Anybody have a working 246 (or equivalant)?

Rich_S

Rich_S

Member
A recent Internet search revealed that a singer I recorded a demo with 25-ish years ago died last year. This put in me in a nostalgic mood, and made me realize our old demo should be better preserved that a couple cassettes sitting in my desk drawer. Better yet, I'm wondering if modern technology might enable me to remix the old tracks, improving on what my meager abilities turned out 'way back when.

So, I'm looking for a way to play back the old tapes and rip them to digital files. We recorded the demo on a borrowed Tascam 246 and I believe we used the DBX. (I'll know for sure when I get home this weekend and find the old cassettes.)

Anybody have a working 246 that could help me out? Were there any other 4-track cassette machines that used DBX noise reduction that could also do this job?
 
Hello,
I have a working...sort of 246. It plays back fine. The record buss section has a hickup. dbx works fine. I can sell it for $50 plus shipping. If interested, I can send you pics and give you a better idea regarding its condition.
Thanks.
 
Rich_S said:
We recorded the demo on a borrowed Tascam 246 and I believe we used the DBX. (I'll know for sure when I get home this weekend and find the old cassettes.)

Anybody have a working 246 that could help me out? Were there any other 4-track cassette machines that used DBX noise reduction that could also do this job?
Click to expand...

Yes, there are indeed other 4 track machines that can do the job but not all of them have 2 speeds (the 246 does) and not all of them have switchable dbx (the 246 does). It would definitely help if you knew which speed you used and whether dbx was on or off. That way you'll know your options better. If high speed and dbx was used then there are a number of non 246 machines that can work too.

What are you looking to exactly do? Buy a recorder or send your tape to someone?
 
I'd prefer to send my tape to someone, but a cheap half-working 246 such as Towser's could work, too.

I'm traveling on business this week, but I'll be home over the weekend and dig out the old tapes. I'm sure they are marked with the speed and DBX settings, though I'm pretty sure we used high speed with DBX.
 
How many cassettes are we talking about? If it's like 2 or 3 with dbx, high speed, stereo or mono mix (not 3 or 4 separate tracks), then maybe I can do a straight stereo transfer to CD for you. No charge. Just shipping costs.
 
I have either 1 or 2 tapes, four songs, but they are the 4-track multitrack tapes. I know for sure there's one 4-track tape, IIRC it has vocals, 2 guitars, and drums+bass bounced down to one mono track.

I might have a second tape with the drums and bass separated, in pre-bounced condition. Not sure that tape exists, though.

So, yeah, I need a compatible 4-track machine to copy the tape(s) over to four tracks of digital.
 
I see.... Yeah, while I can do 4 tracks on my portastudio, I don't have a computer soundcard capable of recording 4 separate tracks. Do you have that capability and would you be mixing the 4 tracks in your computer? Be aware about buying a used portastudio because many need belts and reconditioning of pinch roller to be ideal candidates for transferring tapes. You also need one which has individual 4 tape outputs. If you don't find anyone who can transfer to 4 digital tracks then your only option is to get a portastudio yourself and make sure you have a multitrack capable sound card and software. Or if you'll have a portastudio anyway, then just play it back, mix it down to stereo to CD or computer yourself. No need for multritrack cards. You should consider towser's offer. If he can demonstrate that the 246 works for what you intend to do and if he can pack safely for shipping then 50 bucks + shipping is a good price for a 246. I can still do it, if you want, but I'll have to mix it myself (inside of my portastudio) and output to stereo to CD. But I'm not sure if that's a good idea because my taste in mixing may be different to yours. Did you check if you recorded with dbx and double speed? That's what my portastudio can do.
 
Last edited:
I have a perfectly working 246 and multi-track transfer-to-digital capability (I've transferred hundreds of hours of old analog and DTRS demos of mine and of friends). For 4-track transfers, I go Tascam 246 > Tascam DM-24 > 4 separate tracks in Samplitude.

If you're looking to send the tapes to someone for transfer, I could probably spare a bit of time to do it for you.

Regards - Ed
 
Okay... I'm home and found the tapes in the second place I looked.

What I have is a 246 multitrack, recorded on a 246 with the DBX on.

Track 1 Electric Guitar 1
Track 2 Electric Guitar 2
Track 3 Bass & Drums (bounced)
Track 4 Vocals

I also have a 2-track master of the final mix, recorded on a high-quality cassette deck wit Dolby C.

What I want is somebody to dump the 4-track to digital, so that a composer/producer buddy of mine and I can remix it in his studio. Since he records almost everything "in the box" he only has a 2-channel interface, and of course, no 246.
 
