Ampex MM-1000 Story...
- Thread starter sweetbeats
- Start date
RICK FITZPATRICK
New member
Absolutely f__king awesome !!
sweetbeats
Reel deep thoughts...
YEAH!!! Isn't that AWESOME?!?
Hey, that's the way every Ampex AG-440 machine (unless it is fitted with an Innovonics Tentrol) is setup and even the more refined 3M M-23/56/64 machines (although they have a mechanical tension control inside the "Isoloop"); other machines as well I'm sure. It was the standard...big fat resistor with a slide clamp...but yeah...it looks quite ruddy.
Thanks for the comments, guys!
I haven't had much to add, but I'm still following along...
sweetbeats
Reel deep thoughts...
well goodness...tearing a bunch of stuff apart again...so close but yet so far.
I will never use Chinese import skate bearings again. In a word, they suck.
None of the 608 bearings I put in (for the rotary guide below the supply reel, the reel idler or the pinch roller) are worth what I paid for them even though they are ABEC 7 stainless races, silicon nitride balls, etc. I even hand picked the best of what I had received but they are noisy, grainy and sloppy. I'm sure they're great in a skateboard and my 13 year old will be excited to inherit them, but I'm going to finally heed the advice folks on the Ampex list told me which is to spend a little more and get either Nachi or SKF or NSK parts...they aren't even ABEC rated but will work right.
This all started last night when I was setting up the pinch roller pressure and alignment...i got it all set right and then I noticed the pinch roller arm actually oscillating due to eccentric rotation of the pinch roller. The bearings are definitely part of the problem...it is also possible that there is eccentricity in the re-rubber Terry Witt did for me. To his credit he got RIGHT back to me and didn't question that there's an issue, he simply said I'm not sure how that happened but send it back and I'll take care of it. That's customer service.
So knowing the pinch roller bearings have issues I'm pulling them all. I have to pull the reel idler assembly anyway because I want to install a rubber o-ring between the flywheel and the bottom bearing to provide pre-load and shock protection...
I also discovered that at 7.5ips the supply table isn't moving fast enough to actuate the motion sensor paddle...some of that Dow Corning fluid leaked out when I was working on the motion sensor micro switches.
So there's that and I figure while I've got some stuff pulled apart I'll install the head cable harness for tracks 9-16...now would be the time to do it with these components pulled off the machine again...3 steps forward and 2 steps back...standing in front of the machine running another reel through to check the pinch roller I engaged the record electronics again and for a moment I SO wished I had a snake made up to connect the Ampex to the Soundtracs...I REALLY wanted to record something...
I will never use Chinese import skate bearings again. In a word, they suck.
None of the 608 bearings I put in (for the rotary guide below the supply reel, the reel idler or the pinch roller) are worth what I paid for them even though they are ABEC 7 stainless races, silicon nitride balls, etc. I even hand picked the best of what I had received but they are noisy, grainy and sloppy. I'm sure they're great in a skateboard and my 13 year old will be excited to inherit them, but I'm going to finally heed the advice folks on the Ampex list told me which is to spend a little more and get either Nachi or SKF or NSK parts...they aren't even ABEC rated but will work right.
This all started last night when I was setting up the pinch roller pressure and alignment...i got it all set right and then I noticed the pinch roller arm actually oscillating due to eccentric rotation of the pinch roller. The bearings are definitely part of the problem...it is also possible that there is eccentricity in the re-rubber Terry Witt did for me. To his credit he got RIGHT back to me and didn't question that there's an issue, he simply said I'm not sure how that happened but send it back and I'll take care of it. That's customer service.
So knowing the pinch roller bearings have issues I'm pulling them all. I have to pull the reel idler assembly anyway because I want to install a rubber o-ring between the flywheel and the bottom bearing to provide pre-load and shock protection...
I also discovered that at 7.5ips the supply table isn't moving fast enough to actuate the motion sensor paddle...some of that Dow Corning fluid leaked out when I was working on the motion sensor micro switches.
So there's that and I figure while I've got some stuff pulled apart I'll install the head cable harness for tracks 9-16...now would be the time to do it with these components pulled off the machine again...3 steps forward and 2 steps back...standing in front of the machine running another reel through to check the pinch roller I engaged the record electronics again and for a moment I SO wished I had a snake made up to connect the Ampex to the Soundtracs...I REALLY wanted to record something...
sweetbeats
Reel deep thoughts...
