Estate sale treasure!

RICK FITZPATRICK

RICK FITZPATRICK

New member
I haven't posted in this forum in a while. But thought I'd share my little bit of luck this weekend. My wife shops for ebay stuff at every yardsale she can make it to on the weekends. I live in Coos Bay Oregon, which is a real isolated place, and we find great stuff for sale here all the time. Well, she got stuck this weekend, cause reverse is going out in her car. I had to come and rescue her. While I was there, I thought I'd browse around. Way in the back of this HUGE garage was what looked like a stereo rack. You know the kind. Glass door...cheap...But I couldn't see what was in it. I worked my way back kinda looking at stuff on the way, but as I got closer, I could see some tape reels. HOLY SHIT. Lo and behold, there is a Tascam 32 and a Pioneer 909. Fuck. I asked the guy what he wanted. I don't think he knew anything about them cause they belonged to a relative who just died. Hence the estate sale.
Well, he said make him an offer. I figured everyone thinks this stuff is obsolete knowing how digital is taking over the world. I offered him FIFTY BUCKS..IF, he'd throw in the rack. Actually, it was a cool rack too.
He responded...YOU GOT IT :eek: :eek: :p Holy shit, there was a huge box of 10" tapes(456) and two boxes of NEW 7" tapes, and a box of new CDR's, mics, splicer, foiled tape, cords and miscel stuff. AND ALL the manuals, including the tech manuals!!! I thought I was dreaming. The machines were in great shape too. WOW!!
fitZ
 
WOW!

and I thought that I got a good deal on my 32 off of ebay.

did it have the NAB hub adapters too?

enjoy!

I just posted a pretty good deal I got on a Tascam 238 on ebay too.

Spring is in the air.
 
dude that's an awesome score.

congrats. I think you have a new mastering deck.

make sure you do a search for "sticky shed" before you get started.
 
That'd be right.........only stick ya nose in here to rub your good furtune in :D

Sounds like a great score Fitz, hope you enjoy playing with it.

Cheers mate,

ChrisO :cool:
 
Thanks for the replys guys. Yea, its got the big hubs on the 32. Didn't even have time to test them out this weekend. This was my weekend to finally start remodleing the room for my studio. I relocated a door across the rear corner, to match a Superchunk bass trap on the opposite corner. Then I cut away an area in between two closets at the back wall. Now I have a nice wide 30" deep x 90" area for a QRD(diffuser) or the rack for my twin MSR-s. But I'm still debating the option here. Maybe you guys can help me with something.

The rear wall is actually about 14' behind the mixing position. But if I put the machines there, my cableing will be real long to the machines. With unbalanced lines, by the time they wind around to the patchbays, at the console, and run down the wall and to the machines,, I'll have about 30' of snakes. Do you think thats too long for unbalanced lines?

The other thing is seeing the bar meters on the tape machines. Seems like, well, a pro would have the machines up close :D But space takes precidence. as this has to be my "live room" as well. Ha, lately its been a dead room. Ha!If I knew that I could trust the bar meters on the console to match the machines.. er...how do you do that? :confused: Godbless am I getting alzhiemers or what?:D Anyway, I'd have to be constantly turning around to see the meters on the tape decks. Heres a plan so you can see what I mean. Help me decide guys. :confused: :eek: :confused: :p BTW guys, as you can see, my studio is ANALOG based. ;) Plus(this plan doesn't show it) there are more fixtures for the 2300, 4 cassettes, turntable, video monitors...good grief
and a 42b and other stuff. Hmmm, now I have to figure out where I'll put the 32 and the 909...HEY, that brings up another question.
I have a close friend over in Coquille who is an Analog brother. He just had a
KILLER Ampex completely gone through. I mean, this has got to be a mastering deck from hell. :eek: Probably early 50's. GIANT meters, big knobs, stainless steel..absolutely beautiful. Anyway, he also has another killer Ampex, probably late 60's or maybe later. Studio 1/4 track in a folddown rollaround console and technicolor transport control buttons. Stainless front. Beautiful machine. Anyway, he wanted to know if I would be interested in trading this Ampex(he doesn't need it now :D )for the 909. Whaddayathink? And whaddayat think about the multitrack location?..too far?
Stdioplan1b.gif




fitZ
 
Well guys, that link comes up wierd on the forum. I'll try it again.

Stdioplan1b.gif


Something won't let me post this as a hyperlink. So just click on it I think.
 
Last edited:
Fitz,

God has smiled on you.

