Ampex MM-1000 Story...

What a great machine and what a great bargain! Its a pity that we're not likely to see recording machines like that again. I hope tape and the interest in them continues.

Interesting photo of the Scully machines. I have a considerable mount of time on a Scully 16 track machine. I still remember the very cool way the heads ould motor up from the deck to tape position.
 
Some more detail regarding the rebuilt 2" flutter idler

The jeweler charged me $12.50 to ultrasonically clean the roller and jewel bearings and oil the bearings. So that's all I'm into it for since the idler was sent to me for nothing, which is...a good deal. I must offer up a huge thanks to thinbrownline for the idler.

The lower bearing was particularly dirty which makes sense as it is on the, uh, bottom. It still doesn't look clean like the upper one but I think it has to do with the brass housing being oxidized. That's my theory anyway. Here are shots of the upper and lower bearings after cleaning and oiling:

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Here's the roller:

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Even though I neglected to mark the orientation of the bearing housings I was able to see the original marks from the set screws through the set-screw holes. The top bearing looked like it had been reset once and there were two marks. One of them looked more original than the other so I started with that one, and then tried setting the bearing at the other mark. The roller idled longer using the second mark so that's where I left it.

You can make this thing spin really fast with a blast from a can of sompressed air...but its hard to tell when it is done spinning because you can't hear it spinning or really see it spinning. Its smooth.

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Some more detail regarding the control panel refurb...

The control panel refurb was pretty involved. The model control assembly is easy to remove, and the push switches for the remote enable and transport are easy to pull, but the transport control switches are a challenge. Actually the switches themselves are easy but their housings are not. I wanted to remove those housings to allow easier and more thorough polishing of the dress panel.

Things were pretty filthy. Many rags, a toothbrush, window cleaner, iso alcohol and an air duster and things are better.

I did switch the color gels around for the lifter control.

I also realized that there was a strain relief clip missing for the mode control harness, which is why one of the record status lights was unplugged...that big Amphenol plug hanging down pulled the plug right off.

Here is the control panel housing with dress panel after cleaning and before reinstalling the components:

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You can see the lifter switch is still there...the dress panel is adhered to the control panel housing and nigh impossible to safely remove...I tried. Of course there is still a lot of gouged and scraped edges and such on the control panel housing itself. This is not a minty machine, but I am comfortable with that. It shows the years of wear and tear from Universal Studios and wherever else. My goal here is to get it clean, not a full-on restoration.

Here is the transport control harness cleaned up and inspected. All is well with this harness, though some bulbs on the push switches were burned out.

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It was a minor miracle that I figured out how to remove the bulbs...they are not a threaded bulb. They are completely recessed and clip in. They are retained by four prongs. Plus, there is a flange at the base of each bulb. Oy. Even if it was possible to effectively grab the small part of the glass bulb that is exposed, I don't think there is any way that the bulb could be pulled without breaking the glass...And evidence shows that I'm probably right as I've found bits of glass down inside the switch. I think maybe the way others got the bulbs out is just to break the glass and try to grab the metal base. Well, a drinking straw is big enough to fit around the bulb, but small enough to fit through the bulb access hole. Plus, the straw ID is just slight smaller than the bulb flange so it grabs the bulb base by stretching over the flange. So it grabs the bulb and with the straw over the flange it slides right past the retaining prongs. I actually shot a video of this. Probably of little interest to anybody but who knows if a fellow MM-1000 owner will come across this thread and finally be able to replace those burned out bulbs:

YouTube

Here are a few more pictures of the assembly:

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Oh yeah...I also had to come up with a repair for one of the threaded inserts that facilitates the mounting of the control panel to the console. There are supposed to be four press-fit 10-32 threaded inserts at the edges of the back of the control panel housing, but one was missing. I was able to remove one of the threaded inserts off of a damaged clip-on rack rail nut. I just used a 10-32 screw to "suck" the insert into the hole in the bracket on the housing. Worked like a charm.

So in the end, even after checking everything out, there were five bulbs that were still burned out. Got those taken care of...Guess that's not bad for a 40+ year old machine, and there are 34 bulbs total on the control panel.

Everything works great! It is 100% fully-functional.
 
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I'll leave you with this tonight...

