anyone ever heard of this brand/model?

FBstdminime

New member
This is a reel to reel I just won from an auction on ebay. I tried researching it, but came up with nothing substantial. The price was too good, so I bid on it anyway. Can anyone tell me if this thing sucks or not?

Auto-Tec reel to reel

Thanks,
Eric
 
This item was discussed a few weeks ago on this forum and I think the conscious was that this machine was an Ampex clone from a defunct manufacture. So, you had better pray hard that everything works 100% on this beast as you will likely have a hard time finding parts and a technician who knows his way around the machine.

If it comes with a service manual, you will have a chance to keep it in shape. Without a service manual, you will be in deep, deep do do.

Good luck! :)
 
One thing I could detect from the pictures is that the pinch rollers will need either a deadly serious cleaning or re-conditioning or replacement. There is substantial rot and filth on them!

The heads look to have shape but also appear to have rust on them! Was this thing kept at the bottom of a lake or in a sauna?

Either way, it's a fixer-upper in my opinion.

Cheers! :)
 
The guy I bought it from had purchased it in September from another guy on ebay. That auction is still viewable, so I looked at the description:
"Autotech made these machines basically BY cloning the ampex MM1000. I bought this machine a while ago, never got around to putting it together, and now need to sell it to pay my ebay bill! The guy I got it from told me it was working, but he had it in storage for years and hadn't fired it up in a while. This used item is being sold as is ,untested, with no warranty implied or promised. I spoke to a famous NYC tech about this machine, they said it's a great sounding, reliable machine, easy to put together."

That explains the rust and dust. I understood this when I bought it, and I also knew it was a rare machine. The real problem is that I have never owned a reel to reel and therefore wouldn't know how to fix one. Luckily, I know a few analog guys that could help me out with it. My question is: are parts like pinch rollers universal, or am I going to have to track down some made by Auto-Tec?

Thanks for your help,
Eric
 
You's probably have to make the pnch rollers yourself, which is probably not as hard as it sounds, and surely easier that to find replacements from auto-tec. :)

The story sounds to me like several people have been thinking "I'll fix it up, it's cheap" and then giving up on it...

So good luck with fixing it, or I'll guess we'll see it on eBay again soon. :)
 
After a bit of searching, I found an actual picture of the infamous Ampex MM-1000.

This was a huge beast!

650 pounds or about 315 kilos.
 
FBstdminime

Your machine does not appear to really be a clone of this Ampex model.:(

I am not sure which Ampex machine it would be a clone of but, I will dig some more and see if any Ampex machines are closer in design so that you might be able to get parts, if necessary for your machine, if and when the need arises.

Cheers! :)
 
Outlaws said:
whose face got stuck on the machine?
I think it looks like that guy who had a short lived TV show back in the 80's.

I forget his name right now but, the show was about a computer generated character who's image was only seen on a TV screen on the show as he lived in a computer.

The same character also did some Pepsi or Coke commercials for a while after the show's demise.

Anyone out there know who I mean?
 
Thanks for all the responses. Hopefully we can find what machine this is a clone of. I really don't want to quit on this thing (what am I saying... I don't even have it yet) as I have finally realized that my digital recordings sound like ass. Cassettes have hiss but at least they have life. Anyway, I feel like this was a good buy buy no matter what because I should be able to to sell it for more than $535. In September it went for $900 (I have no idea why the guy I bought it from was willing to take such a huge loss - maybe the thing's possessed).

Eric
 
If you aren't able to clean the gunk off of those pinch rollers and/or if they are cracked send them to Terry Witt and he will rebuild them.

http://www.srdpc.com/witt/

Try cleaning them first by engaging the mechanism (without a tape in it of course) and holding a cloth with Windex against them as they spin. CAIG rubber rejuvenator is the next step.

http://shopping.netledger.com/s.nl/c.ACCT113328/sc.2/category.179/.f

If it's as easy as belts and rollers you're in good.

Keep us posted

:cool:
 
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FBstdminime said:
Thanks for all the responses. Hopefully we can find what machine this is a clone of.

It looks more like the old Scully machines than an Ampex. But it's probably not a straight clone of anything. I haven't seen anything that has pich rollers on both sides, for example.

Two broken Scullys are on sale on eBay now, btw. One for 600 and one for 200. That could also bee good deals for people with repair skills and a big truck. :)

maybe the thing's possessed).

All reel to reels are.
 
Keep us posted

I'll let you guys know how this whole thing works out. My main concern now is that the thing turns on. I've had way too many power supply issues in the past (I was very close to frying my Topaz). I'm picking it up on Sunday - until then I have my fingers crossed.
 
Well, it's at my studio and it's gigantic. I haven't been able to power the thing up yet because there's two mighty power supplies that I don't want to mess with until I start working on it with a friend who knows about analog mutlitracks. It's not really in bad shape (the heads look better than I thought they did). I basically have to put all the channels in place etc. and maybe build a better case for it. One thing that we both don't know is how to align the heads on it. Unfoturnately, it did not come with a manual.
Here we go, my foray into analog recording begins Saturday.
 
One thing that we both don't know is how to align the heads on it. Unfortunately, it did not come with a manual.
First of all, congratulations on obtaining an analog blast from the past!

I am sure that once you get it going, you will be incredibly pleased with the sound quality that 2", 16 track analog can give you.

About the lack of a manual;

This was one of the things I tried to warn you about, buying an obscure machine without a service manual.:(

If I were you, I would make finding one, JOB ONE! For without it, you will have no instruction set as to how to do mechanical alignments, (which includes the heads) and the electrical alignment of doing bias, eq, and level adjustments.

One thing to consider is that the heads and electronics might not need an alignment or, at least not need a major one depending on how much the machine was jostled around in transit to you.

You simply try a recording and see just how badly thing have drifted out of whack and go from there.

If your friend who is helping you to put this thing together is a properly experienced technician, he should be able to do many of the procedures that the manual would spell out in a step by step regiment. You quoted statement above, doesn't inspire loads of confidence in his abilities in my mind however.

In any event, put it together, do a test recording and lets see where you stand from there.

Cheers! :)
 
I just emailed the guy who sold the machine to the guy I bought it from. After reading the item description in his auction, I can gather he doesn't seem to know much about the machine either, but I'm hoping to get the contact info of the of the guy who sold it to him (if that makes sense). Hopefully he knows something. This is like researching family history - hopefully I don't get to a dead end.
 
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