loose tape pack = wow & flutter?

J

jeancoltrane

New member
so i picked up an old battery powered mayfair 157 rtr, its a pretty cool machine thats runs at 7ips but has some wow & flutter issues. at first i thought it was the belts/pinch roller but then i realized its not packing tape correctly in either rewind or play. if i pre wind the tape on my teac it seems to help quite a bit, but it still packs loosely on the takeup reel while recording or in play mode, so even if the supply reel is packed tightly its probably still slipping via the takeup reel.

i also noticed when you hit 'stop' it doesnt seem to have any breaks, you have to manually stop the reel with your hand. i dont know if those issues are connected, but is there generally some type of brake or tension mechanism that may be worn out causing loose tape packing and thus wow & flutter?

thanks
 
It's likely a deteriorated rubber edged cam drive wheel. Smaller machines like that often were designed that way, having everything run off one motor.

TBH, though, I kind of liked that warbly sound it produced. Sort of like a super deluxe signal distressor with no digital mumbo jumbo to get in the way! :D



Cheers! :)
 
thanks guys! i'll look into that, hopefully the rubber isnt too esoteric to replace/get fixed :)

and i do dig the sound myself, at least for old blues sounding stuff! in the video you can see i setup the tape path 'incorrectly', with it going under a little post i believe is meant to hold the capstan sleeve - it seems to provide a bit more tension than when setup correctly and helps the wow and flutter. without it i seem to get a lot more wow, with the pitch fluctuating almost a minor third up and down due to the loose tape pack im guessing.

it would be nice to have the option of how mangled i want the sound, im sure this old little deck has enough flutter even setup proper :) thanks again
 
Does that thing have a pinch roller?
If so it should be clean and pliable but not gummy. Nor should it be hard and slick.
That could contribute to your problem.
 
yup, its got a tiny little pinch roller :) it seems to be in good shape, but i only have one other deck to compare it to. i did have one recording where there was barely any audible flutter, i think i got lucky with the tape pack on that one :) i gotta pickup some new tape soon anyway, so i'll use it as an opportunity to see what the local tape guru thinks. too bad all the techs in my area are $120++ an hr. ouch!
 
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