Finally, back into analog

[Seeker of Rock]

By recommendations here, I finally found a 32 that I bought. Oh yeah, via ebay....again I think by talking with the seller this reel machine will be a winner as opposed to the MSR16s (which I haven't given up on yet, btw, it's just not going back to the same tech...I'll have to figure it out myself when I get around to it someday ). So anyway, I'm excited about the 32. Comes with a stand and 2 sealed ampex tapes...worried about the age and shed, sure, but I'll deal with that when it gets here. The stand was a plus and the pictures and history were good. So I guess I'll use my CDRW700 for conversion after I mix to the 32, as opposed to mixing to the 700 like I did in the past.
Anything I should be aware of on the 32? Seems like a pretty straighforward machine.

[krhall]

As long as you use a good strong demagnetizer on the heads and tape travel guides after every 8 hours of use you should be fine.

Although be sure to inspect the tape guides and all heads + pinch roller before finallising the sale as heads are quite expensive to buy.

Also quite a few people on here will tell you it is better to pick up the machine than having it shipped to you, because apparently the U.S postal services are notorious for damaging items in postage.

Hope this info helps

Keith

P.S Good luck with your machines

[The Ghost of FM]

Demagging every 8 hours seems a bit extreme?

Enjoy the 32 and hit it hard, level wise and it should sound sweet!

Be careful with those older Ampex reels...I'd invest in some fresh tape for any serious projects.

Cheers!

[hungovermorning]

Originally Posted by The Ghost of FM

Demagging every 8 hours seems a bit extreme?

Enjoy the 32 and hit it hard, level wise and it should sound sweet!

Be careful with those older Ampex reels...I'd invest in some fresh tape for any serious projects.

Cheers!

Good advice all around! Brand new Quantegy 456 and 457 is $15 a reel.

[krhall]

If your using older tape then demagging every 8 hours is ok, for new tape it isn't so much of a problem.

Keith

[Seeker of Rock]

No offense krhall, but I put quite a few hours on my 488 MKII and MSR-16, and never had to demagnetize. Cleaning heads, though, before EVERY session without fail.

Ghost, my mentor, you bet I'm gonna hit that tape hard!!

hungovermorning (love your name, btw ) you have a point. I figure I may give them a shot, but not expecting much. If they start to shed in the first few seconds I'll know it by the residue. If so, I'll keep the reels as spares, though it comes with the original TASCAM reel.

I have a lot of tracking to do before I even get to the point of seriously using it (and electrical outlets and wood trim to do before that, which should be done in the next couple of days or so), but I'm looking forward to adding it to 'the family'.

I'll have more questions to come, I'm sure. Thanks for the support as always.

[cjacek]

There are many views on this but I'm of the opinion that unless you know for a fact that the tape path has been magnetized, whether it be by a magnetic tool or whatever, you can make things worse with frequent demagnetizing.

[evm1024]

Originally Posted by Seeker of Rock

By recommendations here, I finally found a 32 that I bought. Oh yeah, via ebay....again I think by talking with the seller this reel machine will be a winner as opposed to the MSR16s (which I haven't given up on yet, btw, it's just not going back to the same tech...I'll have to figure it out myself when I get around to it someday ). So anyway, I'm excited about the 32. Comes with a stand and 2 sealed ampex tapes...worried about the age and shed, sure, but I'll deal with that when it gets here. The stand was a plus and the pictures and history were good. So I guess I'll use my CDRW700 for conversion after I mix to the 32, as opposed to mixing to the 700 like I did in the past.
Anything I should be aware of on the 32? Seems like a pretty straighforward machine.

Happy Holidays! and case you need it :

http://arafel.org/audio/manuals/32_manual.pdf

[cjacek]

Man, you are great! Thanks for the manual, Ethan!

[FALKEN]

hey that manual is cool but it stops where the maintenance section begins!

[FALKEN]

hey seeker, check your PMs.

[Seeker of Rock]

I got it last week, stand first and machine/tapes/reels second. Finally got a chance to hook it up tonight (just finished putting the electrical outlets in the new room). Sounds great. Ran it through the simple tests that I know...record/rewind/ff/play . The guy sent me a couple of sealed Quantegy tapes as well as some used (one 10-1/2", and a couple of 7" ), so I hooked up the 10-1/2" of previously recorded stuff and tested on that through my headphones. Everything seems to work well. I'll need to dabble in the manual just to get familiar with this and that, but good news on the 32!

