Ampex MM-1000 Story...

Ah yes well good luck hunting that down!

As to it being amazing that a 40 year old machine is still running as it is... I tend to be less amazed that a machine from that era is still going then I would be if a machine from today would still be working in 40 years. The manufacturing thought of that time was to build quality products that would last forever, as opposed to today's throw away and buy a new and more advanced one in five years philosophy. I would view it as more of a testament to the engineering and quality control involved in the manufacturing process at Ampex then anything else.

And speaking of, what is your thought on the more modular design of these old Ampexs, do you view it as a positive or a negative in terms of maintaining and restoring the machines? I know of an old 440 4 track that has been sitting in storage for quite a few years that I'm debating on making a grab at for hopefully a very reasonable price. As such I was just wondering how you compare working on these machines vs. the more all inclusive Tascam/TEAC design philosophy.
 
I guess 'amazing' was a poor word choice...I'm not surprised that it is still running like it is, and its impossible to miss the ideology of 'built to last' that went into it and so many other products of the era...maybe it is just affirming? When I power it up and it is like it wants to work...I'm left feeling like 'See?! Look at that! I KNEW it would work!'

And on your question, boy. Lots of thoughts and brevity is not a strength I possess. Because these machines are much more macro mechanical than, say, a Tascam machine (i.e. no IC's, non-logic transport, etc.) it seems like there is better potential for things to be repaired or reconditioned on them, and a lot of times it seems that problems are connector or relay related. Sure they lack sophistication relatively speaking, but how do they sound? I can't answer that yet but I have a hunch after messing around with a 440B amp module. And everything is easier to get to...everything is bigger. These were meant to be field serviced. This stuff didn't exist in people's homes when this stuff was being made. It was in professional duty service and needed to be repairable with a minimum of downtime. When the home studio came on to the scene (due in large to Teac), the average home based artist wasn't a tech. Field serviceable design wasn't as great a need and it cost less to produce a less serviceable design. I'm not saying Teac stuff isn't serviceable...The Tascam 48 is really well laid out...really. But it is a rare opportunity to own something that was (and is) for the pro environment, and as somebody who likes to work on his own gear, it is pretty cool the way a 440 comes apart, and for me it is an advantage. I have no idea if that addresses your question. They are very different and I like them for different reasons, but I've developed an affinity for the vintage Ampex stuff.
 
There was something funky with the first rolling guide that the tape comes to after the supply tension arm...looks like tape has been cutting the lower edge of the guide and the top cap was loose. Well, looks like somebody put an extra washer in there so the guide has been sitting too high and couldn't properly tighten down. Those kind of things bug me. MAN the parts of just that rolling guide are serious precision pieces and somebody thought "oh I don't know I'll just stick this extra washer here." :mad: I'll need to look at getting new bearings at some point but for now things are fine and that guide is working really nice now. Also got my set of reel spacers today. Same friend that has machined some parts in the past for other projects made a set of the spacers that go on the reel adapter for me. The reel adapters are fixed for holding 2" tape. If the MM-1000 is converted to 8-track 1" then you have a spacer ring that goes under the reel and a spacer ring that goes over the reel. The adapter still sees a 2" something-or-other on the reel table but the 1" reel is sandwiched between the two spacers. My MM-1000 only came with one spacer and others had been using 1/4" hubs for the other three. I had a full set of new ones made up. My friend really does unbelievable work. Experienced with CNC machines but somehow his parts come out the best of both worlds...the consistency and accuracy of CNC with some kind of human craftsmanship to them as well. Really nice.

Studied the lifter circuit some last night and there is a relay K8 in the control relay box that powers the lifter solenoid so I'll start at the lifters and work my way back but I'm pretty sure I'm going to find K8 needs cleaning or something.

Once the lifters are working I'll clean the tape path up nice, demag it and patch together a temporary means of preamping mics and being able to monitor the tracks (the MM-1000 is not near my Tascam mixer, and I ain't moving either of them yet...too heavy). I think I'm going to rackmount my Presonus Digimax FS in the MM console along with my Tascam MX-80. The Digimax is an ADAT capable 8-channel mic/line preamp, but also works VERY well as a standalone analog preamp with balanced direct outs for each channel as well as inserts...so I'll use that to preamp and send sources to the tape tracks and then use the MX-80 as an 8 x 2 return mixer...I'll have to use the MIC inputs with the -30dB pad switched in, but at least I'll be able to test all the balancing transformers on the MM-1000 to make sure they work. So with those two devices racked in the MM-1000 console it'll be like a portastudio...heheh... :D

Yep...get the lifters working, clean and degauss the tape path, rack up some I/O, and...try it out. :cool:
 
I didn't feel like being in the shop tonight...too cold, so I unplugged the heads, removed the 4 cap screws and had the headblock off in seconds. Got that whole thing cleaned up...got the sticky shed and flakes off of everything. Fortunately the sticky shed had "dried"...I was able to just chip most of it off with a fingernail.

