MCI JH 110 Series Reel to Reel

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jortiz

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I was perusing Craigslist this afternoon and came upon an ad that said "old reel to reel rack and unit-free." So free now days is good, right? I made arrangements to pick it up since from what I saw from the picture it looked intriguing. It looked like an Otari, but I couldn't tell. The rack looked okay and it had some stuff in the rack that I couldn't make out. So I just got back from picking it up. Found out that the reel to reel is an MCI JH 110 Series. It had the power supply, a Dolby NR unit, the amp. I really won't have time to really look at it tonight but I did power it on. The amplifier section did come on the left side and one light was on, but the other side didn't light up nor did the meter "jump" as they sometimes might. The Dolby unit didn't turn on. The reel to reel didn't light up, even with buttons engaged. When I did turn it off the right side of the spindle did move though. Like I said I'll have some time tomorrow to play around with it. I'll check for connections, wires, etc. I see some loose ones and such. Here are pictures. I'm sure I'll have a bunch of questions for you more knowledgeable people. I do have a Tascam 34 and love that for what I use it for. Anyways........


MCIJH110Series007.jpg

MCIJH110Series008.jpg


MCIJH110Series010.jpg


MCIJH110Series011.jpg


MCIJH110Series013.jpg


MCIJH110Series016.jpg
 
evm1024 said:
If only it ended with Free....

You need a pinch roller and some other rollers. And as luck has it there is a set on eBay right now.

I just came across them and see that yours are missing - no interest.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-MCI-Son...ptZVintage_Electronics_R2?hash=item2ea9e4b49b

Welcome to the MCI clan.

Regards, ethan

PS send photo of the heads.
Click to expand...

Ethan,

Thanks for the reply. Yeah...I forgot to mention that it was missing those parts although that seemed pretty obvious. It's funny too because I ran across that ebay link also! Thanks for sending that to me. I'm not sure how I'm going to approach this though because when I was looking at Craigslist I was looking for another rack for my setup and this came across. Like you said, if only it ended in free. The money I would have to put into it might not be worth it. I'm going to take a real hard look at it today and over the weekend to see what I'm up against. I'll get a picture of the heads. I didn't even bother to look at them because that wasn't my main interest. We'll see what happens. Thanks again for the reply. More later....

Best regards,
John
 
Pretty cool. Approach with caution. Try and find out as much as you can as to what is working on that before investing any money. Could be a good deal or could be a money pit. It almost looks like someone picked off of it.

Up to how many channels can you have on one of those, I wonder?
 
SteveM said:
Pretty cool. Approach with caution. Try and find out as much as you can as to what is working on that before investing any money. Could be a good deal or could be a money pit. It almost looks like someone picked off of it.

Up to how many channels can you have on one of those, I wonder?
Click to expand...

Steve-

I have been looking on the internet for more information. Of course good and bad from forums and other searches. I see where I can get some parts besides the usual eBay. There is one guy who specializes on MCI stuff. From what I was told from the person who gave it to me, he got it from a radio staion where he had worked at, but that was a while ago. I've seen a bunch of photos and some I've seen with 4 or more the the channels on
them. I guess they come in 16 and 24 channels also.

Here are some more photos of the back.......

MCIJH110001.jpg


MCIJH110002.jpg


MCIJH110003.jpg
 
Dreaded red sockets

Well, it appears that you have the dreaded red sockets. MCI machines used red colored sockets which time has shown to be not very good. As a result of failing contacts (low contact force and corrosion) both the red sockets and molex pins MCI machines can misbehave. That is to say the transport will go crazy. Stop or speed up or break your tape.

So I think that you shold look the heads over very carefully. If the heads are shot then you have very few options. You will need new heads $$$ if you want to continue with this machine.

If the heads are OK then you will need to decide if you wast to at lease clean all the connectors and IC pins in the red sockets. Replacing the red sockets is a long task (and one that I need to do on my JH-110).

If you are not up to spending the time then selling the machine or parting it our appear to be your best options.

Next time you have it powered up place a piece of paper in the photo cell on the right. In between the 2 black parts sticking up in the far right of the tape path. This will enable the reel servo and the reel motors should turn and some lights come on.

Regards, Ethan
 
What's the microprocessor?

EDIT: To answer my own question, it appears to use an 8085.
 