Dave, that will be incredibly useful, even with a working 246. One of the tracks (the bounced bass & drums) has a mistake at the very beginning which I believe is on the multitrack. Triggered by the opening, loud cymbal crash, the DBX opens up slowly, making the intro swell, as though someone slowly turned up the treble. I'm hoping to "undo" that mixing mistake when we remix the song, and knowing how DBX did its magic will help.

If anybody is interested, you can find MP3s of the original 1986 mixes here: SoundClick artist: The Ya-Yas - A short-lived original band from the Philadelphia 'burbs, circa late '80s. The band was started (an
 
We have lift-off......

246.jpg


Samp.jpg


:D
 
Nice going Ed. Ah, the marrying of old school analogue and now digital. So I guess you were the lucky one to transfer the tapes? :D ...... Beautiful condition 246 BTW. :)
 
cjacek said:
Nice going Ed. Ah, the marrying of old school analogue and now digital. So I guess you were the lucky one to transfer the tapes? :D ...... Beautiful condition 246 BTW. :)
Click to expand...

:D

Yeah, man!! The tracks sound good; however, the bass/drum mix track will need some attention in post (nothing that a good plug-in won't cure...) The tape is in great condition, so there were no problems there. The music is just fun, for lack of a better word, to listen to.

My 246 just keeps going and going and going. I've had to replace the belts twice and the idler tire once. I keep the heads cleaned and demag'd and store the whole shebang with a dust cover when I'm not using it. I've owned this machine since 1989 and have definitely gotten my money's worth out of it (paid $375, used, back then.....).

I should have the transfer, etc., on their way back to Rich tomorrow.
 
I just stopped by to say Ed (aka Superreverb) is DA MAN. The tape has been dumped to digital, and returned safely. From the rough mix Ed did of one song, I can hear there's a lot more detail on the multitrack than what made it onto my first-ever final mix back in '86. Re-mixing it should be fun and very worthwhile... lots of room for improvement.

Other little treasures Ed found included a snippet on the head of the track of the (Yamaha, IIRC) boom-chick-boom-chick rhythm box that we used for a click track, then erased when we tracked the really drums. I always loved the choices those boxes gave you, rhumba, conga, bossanova, waltz, and of course "rock". LOL

On the tail end, he discovered a short mic check in which we hear the solo voice of our departed singer, Aida. Tina (the rhythm guitarist/other singer) and I are ecstatic over the opportunity to preserve and even improve this bit of our ancient history. Old-school analog + modern tech (with a little help from Ed) FTW.

BTW, I hereby nominate Ed's 246 for the Tascam wallpaper thread. The undisputed pinnacle of kickass 4-track cassette technology.
 
Aw, hell, Rich LOL!!

As I said in one of our email exchanges, I purposely left all of the little non-music tidbits on there. They're like little Easter eggs! When I started transferring my own stuff a couple of years ago (from the 246, from my Tascam 38, from my old DTRS machines) I was always finding things like that. I got a real kick of it. I figured you would, too :D

Keep me posted on how the remix goes!
 
Anybody need a TASCAM 244 in LIKE-NEW condition?

I have a Portastudio 244 that I want to sell. I'm the one and only owner. I purchased it in the early 1980s and replaced the belts and rollers a few years back. It runs like new and never saw much use back in the day. In fact, it sat unused in cool, dry basement storage for a couple decades while "Adulthood had its way with me"...HA!

I think it's worth $400. I think it could be worth a lot more than that to the right person, but it's worth $400 to me at present. If interested, PM me here. I'll post a proper advert in the Classifieds forum ASAP.

As for delivery or pickup, I live near the geographic center of the United States.

Tom
 
Sorry to resurrect this thread, I just wanted to say that I listened to the demo and I quite enjoyed it! Please tell us when the remix is done :)

Rich_S said:
Dave, that will be incredibly useful, even with a working 246. One of the tracks (the bounced bass & drums) has a mistake at the very beginning which I believe is on the multitrack. Triggered by the opening, loud cymbal crash, the DBX opens up slowly, making the intro swell, as though someone slowly turned up the treble. I'm hoping to "undo" that mixing mistake when we remix the song, and knowing how DBX did its magic will help.

If anybody is interested, you can find MP3s of the original 1986 mixes here: SoundClick artist: The Ya-Yas - A short-lived original band from the Philadelphia 'burbs, circa late '80s. The band was started (an
Click to expand...
 
Thank you Hammerstone. The other two people who have listened to the demo recently have both called it "fun". Is "fun" better or worse than "good"? LOL

The remix project is on hold for the time being. My composer/engineer friend got his first project with a new client, one of the more respectable cable TV networks, and it's taking priority right now.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top