I know vanity shouldn't count for a lot, but how cool is that blue-green LED counter

[Beck]

Originally Posted by Seeker of Rock

I got it last week, stand first and machine/tapes/reels second. Finally got a chance to hook it up tonight (just finished putting the electrical outlets in the new room). Sounds great. Ran it through the simple tests that I know...record/rewind/ff/play . The guy sent me a couple of sealed Quantegy tapes as well as some used (one 10-1/2", and a couple of 7" ), so I hooked up the 10-1/2" of previously recorded stuff and tested on that through my headphones. Everything seems to work well. I'll need to dabble in the manual just to get familiar with this and that, but good news on the 32!

I know vanity shouldn't count for a lot, but how cool is that blue-green LED counter

Congrats! Sounds like a great deal!

[cjacek]

I'm glad the 32 arrived unharmed and in good operating condition. Have fun with your new recorder!

[RICK FITZPATRICK]

Hey Seeker, congrats on the deck. OH! BTW, I have a 32 that I bought at a yard sale. It sat in a storage unit for four years. Needs some work and I haven't even plugged it in. Might be a good parts machine if you are interested. Hell, it may even work, but I doubt it. I bought a 909 at the same time and it didn't work. Moisture I believe. But let me know if you are interested. We'll make a deal....REAL CHEAP! hahahahahaha! But if you arn't, no big deal.

So you have an MSR too huh? Cool. I've got two, synched with a midiizer. I love those machines. And now with the 3500, I can finally have a monitoring system for 32 tracks. And I can finally hook up the Ampex 440. Geeeeezus...I might make a tape one of these days afterall Ha!

[Muckelroy]

All this talk about hitting the tape hard..........

Not ALL analog distortion is good. In fact it can get pretty damn annoying and glassy, harsh-like.

While I have not heard how the 32 distorts tape, it should not be generally assumed that "hitting the tape hard" is a good idea at all times, with all machines.

Forgive me if I'm being an annoying lecturing nanny. Take it all w/ a grain of salt and do your own art. I'm just throwing my 2 cents out there

-callie-

[Wil816]

This is my first post here.

No offense krhall, but I put quite a few hours on my 488 MKII and MSR-16, and never had to demagnetize. Cleaning heads, though, before EVERY session without fail.

Right. I was working in the repair department at TEAC/Tascam in Montebello, CA in the early 1980's when the 32 came out. I fixed about a thousand machines while I was there. Not a one of them needed demagnetization.

[Seeker of Rock]

Originally Posted by Wil816

This is my first post here.
Right. I was working in the repair department at TEAC/Tascam in Montebello, CA in the early 1980's when the 32 came out. I fixed about a thousand machines while I was there. Not a one of them needed demagnetization.

It is one of those things that I have never done, though I have the TASCAM (forget the model #, came with the MSR-16) to do it, just honestly haven't had the need to yet because everything stills sounds get on my analog gear (well, the Dolby thing on the MSR-16, but I haven't given up on that yet, though I like the HD24 so far ). I guess when something starts to sound swirly, that is the time to demag??

[Seeker of Rock]

Originally Posted by RICK FITZPATRICK

Hey Seeker, congrats on the deck. OH! BTW, I have a 32 that I bought at a yard sale. It sat in a storage unit for four years. Needs some work and I haven't even plugged it in. Might be a good parts machine if you are interested. Hell, it may even work, but I doubt it. I bought a 909 at the same time and it didn't work. Moisture I believe. But let me know if you are interested. We'll make a deal....REAL CHEAP! hahahahahaha! But if you arn't, no big deal.

So you have an MSR too huh? Cool. I've got two, synched with a midiizer. I love those machines. And now with the 3500, I can finally have a monitoring system for 32 tracks. And I can finally hook up the Ampex 440. Geeeeezus...I might make a tape one of these days afterall Ha!

My Florida buddy Falken (sorry for being State Predujice) has offered me a leg to stand on if I need it, but I really appreciate the offer. I'll send pics of this machine...I doubt it has had much use, or at least what use it has had seems not to be evident in the heads/body of the machine. If I'm wrong, it is really nice to know there are people here to support the problems and have parts if I need them. Now, if only I could find a Dolby S system for my MSR-16S, or someone who would know how to get around it, that would be a true blessing!! In all honesty, though, I'm thinking of selling the MSR at some point. Great sounding machine, but without the Dolby functioning I'm not sure that I want to keep it around. I guess I could track acoustic guitar passages and maybe vocals and send them to the HD24, but then I'm sending through the board to the 32 and using Joemeek opto on the way in, so maybe it is one too many hands in the link. I don't know, still haven't decided.
I'm real happy with the 32, though. The seller included one of the old Ampex looking reels, too, with the multiple spokes. Nothing but vanity, but it is kind of cool to look at.

[cjacek]

Originally Posted by Wil816

This is my first post here.

Welcome!