The only time stuff like that happens to me is when I'm digging through my own closets and find equipment I forgot I had. :D
 
Rick,
first of congrats on that score :D ... jeeeeeee, now I am thinking of starting going out fishing more :p
What exactly the model of the Ampex you are talking about, that you may trade for 909? 909s are cool, also very popular and seem to be loved by r-t-r hi-fi-heads. If 909 is in shiny condition it may gain up to around $500 or even more (here's example: http://cgi.ebay.com/Pioneer-RT-909-Reel-to-Reel-Tape-Deck-Player-RT909-10-5_W0QQitemZ9706185252 )... But vintage pro ampex(s) are not for masses , as I think, in my book it may be way much more valuable and 'exiting' to own than any pioneer..., however, i'm not sure about it. So which model of Ampex? ..if you can find out. It may be a hard choice to make though.
 
Hello Dr ZEE. Thanks a mill for the reply. The Ampex in the picture is the machine he wants to KEEP. The model he wants to trade is a 440. He just told me that he has had the transports completely gone through by a Tech, and works flawlessly. It has the seperate preamps, a tilting console, books etc. THe only think is, he had a problem trying to hook it up to his consumer stereo. I think he hooked up some RCA's to cables from the preamp outs, and tried plugging it in, but the signal sounded wierd. My guess is the outputs are balanced +4. That would be perfect back to my mixer as it has switchable(-10/+4) 2trk returns. But here is my whole scenario.
I have tons of great 7 1/2 reels of music, which the 2300 is for. However, I have a problem or two with the 2300 at the moment, so the 909 might step into that spot, although I love the 2300. Also, I already have a 42b, and a 32 now.
Is the Ampex 440 a better machine than a Tascam 42b? If so, I'd probably do the deal. If not, then I'd probably keep both the 42b and 909, off the 2300 and the 32. I'm not a collector. I want to have a minimum of good machines to record/play in different footprints/formats. I really don't need duplicate function machines. As far as mastering, hell, I'm no engineer, let alone mastering :p I just wanna say...my studio is capable of good recording, even if I'm not :D Well, let me know about the 440. Oh, one other thing, he did offer to give me market value for the 909 too. I even thought about doing that to buy a bunch of Owens Corning rigid fiberglass, but how often does a deal like the 440 come along. Especially on thats been gone through. Decisions decisions. I hate em. :rolleyes: Ha!
fitZ
 
Rick, first of all don't take anything I say as an advice... I really don't know much... reading some info and articles means no "knowledge" imho :) ... my personal experience is miserable.
To trade or not to trade 909 for 'anything' is pretty tough decision regardless... it's a great machine also it's kind of unique, especially if you are into r-t-r 1/4-track stereo recording ... for what ever reason... if you just listen to r-t-r as stereo hi-fi,then 909 is a great one, imho
Now as for music-recording/producing ..that's a different story, and ..I don't know, there too much subjectivity involved.
Are you talking about like this 440(s) ..configured as two-track? ... here's mono one, here's brochure , check this guy's baby :)..
(some info can be found here )...
If this is what you are talking about, I would probably go for it... but it's just me at the moment... attitude thing, sort of speak, really hard to say...
I would not try to compare those ampexes with tascams ... I don't see a point to it. to say AG 440 ever is better than 42b is more of blah blah than practical sense, especially when we are talking about old used machines, you know what I mean. I may be wrong. If I had both and knew them both well in action then I probably could speculate about it... but i don't have them so i can't :p
Ampexes are legendary .. but so are tascams in their own ways ... they are all wonderful machines... (in the right hands... that is :D )
 
I would go for the 1/2" 4-track, personally. if you have room for a washing machine, of course...
 
Here's my 2 cents .. but I'd probably trade anything in my collection for a fully restored Ampex 440-4 (C model with the DC Servo capstan). Although I don't own one, I've seen one in action up close and personal and did lots of research otherwise. It's the most amazing recorder to work on, everything within easy grasp and easy to swap parts etc .... You can even switch heads almost in an instant from mono, two track, four track and 1/4" and 1/2" tapes. Did I mention the 440 sounded absolutely great ? ;)
 
Hello again Dr.Zee. Wow, thanks. From what I remember, its a 440-c. Which means....I WANT IT!! :D :D The 2300 will have to serve me for a 7 1/2" RR. I'm going to email him right now. Thanks so much for helping with this decision Dr. Zee. A little information goes a long way. Say, whats your opinion on the unbalanced line length?
fitZ
 
.. but I'd probably trade anything in my collection for a fully restored Ampex 440-4 (C model with the DC Servo capstan).
Click to expand...
Hey thanks cjacek. That does it. I'll call him tomorrow. 440-c, here we come!!
Yahoooooo!!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top