Analog Gear Manuals

  • Thread starter Thread starter maalsa
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maalsa

maalsa

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Hey, after recently scanning in the manual for the TASCAM 246, I thought it would be neat if we had a thread with analog gear manuals that aren't available on the manufacturers' websites. I'll start out with a link to the 246 manual in PDF format:

TASCAM 246 Portastudio Manual PDF (5MB)
http://www.filedropper.com/tascam246manual72dpi

I'd be happy to edit this first post and list each manual that is posted or PMed to me.

Does anybody know a site where we can upload these to and not worry about them being deleted after some time?
 
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good idea, but just because it is not on the manufacturer website does not mean it isn't still copyrighted...for instance you need to check with Tascam to see if it is out-of-print. If you can still purchase it from the manufacturer it isn't appropriate to distribute it for them.

Correct me I'm wrong...
 
My apologies... I only assumed that since TASCAM (as well as other manufacturers) have available manuals on their websites, that there wouldn't be a problem. Perhaps I'm wrong. I just wanted to help people out who have gear but may not have the manual for it. At least I'm not selling photocopies of manuals on eBay, eh?

If a moderator feels they should delete this thread (and my thread posted in the TASCAM forum), be my guest!
 
Not trying to rain on your parade at all...

Guys, anybody know the final word on this?

You're right that the big no-no is copying and reselling, but I think even Tascam has something to say about unauthorized distribution for profit or not...they're not a very vigilant company though...I see lots of stuff being sold on eBay that are reprints that are still in print and I talked to Tascam about that to find out what was and was not okay...they said it is not okay, and yet I don't see them jumping on it like other companies.

I'm curious what others understand to be the case though...a legal manual library would be awsome. I'm all for that.
 
I do get the whole copyright issue but I really do think that freely distributing is a reasonable idea, in light of the fact that it's long discontinued gear. I think it's much better than giving your money to numerous eBay sellers, selling many a time inferior copies of the same. Just my 2c and I too would like a final word on this. Don't places like AudioKarma and others provide tons of free manual downloads? I think this is a good idea to have manuals available under one thread on this forum. I mean we have The Beatles' recordings available for download on top of the forum, as a sticky, so I think we gotta give them TASCAM manuals a break.;)

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maalsa, there's something wrong with the link. I'm getting a strange page.:confused:
 
Man, that is a professionally made copy of the 246 manual. Did you scan it yourself?
 
Anybody opposed to me getting a definitive answer from at least Tascam?
 
cjacek said:
Man, that is a professionally made copy of the 246 manual. Did you scan it yourself?
Click to expand...

I sure did! I literally tore apart my original manual in order to scan each page individually for a clean scan. I don't mess around when it comes to quality!

You bring up an interesting point about having those Beatles songs for download as a sticky... there has to be some kind of legal issue with that, I imagine, but nobody seemed to complain!

If we can get a definitive answer on the legality of this, I'd be happy to provide a manual scanning service for anyone willing to "donate" their manual for this thread. Granted, I'll return it, but it may not be all in one piece! :rolleyes:
 
sheesh I dislike being a naysayer in this...I remember a bone of contention one member has with putting up manuals, and he has such a good point...lurkers. One day you put up link, the next day you see your scan for sale on eBay. It happens and that's NOT cool. Something to think about. I think between us all there is quite a collection of manuals here. I'm all for community, but we need to protect it too and this is a public forum. So, comments? Typically what I've been on the giving and receiving end of as far as sharing manuals has been through private messaging.
 
I could set up an ftp server for you guys to upload/download the manuals to/from. Just a thought.;)
 
sweetbeats said:
One day you put up link, the next day you see your scan for sale on eBay. It happens and that's NOT cool.
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I was thinking about this last night. It's sad, but all too true. I think really the only way we can somewhat combat this would be to "brand" any manuals we post here. Sure it's just one more step for someone who really wants to rip us off, but yeah... I've got an idea how to do this and I'll talk to jjones and see if we can post up a sample of what a "branded" manual would look like.

jjones1700 said:
I could set up an ftp server for you guys to upload/download the manuals to/from. Just a thought.;)
Click to expand...

This would be GREAT, it'd really be nice to have them all in one, reliable place.

Anyone else have any input on this?
 
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I'll see about registering a domain to make linking to it a tad easier. Anyone got any suggestions?:confused:
 
jjones1700 said:
I'll see about registering a domain to make linking to it a tad easier. Anyone got any suggestions?:confused:
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Well I don't think we want to spend any money on this! I'm sure people won't mind if it's just an IP address. But let's wait to hear some other suggestions about this whole thing and see if we can come to a final arrangement.
 
I just had another idea. While we are at it, why not post up pics of the various pieces of equipment for reference? For example, I've got a handful of photos of my Pioneer RT-909 when I did a partial disassemble for cleaning. I've also got a couple of photos of the M-2516 mixer as well. Photos (especially large, high resolution) for all of this vintage gear is hard to come by. I think it might make things easier to describe vs. trying to give a type written description.

Just a suggestion.;)
 
maalsa said:
Well I don't think we want to spend any money on this! I'm sure people won't mind if it's just an IP address. But let's wait to hear some other suggestions about this whole thing and see if we can come to a final arrangement.
Click to expand...

It's only about $10/year and I'll spring for it.;)
 
jjones1700 said:
I just had another idea. While we are at it, why not post up pics of the various pieces of equipment for reference? For example, I've got a handful of photos of my Pioneer RT-909 when I did a partial disassemble for cleaning. I've also got a couple of photos of the M-2516 mixer as well. Photos (especially large, high resolution) for all of this vintage gear is hard to come by. I think it might make things easier to describe vs. trying to give a type written description.

Just a suggestion.;)
Click to expand...

Funny you mention this as the exact same thought crossed my mind! It'll be a bit more of an insurance against lurkers.

I hope this comes to fruition however we decide to do it, as more and more of us are collecting different pieces of gear, a lot of them without manuals.
 
I think I've come up with somewhat of a solution for this manual collection idea.

All the manuals will have a brand at the top and will only be 72dpi. Making it suitable for reading on your computer, but not suitable to be printed. This will also drastically cut down on file size!

Here's an example for the TASCAM 246:
http://www.filedropper.com/tascam246manual72dpi

That way, people who still want a physical manual will have the option of buying one through the manufacturer.

What does everyone think?
 
I personally feel we should either make the manuals as good as possible [meaning high resolution] and make them available for download [with some type of "watermark"] or drop the idea all together. I mean, one is not gonna stop the resellers either way so the best thing to do is pull sales away from 'em by pulling in genuine users' of this gear, toward our site, who want a manual. I mean, most who are on the lookout, do a search first and most times than not, our forum pops up with whatever info they're searching [key words are especially important]. Actually, do me a favor. Go to google and type out tascam m-30 manual or tascam m30 manual and you'll see what I'm talking about [again, key words are important]. That's another Tascam user who just easily found a free manual and one less person to actually buy from an unscrupulous reseller. The point is that when you make it free, the less you have to worry about someone stealing and reselling your stuff. Now, I don't go by that philosophy for anything [of actually doing that] but for manuals for long discontinued gear, is fair game, IMHO. What do you think? Makes some sense? Cory, sure you can ask TASCAM about this [just to understand their position] but please don't suggest this site or clue them in about this forum. That won't be necessary. ;)
 
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