)
 
thanks!

i'll post this in the other forum as well -- thanks for the tips; it's definitely the take-up reel that's making the noise, i'll try and see if it's warped, but i HAVE used it when it didn't sound like this, and i haven't had it for long, so i'm trying to figure out when it would have gotten warped.

then maybe i'll start banging....

thanks!
 
most likely, you can just bend the flanges on your reels to stop them from scaping...if that is the problem.

The uneven wraps are normal btw, on fast speeds. Notice that on slow speeds, your wraps on the reels SHOULD be nice and smooth. ...the best way to store your tapes, btw...and with the "tails out" (the ending part of the tape on playback, wrapped on the outside)
 
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