Just bought a Tascam 464 and need advice

fivestrings

New member
I just bought this Tascam 464 and it came with a cassette tape in it and cue pedal and some rca cables, all for $20, so I figured I'd give it a try. It would rewind and ff but not play so I replaced the belt and now it seems fine. The tape has a recording of someone singing and playing on it but is very muffled or light, volume up all the way it's noisy and you can barely hear it. So I figure I need to get a demagnetizer and alcohol and clean and demagnetize. Anything else I should do to this unit? I'm going to get a couple new cassettes to record on, any recommendation on what kind of cassettes to get and where is a good place to get them?

Paddle Faster I hear BANJOS!
fivestrings in NC
 
Cleaning isn't all that tuff, Just don't use powerful chems ( and you don't really need any chems) and clean cotton. You don't want any residue left in the tape path. You can pull a loop out of the cassette and see if it is drawn to and sticks to metal parts in the tape path

Get a couple type II cassettes off ebay for messing with, for now
 
Thanks garww, is it true that you shouldn't get a long running tape because it's thinner and will stretch over time? I see a lot of 90min type II cassettes online, will they be ok?


Paddle Faster I hear BANJOS!
fivestrings in NC
 
It's not just the thickness, but the mass that has be pulled through. So, quality of the cassette and less tape. I'm fine with 45=min a side, but I'm not just recording my music, but records and CD, etc.. I use short lengths on my open reel for my music. 5 and 7-inch reels instead of 10-inch reels. I think 5-inch gives me ?? 17 minutes at 15ips. Three takes ? And not a lot of FF and REW to do.
 
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