So there are a few other components to clean up in the tape path but the headblock is nice and clean. I'll degauss it next, clean up the rest of the path and get to work getting those lifters to function. Took some pictures of the headblock, but first here are a couple pictures of the spacer rings I wrote about earlier:

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The original is the one I'm holding:

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Here is the headblock...just a stream of pictures...keep in mind this thing is a chunk...weighs in at around 2.5lbs...

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You should compose a thread on "close-up photography of audio equipment". Nice photos.

Nice work, too. This stuff fascinates the crap outta me.
 
Cory, I totally see why you've become fond of this machine. It's beautiful, a marvel of engineering. Great job on cleaning the head-stack which, BTW, looks to weigh almost as much as my portastudio! :D

...and a skilled machinist you've got there too! :)
 
Yeah, Daniel...It is it for me. I am totally at peace letting go of a bunch of my gear, paring down and focusing on this one. It is lovely.

Pulled the tape counter off tonight and took it apart to clean and just to plain see how the thing works...you won't believe the level of craftsmanship even in this "obsolete" and "antiquated" instrument...frankly I think it is one of the most charming elements of the MM-1000.

Here it is in pieces:

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The cleaned up roller:

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Reassembled and clean...I don't mind the chips in the paint. Gives it character...

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Lookit the innards...it looks like a watch...

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Also cleaned up the lifters.

This stuff fascinates the crap outta me.

Muck, hard to put my finger on it but your periodic comments like this are some of the most enjoyable and encouraging...:)
 
Gotta clean up the relays...

As I started tracking down the lifter issue in the schematics it naturally led me to the Control Relay Box...that's where all the big relays are for all the transport functions. I finally put one and one together and realized that the Control Relay Box is the MM-1000 equivalent of the Control PCB that is in all the Tascam stuff I've worked on...duh...that's why they both have "control" in their names...Here's an example of one...this is from my 388. It is the larger PCB just below the transport assembly:

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Here is one from a Tascam 58:

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Nominally sized PCB's with quite a bit of stuff on them.

Here's the equivalent of the Control PCB on the MM-1000:

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For perspective sake that's a 4U rackmount box full of electromagnetic reed type relays, like the kind that go "click-click...click-click" in your car only these ones are bigger and they go "klack!" when energized.

So I'm doing the sweetbeats thing and going through it and cleaning it up, but I really think I need to do that before I go running tape on the transport because there is evidence that it needs attention. Evidence like the fact that the lifters don't work and the capstan never shuts off. That tells me that there may be other issues and if there aren't yet there will be and I don't want to end up chasing my tail.

I'll get some pictures taken and put them up later but I've done 1 of the 8 relays so far and it didn't take long and when I got in there my conviction about my plan to take care of this first was affirmed: the contacts on the relays are really dirty. Just normal stuff for a 40-year old machine that's had some use, but I'm using DeoxIT D5 and a worn-in piece of Scotchbrite pad to shine each contact up and then hosing it down with more DeoxIT and drying with a soft cloth. In some cases I'm even taking a fine file and smoothing the contact surface because some are even a little pitted (not from rust but as a result of the aprking that occurs during normal operation). Its basically like refreshing the points in a traditional automotive ignition system, but a whole bunch of times...two contacts in the ignition system, 16 per relay on most of the relays in the Ampex. BUT, when I get done I'll have more confidence that issues are not Control Box related and hopefully I'll just be heading new issues off at the path.

Another thing I discovered is that the wiring on one of the tension resistors (which, BTW, to continue the "everything is bigger on an Ampex" theme, are resistors the size of a Coney Island Foot Long) is burnt and the slide clamps to which the wires attach are corroded:

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That wiring got hot at some time.

The advisement I have received is kind of what I figured...loose screw connections or slide clamp contacts that began to oxidize increasing resistance and heat and on and on the cycle went. So the wiring needs replaced, the clamps and contacts cleaned up and when I replace the wiring I'll be soldering the wires on rather than screwing them to the terminals.

Don't worry. This isn't going to drag on like some of my other stories where I go too deep and end up ruining something (knock on wood). That's part of what I'm enjoying about this machine is that the electronics are much more macro and the electronics being discrete and also systematically independent means there is less to kill if something goes drastically wrong. This isn't making me overconfident, but just at peace that the skills called for to do the work are in balance with me.