Lookit the cute little "rack" for the head cable connectors!
Familiar sight...
I really DO want to have it all together...really. There's just no way I'm going to be at peace with respect to the machine if I leave those bearings in there...they're terrible. didn't seem like it at first but after very little operation it is clear they are not appropriate for this kind of machine. They gotta come out. And in the meantime I can get a bunch of other stuff taken care that I'd have to do later anyway and it'll be harder later. Good news it only takes me about 15 minutes to go from completely assembled to having all the stuff off you see in the picture.
Familiar sight...
I really DO want to have it all together...really. There's just no way I'm going to be at peace with respect to the machine if I leave those bearings in there...they're terrible. didn't seem like it at first but after very little operation it is clear they are not appropriate for this kind of machine. They gotta come out. And in the meantime I can get a bunch of other stuff taken care that I'd have to do later anyway and it'll be harder later. Good news it only takes me about 15 minutes to go from completely assembled to having all the stuff off you see in the picture.
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sweetbeats
Reel deep thoughts...
Okay. Got my head together on this question...
Non-auto-input switching MM-1000 requires TWO hands to punch (assuming you are punching on a single track...more tracks = more hands): one hand to switch the source from tape to input while the other hand holds record an presses play at the same time. Again, whether the transport is stopped or moving in play mode, record has to be held and play tapped to enter record mode. Conversely you can have the transport in record mode with no tracks armed, and then you can arm track or tracks but they won't enter record mode until you again press record and tap play.
The AG-440 is the one that requires three-handed punches: one hand to switch the mode of the electronics channel for the track to punch from "sel-sync" (i.e. playback from the record head) to "ready" (as in ready to record), the second hand to switch the source from tape to the input, and the third to put the transport in record mode. The exception is if the machine is outfitted with the Sel-Sync Remote Control option which basically automates the switching of the mode of the electronics channel from playback to record when the corresponding track or tracks are armed and you enter record mode, just like the MM-1000.
So, my mistake. MM-1000 = two handed punches, 440-8 = three handed punches.
Again, this is all for one track. More tracks require more hands to switch the mode and/or source controls on the electronics module for the track(s) to punch.
And, again, an MM-1000 outfitted with auto-input switching electronics only requires one hand to punch regardless of the number of tracks being punched because the source automatically switches from tape to input when a channel is put into record mode. Arm the track or tracks and when the punch point is reached simply tap the play button while holding the record button. Very...modern.
BTW, MM-1000's began being built with auto-input switching starting at s/n 237 for the 16-track and 178 for the 8-track.
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Not that this would be very likely, but what happens if you're recording on one track already, then go to punch in on another track? Am I correct in assuming that you have to press record and tap play again to get that second track into record?
Whatever the case, that sure is weird. Intuitively, wouldn't you think that once you were in record mode you could switch tracks in and out of record at will, without having to press the record button (and play) again? I guess this was all somewhat new at the time...
sweetbeats
Reel deep thoughts...
I wish I knew. It is definitely a production model but the serial number tag is gone...can't even see evidence that it was there. I know that if it WAS there it would have a low number...a host of evidence that supports that mine is an early model.
sweetbeats
Reel deep thoughts...
Yeah, that's right. If you are recording on, say, tracks 1 and 3 and humming along and you want to drop track 6 into record on the fly you lift the arming switch for track 6 up and the hold record and press play. Nothing changes as far as what the other tracks were doing but now track 6 is in record mode also.
Maybe "wierd" by comparison to more modern machines but some of those things just weren't necessarily conventional at that point. And the way the automatic mode switching works on the MM-1000 it would defeat the auto-mode switching if I wired it to drop into record via the toggle and to NOT have to re-initiate record mode. Its a relay logic issue. Frankly I like it because if you have multiple tracks you want to drop in you've got one place to drop them all in simultaneously. Those toggles are a bit cumbersome in this way just because of the length of the throw.
sweetbeats
Reel deep thoughts...
Heheh...sure...except that the early remotes used the same toggle switches. 
The later remotes were different and changed along with the advent of the auto-input switching feature. I have three 8-track remote carcasses that are the later version. They are compatible with the early version as well and are still somewhat of an advantage AFAIC even if you don't have auto-input switching because the toggle switches have a shorter throw.
