Questions about the Tascam ATR-60 8 Track Tape Machine, Configuring and bias.

S

Se7en-Costanza

New member
Hey everyone, I'm very new to this forum and making threads, so i apologise if anything I will say is already answered in other posts, but anyway, hopefully i can get a hand with some questions I've been wanting to know about my tape machine and setup.

Firstly, I bought my Tascam ATR-60 8 Track tape machine off ebay, and picked it up from the guys house and he showed me a basic run down on how to use it and to make sure that it all works, so I'm fairly certain everything on it works fine. It came with a bunch of tapes, ampex 456 and 499 mainly, some in decent quality some not, but besides that, i recently bought 6 RMG 900 1/2 tapes in new quality, which is exciting, but i am unsure if i'm meant to configure my machine to those tapes as my machine was previously used to playing 456 and 499 by the previous owner. What am i meant to do? do i need to configure my machine/change the bias or should it be fine? And if i am meant to change the bias, how do i do that?

What tools would i need and how is it done on my machine, will i need to take it apart to do so?

Thanks guys! (sorry if what i am saying sounds naive or dumb, i am very new to tape and really want to get more educated and better at using it, as i eventually want to start a home tape based studio to record my own music).
 
1.Read the manual 2.Read the "sticky" on alignment.3.Decide if you want to do it right and invest the money in an Alignment tape-$200-$300,oscilloscope, VTVM, tone generator,misc.tools and cables,and weigh that against paying someone to do it,and give you tips on maintaining the deck.You will have to decide which tape formulation to use-the 900 is like the 499 type "high output" tape,which you might want to use,along with setting it up a "elevated" levels-a whole different conversation- if you do not will use noise reduction.The 911 is a 456 "bias equivalent" tape.
 
Dont buy a tape recorder unless you intend to be serious about aligning it. That means buying test equipment. An alignment tape is a must.
 
Se7en,

I may be wrong but I doubt that there's anyone worthwhile in Newie that would be too conversant with that machine, just about all the techs from the tape period are probably either dead or have moved on.

Those decks were originally set up for 456 and if my memory serves me correctly, 499 would require a different bias setup and that tape could be a little more physically "aggressive" on the heads.........reading back through old threads here should give you more info.

I know of two ATR60 1" 16 tracks in town......mine and a friends, there may be other variations but they're probably covered in dust.

After getting ours quite some years ago, I came to realise that owning one of these beasts has to be a commitment, they're like an old English car, they require a lot of TLC, something that real life is making more difficult.

:cool:
 
radardoug said:
Dont buy a tape recorder unless you intend to be serious about aligning it. That means buying test equipment. An alignment tape is a must.
Click to expand...

+1 on the comitment to work on them. I have 3 Tascam ATR 60-2 machines , and a 48 I have been using R2R to record my band since about 1972. I use Nakamichi cassette when not making multitrack or 2 track masters.
 
Thanks guys with all the advice about this.
I was hoping i could possibly use it without changing the bias and without all the electrical maintenance and servicing and get a decent sound out of it, nothing commercial sounding but just nice somewhat lo-fi 90's indie rock bedroom studio sounding stuff.
As I have used it before to just record a few things, but it looks like i got a ways to go with figuring out how to get the most out of my tape machine with bias and alignment.

I might look around for who can service tape machine in my area when i get some money together.
 
You kinda dove into the deep end of the pool...and now you realize you need swimming lessons. :D ;)

It's a bit of a long road. You can read a whole bunch of info all over the place...BUT...you will only learn, understand and know what you are doing from doing...over and over...with different situations and setups, etc.
There's not just a simple 1-2-3 step process.

Start small...start basic...don't try and digest everything all at once. it will take some time before you will be able to make good use of your equipment...but, not out of reach.
 
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