Here is a video rundown of how things look with the control panel back in place:

YouTube

In the above video I mention how cool it looks when you are toggling the mode control switches and how the green or red color change "wipes" through the switch...this video doesn't really capture it but you get the idea:

YouTube


And last but not least, even more neat noises come from the MM-1000 now that all the audio path stuff is hooked up; a brief video of the relays actuating in the sync box:

YouTube
 
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No, Muck...no I didn't. :)

I also never imagined needing a triangular piece of pressboard for shaping capacitor tails...or a magnifying glass...or hemostats...rubber shelf liner...

The straw takes the cake though, not because of what it is in and of itself but because of its very specific purpose.

Okay, so now that Matilda is back together and everything seems to be working I will get back to adjusting the transport. The bearings in the rolling guides are shot so I do need to replace those sooner rather than later but that is such a quick and easy job I'm just moving ahead for now. Then the next thing I really need to do is rig up a convenient way to get audio in to and monitor playback from the machine. My mixer is in storage for an indeterminite amount of time and the location of the MM-1000 will be in flux for (likely) a good portion of the remainder of this year so I want to rack up some gear in the lower sections of the console to handle preamplification and signal routing to the MM-1000 inputs as well as a basic 8 x 2 cue mixer. I will also need to make up cables. I have a ton of TRS cables but the Ampex electronics call for XLR. My plan is to use my Tascam MX-80 for mic preamplification and cue mixing. That is a nice thing about the MX-80 is that it has separate insert send and return jacks so it can function simultaneously as a discreet 8 channel mic preamp (and/or balanced line amp since each channel has a 30dB pad) AND 8 x 2 line mixer. There are separate level knobs for the two stereo sum outs (one on RCA's and the other on XLR's) so one set of outs will go to my headphone amp and the other will go to my monitor speakers than can perch on top of the overbridge and I'll have separate level controls for each. The line amp side of the MX-80 features both level and pan on a single stacked pot. Just right for what I'm doing. The insert send and return (the returns basically serving as the line amp inputs) are all -10dBv, and the MM-1000 is strapped for +4dBu. Solution? I'll rack up a pair of my Tascam LA-40mkII's. So that's where I need the XLR snakes is from the XLR ins/outs of the LA-40mkII's to the ins/outs of the MM-1000...16 channels worth. I've got all the other snakes and cabling.

Here's the caveat: the channel 7 insert return on the MX-80 doesn't make it to the stereo buss. So I'd have no way to monitor track 7 of the MM-1000. I've asked for help with this in a couple different places over the years but it has been a long time since I even looked at the issue. You can get signal through ifyou just hit it really hard but it just crackles a bit. I've learned a few things since I last puzzled over this and I'm pretty sure it is a bad coupling cap. I have no schematics for the MX-80 but I will look at other Tascam schematics in the same time period to identify their typical circuit topology and I bet what once was a totally daunting task will be pretty easy. I'm not going to go bonkers...just going to find the culprit and swap it out with whatever I have on-hand that will work.

Need to order some XLR plugs...
 
Yes...that will be sort of a mini hugantic project in and of itself though. First off, the remote connector on the back of the MM-1000 needs replaced. I have a new connector shell that came with the original load of parts and equipment but I'll need to craft a way to remove the Winchester pins from the original busted up connector and once that's done then I Need to repair the remote cable that thinbrownline gave me a deal on...to refresh everyone it was a cable that got rudely truncated in a salvag operation...reciprocating saw turned the 120 conductor 24' cable into single-ended 20' and 4' cables :o...so THAT will be quite a project too, but whatever I come up with the remove the pins from the MM-1000 connector will SURELY come in handy for the remote cable repair. THEN...the remote itself...the one that came with the MM-1000 has moisture damage and is missing a number of parts...saying its condition is rough would be kind. Steve Puntolillo has a parts carcass 8-track remote we've settled on exchanging for some parts I have, so at some point I'll have that here and then I can tear the two down and do my thing and make one good one. I'll have to fashion the front and back panels out of walnut stock I have here but other than that I should have everything once the carcass is here.

So, yeah...there's remote. but the reality is that the MM-1000 will reside in a dual purpose recording/control room and I'll always be just feet away from the MM-1000 regardless of whether I'm playing an instrument or engineering so the remote is pretty low priority.
 
