My New Acquisition

[jortiz]

Hey all!

I haven't been here in awhile.......been busy recording and other things. I've peeked in a couple times. I had my new acquistion fall into my lap so to speak. I had seen a posting on Craigslist for a Ampex MM1000 (like the one Sweetbeats has ). I waited a couple days and even saw it listed here for people to view. The listing was from Olympia. I eventually emailed him and he had replied that it was already sold. Oh well I thought.

The next day he emailed me and asked if I would help out a guy that bought a MCI JH 110 1' 8 track from him. He had it for one day and then couldn't get it working. (Man, didn't I already know the MCI story!!!!) I replied to him that he should have sold that to me! He again replied back why he sold it, that it was in great condition and that this guy might be in over his head with the constant maintenance etc and might want to sell. So I emailed his friend and said I could come and take a look. I did get it to do some stuff that wasn't working but still not 100%. During the time I spent there he talked about selling it because he needed the money and realized maybe he actually was in over his head. I told him I would gladly buy from him but I was there to fix it for him. After making sure he wanted to sell it I told him I could come the next day to haul it off. I told him that if I got it working he could take it back, etc. So now I'm in possession of a MCI JH 110 1" 8 track and got it working.......for now I got another transport, 8 channels of repro only electronics, another 1/2 of a power supply, a remote, 5 rolls of tape, and some spare cards.

Now I'm trying to figure how I should best use this with my Tascam 520 and PT's. I have a lot of different options. Should I run directly to tape and then into PT's? Use the 520 preamps then tape. Or..........? My goal is to record like they did back in the 50's, 60's and 70's so that would really mean to tape.

BTW, I listed my Tascam 34 on Craigslist and then saw it posted here. I kind of forgot to post it here first and see if anyone might be interested, sorry. Another thing this guy posted a Ampex 300. He thought I might be interested or spread the word around. I'm drooling over that one, but I have to stop this!!!!!

http://seattle.craigslist.org/oly/msg/1690698373.html


Best regards,
John
Best regards,

 

[SteveM]

SAWeeeet!

 

[sweetbeats]

John...

How much if I may ask?

That is really great...so you now have matching MCI decks huh? A 1" 8-track and a 1/4" halftrack?

Looks to be in very nice condition.

What did you have to do to get it going?

Now all you need is an MCI JH500 console...

 

[jortiz]

John...

How much if I may ask?

That is really great...so you now have matching MCI decks huh? A 1" 8-track and a 1/4" halftrack?

Looks to be in very nice condition.

What did you have to do to get it going?

Now all you need is an MCI JH500 console...

Cory,

I got all that stuff for $600.00. Yes I have the other MCI JH 110 and now the 8 track. That's why I put my Tascam 34 up for sale. I might part with the 1/4 track though? When I worked on it first I did the normal cleaning with Deoxit and reseating everything, it made it better, but still not completely functional. Found out it was two bad IC chips. Since I have 2-3 things of everything, I replaced the chips and all was good.

This machine has the dreaded red sockets though but I'm not going to change them just yet. Don't fix what ain't broke as they say.

I need to stop buying things and just get recording so a console isn't in the picture-yet! Besides I'm happy with the Tascam M520. Just trying to figure out how to best wire my recording chain.

Thanks for the reply.

Best regards,

John

 

[sweetbeats]

I need to stop buying things and just get recording

Yes, John. Sincerely wise. Your statement hits close to the heart for me.

I forgot you had the M-520.

What is the I/O on the MCI decks? Balanced/unbalanced? 0dBu? +4dBu?

If they are balanced only +4dBu I'd use the 8 Balance Amp channels on the M-520 to the 1" inputs, and take the outputs to 8 of the XLR inputs on the M-520 and switch in the PAD...

Or I'd get a Fostex 5030, or a couple Tascam LA-40/LA-40mkII boxes OR and La80 and an LA-81. That's what I've done to interface my Tascam mixer with my MM-1000.

If they run unbalanced you'll have to see if the MCI electronics can be strapped for lower nominal levels. If they'll run at 0dBu then the M-520 should be able to drive that and then (assuming the MCI electronics are XLR I/O) you'll just need to make up/purchase RCA to XLR cables and strap pins 1 and 2 (so pin 3 is hot...the MCI decks are pin 3 hot like the M-520 yes?)

Man!

The heads on that 1" look great...I'm wondering if those are the same brand as those on my MM-1000...Made by IEM.

 

[jortiz]

Yes, John. Sincerely wise. Your statement hits close to the heart for me.

I forgot you had the M-520.

What is the I/O on the MCI decks? Balanced/unbalanced? 0dBu? +4dBu?

If they are balanced only +4dBu I'd use the 8 Balance Amp channels on the M-520 to the 1" inputs, and take the outputs to 8 of the XLR inputs on the M-520 and switch in the PAD...

Or I'd get a Fostex 5030, or a couple Tascam LA-40/LA-40mkII boxes OR and La80 and an LA-81. That's what I've done to interface my Tascam mixer with my MM-1000.

If they run unbalanced you'll have to see if the MCI electronics can be strapped for lower nominal levels. If they'll run at 0dBu then the M-520 should be able to drive that and then (assuming the MCI electronics are XLR I/O) you'll just need to make up/purchase RCA to XLR cables and strap pins 1 and 2 (so pin 3 is hot...the MCI decks are pin 3 hot like the M-520 yes?)

Man!

The heads on that 1" look great...I'm wondering if those are the same brand as those on my MM-1000...Made by IEM.

Cory,

Thanks for the advice. I'll have to look into it. Won't have time for a couple of days. Here is the Repro only electronics and half of a power supply.