Right. I was working in the repair department at TEAC/Tascam in Montebello, CA in the early 1980's when the 32 came out. I fixed about a thousand machines while I was there. Not a one of them needed demagnetization.

Always great to have someone, who actually worked at Montebello, in the golden days of analog TEAC / TASCAM, posting here!

[Beck]

Originally Posted by Wil816

This is my first post here.
Right. I was working in the repair department at TEAC/Tascam in Montebello, CA in the early 1980's when the 32 came out. I fixed about a thousand machines while I was there. Not a one of them needed demagnetization.

Interesting.

What was your procedure then for determining the magnetic state of the tape path?

Or did the early 32's just fail too quickly to have had a chance to build up any stray magnetic fields?

(kidding... sorta )

[Wil816]

Interesting.

What was your procedure then for determining the magnetic state of the tape path?

Or did the early 32's just fail too quickly to have had a chance to build up any stray magnetic fields?

(kidding... sorta )

The 32's were just coming out at that time, and I may have only worked on a couple of that particular model. What I remember working on most were 3340, 3440, X7R, X10R, 5500 (boy those things were terrible with intermittencies!), the 4010 and related ones (I hated working on those!), 144 and 244 Portastudios (at least at that time, the heads wore out very fast!), 40-4, 80-8, and a lot of cassettes. I'm probably forgetting something major. That was 25 years ago.

Early in my tape-recorder enthusiasm, I used to use the demagnetizer religiously; but then I found that it was too weak to erase tape much at all even when the tape was laid directly against it, whereas of course the heads can erase and record on it. I reasoned, if the heads routinely during regular recording make their own magnetic fields that are even stronger than the demagnetizer's, what good is the demagnetizer? It left me wondering. And most of the other things the tape came in contact with were typically stainless steel or aluminum anyway, which are non-magnetic.

Then I read an article in one of the recording industry magazines about the myth of demagnetization. They took two identical tape recorders using identical tape, both in normal use, and ran them both 1,000 hours. One was "demagnetized" every few hours, while the other one never was. At the end of the thousand hours, they ran a full set of tests on both machines, and could not find any differences in performance. So I quit using the demagnetizer for good.

After that, I got the job at TEAC. Of course if a machine is in for one or more new heads, it had to be totally re-aligned anyway after changing the head(s); but if it was in for other problems like intermittent controls for example, then once those were taken care of and it was time to check the alignment before sending the unit back out, only minor adjustments to compensate for head wear were needed to bring the machine up to full performance. We used the alignment tapes regularly and were given replacements every few months; but I never noticed any difference between the old and new tapes, meaning the old had not been getting erased slowly either by running them on machines I had not used the demagnetizer on.

[evm1024]

Take a screwdriver and touch it to a nice magnet. Now go and see if you can pick up screws with it. It can and we now have a magnetized screwdriver. I check my screwdrivers often and find that they pick up magnetism just in general use. Got a compass? Use that to test your tools.

So bring your magnetized screwdriver near your heads. They will also pickup some magnetism. Perhaps only a little. Take your compass and pass it near your heads. Did the needle deflect? Are your heads slightly magnetized? OH, by the way, Your compass is a magnet.

I take my (magnetized?) tools and demagnetize them on my bulk eraser before using them to align the heads. Takes longer with my head de-magnetizer but it will remove residual magnetism.

Who knows what the prior owner of Your deck did! I would demagnetize very well any deck new to me. I also tend to demagnetize before putting my MRL on a deck. It does not hurt to be cautious.

To say that you have not had a problem and thus will not have a problem is positive feedback. Positive feedback is unstable and a killer.

Reminds me of avalanche slopes. To say that I have crossed this avalanche slope 50 times before and never had a problem and so I will not have a problem this time is false. Without thinking the next crossing could kill you.

[Wil816]

The screwdriver's magnetism is nothing compared to the much more intense fields set up by the heads in normal recording. And if your compass is not attracted to a magnetic material like a tape head or a demagnetized screwdriver, it won't be able to find which direction is north either. To listen to some people, you'd think tape had to be kept away from motors (pneumatic tape recorders, anyone?) and even out of the earth's magnetic field-- which of course is impossible for practical usage.

You say "50 times." How many would it take to satisfy you? I repaired around a thousand TEACs from customers all over the hemisphere, and found that demagnetizing was never necessary for full performance. (But unlike your avalanche slope, I can't think of any situation where less that full performance from a tape recorder could cost someone their life.) While working at TEAC, I finished up an associate's degree in recording; and although we frequently cleaned the machines and practiced aligning them, the school did not promote demagnetization either IIRC.

[evm1024]

Moving over to a new thread on De-magnetism