I loved my 58...sophisticated and relatively refined...compact and handsome looking, but I like to know how stuff works inside and out and to be able to fix it and I don't think I'm going to excel to the level of being able to troubleshoot and repair logic circuitry and the like. It puts what evm1024 does into perspective as he has a number of heavy-duty projects on his bench right now, my old 58 among them, but he has the background, knowledge and aptitude to attack those issues. So what am I trying to say? Balance. Use gear or try to acquire gear that can bring you the results you like but also gear with which you are comfortable. If that means you have a friend or a shop that you trust knows that piece of gear and can keep it going for you if you aren't into the DIY/maintenance thing, no sweat, but I mean letting some of that criteria play into what you choose to operate. I guess its like what cjacek and others have been saying for a long time, for instance, about criteria for selecting a tape machine, and being less concerned about which tape machine, and more concerned about the condition of the tape machine you buy (when given more than one option to purchase).

The MM-1000 is (obviously) awkward and huge. I'm trying to figure out how I'm going to fit it in my little control booth...it'll fit, but getting it from the shop to the garage will be an operation and I need to clean it up first because once it is in there it will be tough to move and access all its parts. I want to get it in there ASAP as it is in an unheated space now and the weather is quickly turning here in Oregon (plus the shop is now a very dirty place with the horses out back and the hay and all that), and my point is that I'll still need to work on it once it gets into the control booth but I can't just put it on the workbench in there and move it around because the MM IS a workbench size-wise...so those are some of the drawbacks and one of the main criticisms of the MM-1000, but everything else just fits so nice with me and I encourage others to take that kind of look at what they are using or what they are seeking and look at it through that lense...what will really be the best machine to live with and use for you because I believe that is a big part of what helps good art to happen; when you are comfortable with your canvas and brushes...when you're not distracted by a discord but rather excited and even inspired to work with the machine that is going to capture your sounds. Its just one piece of the big picture but I think it is an important one. I feel this way about both the MM-1000 and my 388, though the 388 does have a bunch of that confounded logic circuitry... :D
 
So what am I trying to say? Balance. Use gear or try to acquire gear that can bring you the results you like but also gear with which you are comfortable.

Good point. If I were out shopping today, in 2009, for a tape machine and, through some miracle, many were still being made, I'd choose a relatively "ancient" machine, such as the early Ampex (440, MM____ etc...), one which, obviously, had good sound BUT being also balanced with how comfortable I would be like when the thing needed service. I'll say that an early Ampex is my thing on those two issues, even though I don't have extensive first hand experience with one. Suffice to say, I would grow nauseous if something more serious were to happen to one of my TASCAM recorders. I'd probably not even touch it. It's a nightmare to service and access as compared to an early Ampex design. Try getting anything out, that's inside of a TASCAM in a matter of minutes. It won't happen. Now, lets talk proprietary components.... It's abound in a TASCAM. The list goes on.... I love the simplicity, accessibility and hulking build of the early designs.
 
Try getting anything out, that's inside of a TASCAM in a matter of minutes. It won't happen.

The channel strips come out of my M-__ really easily... :D

In all honesty there are nice touches in that regard on the 388 and 48...others I'm sure, but they really did put some serious thought into the layout of things like you and I have talked about in the past, but I agree that it is nothing like the older Ampex machines, and plus the smaller the machine the more cramped things are going to get which makes it harder. I took the capstan motor out of my parts 440 last week and it took me about 1 minute to have it completely out of the transport. I betcha in a standard 440 you could change out the PSU in...3 minutes? There is room to work...or room to sleep. I bet I could curl up and take a nap in the lower part of the console of the MM-1000.
 
That's great...he was asking if he could have a sleepover in the MM-1000 and now I can tell him he'll fit.
 
Cory, I'm all for showing love for tape machines but this is going a bit overboard, don't you think?:D:D ;);)

Great pic BTW. :)
 
If you keep the electronics fired up you could probably camp in there on a cold Winter's night.

Not one, but two cooling fans in the bottom of that baby!


So I'm working on going through the control relay box (cleaning the relay contacts, repairing some burnt wiring)...

Just to keep my mind straight I'm going through each relay K1 ~ 8 in numerical order...K1 is done, so join me as we pull K2 apart and clean things up.

Here's the next patient:

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The way these relays work is that there are fixed lower and upper contacts, and a set of double-sided reed-type contacts that go in between which are attached to a pivoting plate. When power is applied to the coil in the relay the plate is drawn toward the magnetic pole, and because the double-sided reed contacts are attached to that plate they pivot up to meet the upper contacts when the plate is drawn to the magnetic pole. KLACK! The gates open to allow power to now go wherever that particular relay powers.

Here is a pic of the double-sided contact array:

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The contacts don't look too bad right? Well, you're looking at the contacts which are normally closed...flip it over and we can see the conditon of the other contacts, the ones doing to fundamental work of the relay (or rather the ones through which power flows when the relay is engaged:

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Yuck. Pitted. Had to file them down. Didn't want to file them down far enough to rectify the pits so here is what they look like after filing and cleaning:

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Here it is all back together:

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On to K3!
 
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