E bay Blues Analog woes

M

myparents

New member
hey guys ive been a memember for about a year now. Im 25 and have kept it analog the whole time (except maybe digi delay). Up until recently i had done everything on cassette, then dumped to 1/4'. NOW long story short i want to get into deck multi tracking I have a tascam M35 board so i wanted a deck--EBAY. Well guess what the damn thing is broken. Now i have some experience with repairs, but damn.
My question is this, ive learned my lesson on ebay, but i still want a reel 8 track 1 in. What in your opinion is the best way to obtain one of these with some degree of hope that it will work. All suggestion are appreciated. im not gonna BUY A DELTA 10x10 and say the hell with it. I want a tape machine. Thanks
:(
 
myparents said:
hey guys ive been a memember for about a year now. Im 25 and have kept it analog the whole time (except maybe digi delay). Up until recently i had done everything on cassette, then dumped to 1/4'. NOW long story short i want to get into deck multi tracking I have a tascam M35 board so i wanted a deck--EBAY. Well guess what the damn thing is broken. Now i have some experience with repairs, but damn.
My question is this, ive learned my lesson on ebay, but i still want a reel 8 track 1 in. What in your opinion is the best way to obtain one of these with some degree of hope that it will work. All suggestion are appreciated. im not gonna BUY A DELTA 10x10 and say the hell with it. I want a tape machine. Thanks
:(
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What's wrong with the deck? Did you contact the seller?
 
Does it have to be 1" 8 track? 1/2" 8 tracks, like the Tascam 38 and TSR-8 are fairly common in the local marketplace, on places like craigslist.org, which would allow you to check out the machine before buying it.

-MD
 
Your best bet would be craigslist.com (like dog mentioned) and also checking other local classifieds (both paper and online) in your area. Keep an eye out for TASCAM 38, 48, 58, TSR-8 and TEAC 80-8. I can assure you one of these will come up. Be patient. :)
 
myparents said:
Sorry i meant 1/2 in. I saw the tsr 8 for about 500.
Click to expand...

If it's local then check it out first. If it passes all testing and cosmetics then 500 local pickup ain't bad at all. ;)
 
I wouldn't dismiss eBay... you just have to be careful. I’ve found some really really nice stuff on eBay. I ask a lot of questions. If I can’t get an answer I move on.

I have some rules that I follow.

1. No to zero feedback sellers (They may be ok, but someone else will have to find that out)
2. No to excessive bad feedback sellers (received or given)
3. Will not click on a listing that has “WOW” or “L@@K” in the title.
4. No listings that use stock pictures or have stolen pictures from previous listings
5. No blind deals… I always contact the seller just to see if they are responsive and to get more info
6. If they can’t put together a sentence in at least 3rd grade English they won’t be able to safely pack and ship a heavy sensitive piece of equipment.

I know this narrows down the field, but I get good results.

You can also check http://www.musicgoround.com

But they sell on eBay too.

:)
 
Man, I totally hear you on the eBay frustrations, and on the used gear in general frustrations. I too just went through something similar - bought a used Tascam 424 MIII (well, it was supposed to be an MKIII, but what showed up was actually an MKII) from an eBay seller with a good amount of 100% feedback, and the thing shows up unable to record or playback anything more than a pitch-garbled mess... fortunately the seller agreed to pay return shipping and give me a full refund.

So, I took that money and won another MKIII... this time from a first-time seller so I was taking my chances there, but I did ask lots of questions before bidding. So I won that unit, and it showed up today... trial run with it seems great, but I need to do more testing to know for sure.

I've had a lot of great eBay transactions, but the ones that go bad are enough to make you want to pull your hair out and never use eBay again... especially with something like recording equipment that is no longer manufactured any more with limited parts available. Unfortunately with analog recording gear, it's pretty difficult to find anything but used gear.

Beck's suggestions are good ones... the fact that my initial 424 purchase went astray despite that I followed all those rules was a fluke. 99% of the time that method will lead to eBay success.

Good luck on getting your 1/2" deck dilemma sorted out!
 
It helps to buy from people who sound like they actually owned and have used the stuff. A big NO to anyone who states - that they don't know anything about the unit, or....I'm not able to test the unit. I also look at the other items they're selling. If they have a tascam 424 amid a ton of yardsale crap I'd be real cautious. I like it when they at least have other music related items for sale.
 
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