I agree with TGC, anything you find used will always need maintenance and maybe a little repair. The question then becomes whether the return of having a perfectly functioning machine is worth it, and that depends on the machine's original performance. This machine is absolutely worth treating it as an investment, as Cobb suggests; I truly believe it's that much better than any other cassette 4-track.
The problems sound like they're in the mixer section. The problem with Ch 1 could be a number of things; things come unplugged in there sometimes after 20 years of jostling around. The 2nd problem sounds like a heavy dose of electrical contact cleaner all over everything but the cassette transport would fix it plus a number of other potential problems.
Like I said, if the cassette mech is good, the rest of it's an easy, easy fix for anyone who currently works on current mixers, since a simple mixer is all that really is. Call music stores or google live sound production and ask around until you find someone who does repair work on analog mixers that's close to your area. A signal path is a signal path; any of those guys who can trace voltage through a circuit with a voltmeter should be able to get that machine back up to spec with relative ease.
Good luck, please keep us posted!
The problems sound like they're in the mixer section. The problem with Ch 1 could be a number of things; things come unplugged in there sometimes after 20 years of jostling around. The 2nd problem sounds like a heavy dose of electrical contact cleaner all over everything but the cassette transport would fix it plus a number of other potential problems.
Like I said, if the cassette mech is good, the rest of it's an easy, easy fix for anyone who currently works on current mixers, since a simple mixer is all that really is. Call music stores or google live sound production and ask around until you find someone who does repair work on analog mixers that's close to your area. A signal path is a signal path; any of those guys who can trace voltage through a circuit with a voltmeter should be able to get that machine back up to spec with relative ease.
Good luck, please keep us posted!