I should be able to make 1 good remote out of the 3 though none of them have the top and bottom wood/laminate panels so I'll have to make those.
And now for a philosophical opinion moment...
Features that facilitated easier punches were developed because of production demand. I'm talking about stuff like locate points, auto-rehearse, auto-punch and all the automatic switching that goes along with it...more tracks...more, more, more. Yes OF COURSE these are all tools that are VERY beneficial to the home recordist particularly the solo artist/engineer. I'm just pointing out that, by in large, if you trace the origin of such a feature you'll find it was developed for the professional studio market...time is money. I've been tempted to scramble and convert my machine to auto-input switching and track down PURC bias cards for gapless punch-ins and get one of the early single point search-to-cue accessories just to have it; big issue with me...and its silly because my preferred method of recording and the vast majority of what I do is "complete take" stuff (IOW no punches) and if I screw up I start over and if it gets to the point that I lose it and can't nail the take I move on to something else or just choose to be happy with it. That is, of course, my personal preference and approach and I'm LUCKY because I'm an independent hobbyist. If I was tracking somebody else's stuff all the time I'd be under a whole different set of demands and pressures. That being said I am 100% good with my MM-1000 being old-school. It guides the process and focus in a certain way that I like...just like the whole "aw we'll fix that later when we mix (i.e. Eq the snot out of it)...i say "NO", take the time to get it good when printing to the multitrack...i track like I won't be punching because I don't like the concept of breaking up the source stream...i feel like I'm cheating. Now, I listen to music that has been punched to death and does it bother me? Nope...its just something personal for me on the tracking side.
So all this is to say that I'm way good with an old mechanical counter, no auto-locate functions, manual source switching, etc.
However: since I am also a big FAN of my tape machine I like to collect history/documentation/peripherals, etc. That are related, so I DO have the auto-input switching manual ("the Signal Monitoring Kit" as so called when retrofitting early machines) and I DO have a friend with a later electronics module with the switcher card who's going to send it to me so I can take pictures, make notes, scan the PCB, etc.
My preferences and situation are free to change and maybe I'll need to or want to be a punching fiend someday...
The later remotes were different and changed along with the advent of the auto-input switching feature. I have three 8-track remote carcasses that are the later version. They are compatible with the early version as well and are still somewhat of an advantage AFAIC even if you don't have auto-input switching because the toggle switches have a shorter throw.
I should be able to make 1 good remote out of the 3 though none of them have the top and bottom wood/laminate panels so I'll have to make those.
And now for a philosophical opinion moment...
Features that facilitated easier punches were developed because of production demand. I'm talking about stuff like locate points, auto-rehearse, auto-punch and all the automatic switching that goes along with it...more tracks...more, more, more. Yes OF COURSE these are all tools that are VERY beneficial to the home recordist particularly the solo artist/engineer. I'm just pointing out that, by in large, if you trace the origin of such a feature you'll find it was developed for the professional studio market...time is money. I've been tempted to scramble and convert my machine to auto-input switching and track down PURC bias cards for gapless punch-ins and get one of the early single point search-to-cue accessories just to have it; big issue with me...and its silly because my preferred method of recording and the vast majority of what I do is "complete take" stuff (IOW no punches) and if I screw up I start over and if it gets to the point that I lose it and can't nail the take I move on to something else or just choose to be happy with it. That is, of course, my personal preference and approach and I'm LUCKY because I'm an independent hobbyist. If I was tracking somebody else's stuff all the time I'd be under a whole different set of demands and pressures. That being said I am 100% good with my MM-1000 being old-school. It guides the process and focus in a certain way that I like...just like the whole "aw we'll fix that later when we mix (i.e. Eq the snot out of it)...i say "NO", take the time to get it good when printing to the multitrack...i track like I won't be punching because I don't like the concept of breaking up the source stream...i feel like I'm cheating. Now, I listen to music that has been punched to death and does it bother me? Nope...its just something personal for me on the tracking side.
So all this is to say that I'm way good with an old mechanical counter, no auto-locate functions, manual source switching, etc.
However: since I am also a big FAN of my tape machine I like to collect history/documentation/peripherals, etc. That are related, so I DO have the auto-input switching manual ("the Signal Monitoring Kit" as so called when retrofitting early machines) and I DO have a friend with a later electronics module with the switcher card who's going to send it to me so I can take pictures, make notes, scan the PCB, etc.