The remote...

Here are some pics of the remote that I think I put back in the original "$300 Haul" thread (link in post #1 of this thread):

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Its a pretty neat remote...about the size of a very big, fat loaf of bread. I think it will be possible to do two-handed punch-ins with it if I ever need to do that since the switches are closer together...it takes three at the machine. But it is a very full-function remote even by today's standards IMHO.

You can see in the second picture that it is pretty dirty inside...look at the tails on those resistors...they're white because they are fuzzy with oxidation, and I'm sure all those socketed transistors will need work.
 
Corry,

I'm really enjoying this thread and watching you work your magic on this beast! :cool:

And, I see you've finally posted some shots of the entire deck from the angle we had discussed a few months back! IMG7135; can you post up on your site the original of that one as I've been trying to work with the reduced file and its a bit too chunky to really work with cleanly. :o

Cheers! :)
 
Cory, you said "I'll need to craft a way to remove the Winchester pins from the original busted up connector".

You can buy pin removers from Mouser. I got a neat little kit with a handle and different insertions to remove pins from various different connectors.

If you can't find it give me a holler and I'll dig out the invoice so I can give you the part number.

Regards


David
 
If you can't find it give me a holler and I'll dig out the invoice so I can give you the part number.
Click to expand...

David, thanks...I've browsed around for a bit...they have a host of extractors but I'm not sure I'm seeing what you have...some of them are, uh, $$$ which is why I've crafted something here in the past. If you have a chance to get a p/n that would be great. Certainly would afford a more reliable and expedient result. ;)
 
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The Ghost of FM said:
Those are both good, Corry! Thanks! :)

I'll see what I can do with those! :cool:

Cheers! :)
Click to expand...

As the pictures are really best suited to portrait mode instead of landscape, I'll post the picture here instead of in the wallpaper thread.

Enjoy!



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I added some barn doors to the bottom...hope you don't mind, Corry.



Cheers! :)
 
OH MY GOODNESS!!! :eek:

THAT THING LOOKS PHENOMENAL!!

YES!!

What all did you do to the image (not asking you to disclose trade secrets there, Jeff, but...)?!

I see number of scuffs touched up and of course the lower console doors (which I WISH I had for real...won't matter so much when I load the electronics in the there but for now it just looks ugly...)...but MAN that looks awesome!

I WANT ONE OF THOSE! Oh, wait...I have one. :D

Thanks, Jeff! Always impressed by how you can, so quickly, take the age off of something and enhance the excitement of something with careful application of color and lighting effects...essential schnazzy!
 
Glad you liked it, Corry! :)

Trade secrets?

I'll never tell! :D

Well, just a bit of perspective correction, color correction and bit of digital make-up here and there. ;)

About the doors, I thought you had those?! I've seen pictures of this deck with doors and just assumed that the 8 track version would automatically come with them? But if you have the modules to fill up the bottom with, I suppose that would be fine as well.

Cheers! :)
 
No doors...never had 'em. The ONLY MM-1000's I've ever seen with doors are in the Ampex literature...unobtanium. Most people got rid of them back in the day because the got in the way and did nothing to combat heat buildup...

Same with the video decks.

8-track MM-1000's came without the overbridge like a VR-1200E "flat-top" quad VTR, and could be ordered with the overbridge as an option if you planned on upgrading to the 16-track later. In that case I bet they shipped with doors but those were probably seen as disposable blanking panels to be pitched after the conversion kit was purchased.

I've got this idea now to check the rack rails in the lower console on my MM-1000 to SEE if the clip-on rack nuts were ever installed (i.e. to see if the paint is scratched)...I've been back and forth as to whether or not mine was ever a 16-track or was an 8 converted to 16 or a 16 converted to 8...conflicting evidence and no part number or serial number tag to give the definitive answer...
 
Yeah, the brochure is where I saw the doors and thought they'd ad a finishing touch to the deck in the picture...pardon my creative license! :D

Hey! Maybe you could make some? Or even a wood framed door with a white material...think speaker grill assembly, to aid in air flow and cut down on the dust that might pass though there with no doors or panels to slow the dust down a bit?

Cheers! :)
 
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