choosing a tapemachine

[Mo-Kay]

Hi

I make soulful hip hop, and I'm looking for a tapemachine to do to record stuff to, get a more "warm", "vintage", ""70s" sound, and than send back to my sampler...

I don't have a lot of cash and am looking to spend about 150 euros max.

Any advice on makes/models/etc?

Thanks

Mo-Kay

[Mo-Kay]

anybody?

[MichaelM]

I think nobody has replied because you won't get any tape machine for that amount of money... The closest thing that I can think of is a bottom of the range cassette based 4 track.

[hrn]

Mo-Kay,
I've seen Revox recorders go for that money. And yes, you can get a warm vintage sound from them. I have an A700, a PR99 and a G36 tube recorder.

The A700 is not so far away from a Studer machine, for example the tape transport is close to Studer.

The PR99 is like an updated B77

The G36 is a tube machine and it sounds like that too. And it sounds good. This is the real vintage sound.

Remember, this is old gear and could be in a bad shape. But if you find any of the Revox's in good working order you will be happy for years.

And you can master on them too.

For a bit more money you have the old Studer's and Telefunken's....

I think you should stay away from Otari 5050 from own experiences....

I recommend the A700 from the Revox's, a B67 from the Studer's or a M5C from the Telefunken's because I've tried them.

Some Revox info:
http://www.reeltoreel2.de/worldwide/


Hans

[Mo-Kay]

@ MichaelM I'm not looking for multitrack stuff, just simple 2 track to...indeed, warm things up, or even master to.

Hans, thanks a lot man

[Mo-Kay]

btw do you know how the Revox A77 is? because I see those on sale a lot...

[arjoll]

Hi

Sorry, I almost posted twice but thought I'd leave it for someone more experienced to get in first!

For basic 2 track use the A77 will probably be fine, but remember its a very old machine (I think they started making them in the late 60's). Because you are in Europe you should be able to track down a heap of them. Most of the ones I've seen over here are pretty much shot (even 15 years ago they were marginal).

You might be able to pick up an Akai GX machine for similar money - they were often only 4 track 2 channel domestic format, but because of the glass heads (yes, glass) one of the 3 motor machines (e.g. the GX265D, which I have) could be in pretty good condition. You will almost certainly need to clean the switches though! The ones with two levers are probably a single motor design and more likely to give problems.

My GX265D sounds sweet, and even at 3.5ips it sounds good on 456 (not really what it was designed for - probably better with Maxell 35-90B if you can find it, and I'm guessing 407 would be good as well - don't even bother with fancy new(!) tape formulations).

I've also seen a couple of Tascam 32's going for <NZ$300 recently, which should be about your price range. These were workhorses and newer technology than the Revox A77 and older Akai, Teac or Sony machines. Just watch the condition of the tape transport.

Hope this is of some help.

Cya
Andrew

[Mo-Kay]

OK so say I wanna buy a tapemachine..what should I check for?

How can I see if the heads and transport are still good?