My preferences and situation are free to change and maybe I'll need to or want to be a punching fiend someday...
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Thinking about this some more, and thinking about my earlier comment, I'm actually a bit surprised the "easy punch" option wasn't there from the start, based on Mirasound's influence in regards to the AG-1000 and subsequently MM-1000. I guess we could ask George, but I would think that they would have appreciated that capability, not so much for, say, working and re-working (and re-working) a vocal track, but rather for cramming things up to capacity. I.e., maybe a tambourine for most of the song, but hand claps during the bridge, punched in on the same track to keep other tracks free for other things.
sweetbeats
Reel deep thoughts...
Well, keep in mind that one of the reasons that a higher track count was desired was so that sharing tracks and punching and bouncing was less needed. Track count was the primary objective of the AG-1000 to address the demands of production styles such as Bob Crewe's.
Then they wanted 24-track...then being able to punch easier. It was part of an evolutionary process. Sure, I suppose in an ideal world it'd be great if somebody thought of everything right from the start but that's just not realistic, nor the way it often works.
Recall also that the AG-1000 was put together quickly. A relative rush-job.
Then they wanted 24-track...then being able to punch easier. It was part of an evolutionary process. Sure, I suppose in an ideal world it'd be great if somebody thought of everything right from the start but that's just not realistic, nor the way it often works.
Recall also that the AG-1000 was put together quickly. A relative rush-job.
sweetbeats
Reel deep thoughts...
+1 to THAT!
Okay so while I wait for bearings to arrive so I can replace the bearings in the first rolling guide, the reel idler and send a new set with the pinch roller that needs inspecting I got out the genuine Ampex AV Division NOS Supplemental Signal Harness p/n 4952286...wrapped in plastic from the parts division. This is part of the lot of parts I got from the original seller several months back. I don't know about you all, but there is just something extra cool to me about unwrapping an NOS assembly like that...I feel pretty stinkin' fortunate.
Here it is before coming out of its cacoon:
I put the needlenose pliers there for scale. This is the smaller of the two signal harnesses. This is the one for tracks 9~16. Because the one for tracks 1~8 goes up to the overbridge there is considerably more wire. Regardless, this one weighs several pounds and obviously takes up a little space. I was thinking about it...after all the time I've spent in the guts of a Tascam 48 and a 58...this chunk of wire wouldn't even FIT inside one of those machines. All this harness does is bring signal to/from the heads and the amplifier electronics for 8 tracks, and additionally handles routing of the reproduce head to/from the sync relay box that switches repro signals to the sync head and also has sync level trimmers and bias chokes in it.
ANYway...
Out of the plastic it comes:
It was a little dusty with sawdust...years of living in somebody's shop or garage with a hole torn in the plastic...and all the label bands by each connector had gone a little tacky. Vacuumed it off and used iso alcohol to clean up the stickiness.
Ready to install:
43 mil-spec connectors. Its in as good a shape as you'd expect for vintage NOS stuff, but its on the "good" end of the spectrum of possibilities. I was a little concerned about all the ohming I was going to have to do to figure out what goes where but (and I shouldn't be surprised) every connector is labeled according to its destination on the electronics or the sync relay box. Plug and play.
So, again, I'm doing this now because I've got the tape path apart again anyway, and were I to do this later I'd have to tear everything apart again. Better to do it now.
This marks my first official step toward conversion to 16-track. Don't worry, I won't get sidetracked and try to convert to 2" before playing with it in 1" trim...just capitalizing on the fact that its opened up.
So here is the head end of the harness shoved up through the transport plate...the connectors on the NOS harness are green, the ones on the existing harness are grey...one of the new ones is still hiding down in the bowels I suppose...
I removed that brass ground block to the right and got it cleaned up real well, and also cleaned up the connectors from the headstacks.
Clean ground block:
I removed the little miniature rails that provide the mounting for the head connectors. Sheesh...they could have just drilled the sheet metal you know? But, no...they had to use precision ground key stock...
Ground lugs all strapped to the block now...
Connectors mounted up ready for 16 tracks of head plugs...now, I have NO idea how they crammed 24 tracks of cabling under that metal housing. I'm not kidding...I hope I don't ever have to pull that apart...the cabling for 16 tracks alone is stuffed in there...
