Weird MSR-24 idea

jpmorris

jpmorris

Tape Wolf
There seem to be a number of MSR-24s cropped up on ebay, some of which are at sensible prices. However, I'm not sure about the narrowtrack format, and I don't reallly need 24 tracks anyway.

So, out if idle curiosity, would it be practical to fit an MS-16 head on the MSR24...?
 
Can't answer that question, and I'm a ways away (next life maybe) from 1" tape, but 24 and 1" seems an interesting compromise, not as narrow as 16 on 1/2" but not as wide as 16 on 1" those MSR-24 (and I think Fostex made a similar deck) have always appealed to me for their compactness, as opposed to the footprint of say the MS-16.

I'd guess the electronics are similar to the MSR-16? I'd think in theory this should be possible. Perhaps you could make a hybrid 1" MSR-16 (some electronics) with the MSR-24 transport and the MS-16 head stack????? Again, I'd assume that there was some similarity in the chassis from a production standpoint. If I had spare time/cash/room/time/cash/time They look a lot alike and both fit in 19" racks.... The MS-16 is a three head machine, the MSR-24 AFAIK 2 head, not sure if that matters the MS-16 heads say REC and PLAY, but it's the same part number on openreel.net...

Or then again, just re-wire for the 16 track head? I'm kinda talking out of my league here... but I do know places like JRF and ATR do wide track conversions, like 1/2" two track from 1/4" machines so this doesn't sound that unrealistic.
 
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I know you would be much better off with the extra tracks....trust me. And trust me again....I KNOW how good the MSR24S SOUNDS !!!:D
 
TASCAM MAN said:
I know you would be much better off with the extra tracks....trust me. And trust me again....I KNOW how good the MSR24S SOUNDS !!!:D
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You're a a little late, I've been using the DBX version for over a year now! In fact it's running right now.
I eventually settled on using it in a 20-track configuration, with 23 left as a guard band for the timecode, and 1-2 blank. Partly because I couldn't get a mixer with enough channels, and partly to avoid edge damage.
 
Im new here so I can "be late" haha sorry i guess i was only pointing out how much I love mine although its setting in my closet at the moment ;) But what I really thought was a waste of time was someone really wanting to change the configuration from 24 to 16 !?!?? Thats nuts :spank:
 
TASCAM MAN said:
Im new here so I can "be late" haha sorry i guess i was only pointing out how much I love mine although its setting in my closet at the moment ;) But what I really thought was a waste of time was someone really wanting to change the configuration from 24 to 16 !?!?? Thats nuts :spank:
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Heh. I really wanted an MS16, but couldn't find any at that critical point when I'd made up my mind. I only had a 16-channel mixer at the time and also was terrified of the cost of spare heads for the MSR-24 (which indeed, were quoted at £8000 ) . At the time, I'd just seen a couple of people selling complete MS16 headblocks on ebay, so the idea of wedding the two made a weird kind of sense at the time (years earlier I wondered about making a 1/2" TSR-2....)

That and up to the point I'd been using the TSR-8 and the idea of narrower heads didn't appeal.
But now I'm using one? Frankly I can't tell the difference between the two machines.

Song of Keaton (Studio Only video) - YouTube
 
i have a TSR8 and now an MS16 that i am restoring. want to buy a spare headblock when it shows up on ebay. Do you know of any headstack to do 8 track in 1" on the MS16 ? is it possible ?
 
fgonza2 said:
i have a TSR8 and now an MS16 that i am restoring. want to buy a spare headblock when it shows up on ebay. Do you know of any headstack to do 8 track in 1" on the MS16 ? is it possible ?
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I doubt it can be done stock, because TASCAM never made 1" 8-tracks as far as I'm aware. You would probably have to enquire about getting a stack modified by JRF to suit the MS16 mount.
 
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