A friend of mine had a JH 110 in the 90's.., one of the best 2 track mastering machines, lots and lots of major hits were mastered on those.
MCI is/was a division of Sony, and it's in a different class than a Tascam (think Mercedes compared to Chevy). I used to work on a 24 track 2" MCI. That's a serious machine - I wish I had one to master on although it's about the same size as my Maytag washing machine.
 
mci was a MAJOR player back in the day. i remember them all the way back to '73 when i got into recording. they had been around before that. they did recorders and boards.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MCI_%28audio%29

mci founder 'jeep' hamed
1972-mci-jeep-harned.web.jpg


and some of his products (board and recorders)
ControlRoom_5908.jpg
 
Some of the "High end" folks look down their nose at MCI decks. But then again more than one great tunes were made on them.

Here is a youtube link to Pink Floyd and Money. Look at the 8 track MCI looper. And the Ampex and other machines in the background.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NKDSDbipGU&fmt=18

Regards, Ethan

PS perhaps we should have a shoot out of 1/4" 2 track machines. I can get some original content and dub it over to an ATR-100, JH110A, Tascam BR-20 and Ampex ATR-700. Some time int he near future.

I don't have a 32 anymore so that is out. All we need to add is an Otari, 3m and the Tascam 42/52 to cover most all bases....

Actually, I was thinking to put the BR-20 up against the ATR-100 and see what happens. Then again if a few mods to the BR kicks it up.....
 
evm1024 said:
Well, it appears that you have the dreaded red sockets. MCI machines used red colored sockets which time has shown to be not very good. As a result of failing contacts (low contact force and corrosion) both the red sockets and molex pins MCI machines can misbehave. That is to say the transport will go crazy. Stop or speed up or break your tape.

So I think that you shold look the heads over very carefully. If the heads are shot then you have very few options. You will need new heads $$$ if you want to continue with this machine.

If the heads are OK then you will need to decide if you wast to at lease clean all the connectors and IC pins in the red sockets. Replacing the red sockets is a long task (and one that I need to do on my JH-110).

If you are not up to spending the time then selling the machine or parting it our appear to be your best options.

Next time you have it powered up place a piece of paper in the photo cell on the right. In between the 2 black parts sticking up in the far right of the tape path. This will enable the reel servo and the reel motors should turn and some lights come on.

Regards, Ethan
Click to expand...

Ethan,

Thanks again for the replies and advice. I did read about the red socket issue. I also did put a paper on the photo cell area you mentioned and FF and RW worked. In fact they were running pretty fast and full speed. The Play button also engaged (no light on that one) and went as fast as FF and RW. Is that because there was no reels on?

Here is a picture of the heads. I couldn't get a close enough shot with it blurring even with a macro setting on the camera. What are your thoughts? They looked pretty dirty.

Heads2001.jpg


Heads2004.jpg


Thanks again Ethan and to all who have responded.

Best regards,
John
 
Heads look worn but serviceable. Calibration will expose the truth. Put up some more pics after you clean the heads up.
 
Those are high wear heads but I cannot see if they re blown out.

Get some 90% isopropyl alchol anc see if the gunk can be cleand off. The guides and lifters are telling a story too.
 
evm1024 said:
Those are high wear heads but I cannot see if they re blown out.

Get some 90% isopropyl alchol anc see if the gunk can be cleand off. The guides and lifters are telling a story too.
Click to expand...

Okay......I've been trying to clean them off and get a good enough picture. This is what I was able to get off and the best pictures I could take.

064.jpg


065.jpg
 
Wow. Looks like you need to keep scrubbing Jortiz. :D The heads to me anyway, look salvageable, but I'd wait to see what someone else has to say. Definitely a lot of wear on the guides. That sticky stuff is unbelievable.
 
SteveM said:
Wow. Looks like you need to keep scrubbing Jortiz. :D The heads to me anyway, look salvageable, but I'd wait to see what someone else has to say. Definitely a lot of wear on the guides. That sticky stuff is unbelievable.
Click to expand...

SteveM,

Yeah I know! I know it's still dirty but I had to take a break! LOL! I'm still keep going at it unless someone tells me that it's not worth it. Thanks for the reply.

Best regards,
John
 
SteveM said:
Wow. Looks like you need to keep scrubbing Jortiz. :D The heads to me anyway, look salvageable, but I'd wait to see what someone else has to say. Definitely a lot of wear on the guides. That sticky stuff is unbelievable.
Click to expand...

They would scare ME little. Head re lapping is not cheap.
 
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