So that feels good...I've been worried about how that was going to go and now its done.
Here's a little fun closing pic to this post...like a Rebel Cruiser dwarfed by a Star Destroyer, so is the Tascam 388 8-track headblock dwarfed by the Ampex 8-track block...
Okay so while I wait for bearings to arrive so I can replace the bearings in the first rolling guide, the reel idler and send a new set with the pinch roller that needs inspecting I got out the genuine Ampex AV Division NOS Supplemental Signal Harness p/n 4952286...wrapped in plastic from the parts division. This is part of the lot of parts I got from the original seller several months back. I don't know about you all, but there is just something extra cool to me about unwrapping an NOS assembly like that...I feel pretty stinkin' fortunate.
Here it is before coming out of its cacoon:
I put the needlenose pliers there for scale. This is the smaller of the two signal harnesses. This is the one for tracks 9~16. Because the one for tracks 1~8 goes up to the overbridge there is considerably more wire. Regardless, this one weighs several pounds and obviously takes up a little space. I was thinking about it...after all the time I've spent in the guts of a Tascam 48 and a 58...this chunk of wire wouldn't even FIT inside one of those machines. All this harness does is bring signal to/from the heads and the amplifier electronics for 8 tracks, and additionally handles routing of the reproduce head to/from the sync relay box that switches repro signals to the sync head and also has sync level trimmers and bias chokes in it.
ANYway...
Out of the plastic it comes:
It was a little dusty with sawdust...years of living in somebody's shop or garage with a hole torn in the plastic...and all the label bands by each connector had gone a little tacky. Vacuumed it off and used iso alcohol to clean up the stickiness.
Ready to install:
43 mil-spec connectors. Its in as good a shape as you'd expect for vintage NOS stuff, but its on the "good" end of the spectrum of possibilities. I was a little concerned about all the ohming I was going to have to do to figure out what goes where but (and I shouldn't be surprised) every connector is labeled according to its destination on the electronics or the sync relay box. Plug and play.
So, again, I'm doing this now because I've got the tape path apart again anyway, and were I to do this later I'd have to tear everything apart again. Better to do it now.
This marks my first official step toward conversion to 16-track. Don't worry, I won't get sidetracked and try to convert to 2" before playing with it in 1" trim...just capitalizing on the fact that its opened up.
So here is the head end of the harness shoved up through the transport plate...the connectors on the NOS harness are green, the ones on the existing harness are grey...one of the new ones is still hiding down in the bowels I suppose...
I removed that brass ground block to the right and got it cleaned up real well, and also cleaned up the connectors from the headstacks.
Clean ground block:
I removed the little miniature rails that provide the mounting for the head connectors. Sheesh...they could have just drilled the sheet metal you know? But, no...they had to use precision ground key stock...
Ground lugs all strapped to the block now...
Connectors mounted up ready for 16 tracks of head plugs...now, I have NO idea how they crammed 24 tracks of cabling under that metal housing. I'm not kidding...I hope I don't ever have to pull that apart...the cabling for 16 tracks alone is stuffed in there...
So that feels good...I've been worried about how that was going to go and now its done.
Here's a little fun closing pic to this post...like a Rebel Cruiser dwarfed by a Star Destroyer, so is the Tascam 388 8-track headblock dwarfed by the Ampex 8-track block...
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sweetbeats
Reel deep thoughts...
Looking GREAT, Cory! Man oh man are you nuts (and I say that in the best possible way)
This coming from a guy who is recapping his entire MCI JH-600 console and built up the associated looms from scratch...I roll my eyes at you...
I HAD to put up another pic of this to describe it better...I got the cabling all tied up into the housing but it is like a bunch of sardines. Lookit...YOU tell me how another set of cabling for 8 more tracks is supposed to fit in there...maybe there was a different housing for the 24-track machines but I don't think so because there is room for the connectors on the "mini-rack"...before I put it all back together I'm going to ohm out the cable runs from the head connectors to the other ends just in case there is a broken wire from all the manipulation required to get them all in there.
Notice how my thumb is wrapped around the bottom of the housing...that was necessary to get a good enough grip to muscle it enough to tilt it so you can see underneath...all them wires don't like to move much.
After more arranging and squishing I was able to get the looms positioned so the housing will sit down where it's supposed to, nestled in the nook of the reel idler block.
Phew!
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