Recently Got a Reel to Reel, what should I do?

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christopantz

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My apologies for having absolutely no experience with reel to reel, I'm hoping you guys can help me out though.

I found a Teac A-4010S in working condition at my local Goodwill for $25, so I bought it. It doesn't have any sort of mixer built in, as I assume this is more of a home unit, for listening rather than recording (although it does have mic inputs). I'm wondering if there is a way to record individual tracks onto it one at a time, and then be able to go back to them and mix and edit. I know I'd need to buy some more outboard equipment, but what exactly? Thanks a ton!
 
That's a home stereo system deck. Back in the day it was a more high-end deck for making audiophile stereo recordings at home and/or playing back prerecorded stereo recordings.

It's not really something you would record individual tracks with...though you kinda could, like vocals on the left track and guitar on the right...but you would have to sing/play at the same time.
If it's in decent condition, you can get decent recordings at the higher tape speed....though it only uses the 7" plastic reels, so not a lot of record/play time. It's not the best choice for putting together a recording rig with it as some "center piece...but you could get some use out of it.
For $25...just use it to have some fun. You could work it into a setup, but maybe as a side piece...or at best, use it fora stereo mixdown deck.

Here: TEAC A-4010S Manual - Stereo Tape Deck - HiFi Engine
 
Nope. It will only record 2 tracks at a time. Then you flip over the tape and record two more stereo tracks.

Just like a cassette player, but open reel. Granted it will have much better fidelity, provided the heads are in good condition, the machine is in good repair and you have good tape.

Then you sit back in your favorite chair, listen to the music and watch the reels spin around.
:D

Now for recording you could use it with a mixer, or as a mixdown deck. But it is not a multitrack recorder. Records two tracks at a time.
So you could mic an acoustic guitar and record a vocal at the same time. Or you could do a stereo recording of a whole band. So, for sure, there is stuff you can do with it but it is limited.

Have fun with it. Experiment.
:thumbs up:

Edit: hahaha. Miro beat me to the punch. He types faster. :D
 
Thanks for your replies. I'll probably use it as a tool alongside Ableton or work it into my workflow chain somehow. Either way, I think I got a good deal on it, so I'm happy.
 
You could use it as an analog flavour filter where you use it in the recording chain like an EQ or compressor but there would be the time delay issue to deal with because of the gap between the record and play head. That could be shifted in the computer afterward though.

As the others here have said; Have fun with it! :)
 
I don't know about that particular deck. I'm assuming that Miro and RFR know about it specifically, but just in case they were talking about two-track R2R decks in general, I thought I'd chime in.

I have a Sony TC-530 R2R from the 60s, and though it is a two-track design for consumer use, it does allow for overdubbing by recording on track 1 first and then on track 2 separately. So it would be possible to do a simple overdub. I haven't tried this yet, but it clearly says so in the manual.
 
Thats cool that your machine has that capability!

Been a long time since I've seen one of the teac machines, but to my recollection, it doesn't have that feature.

But doing a little digging, I found out that the tape doesn't need to be flipped to play the other side.....That's cool.
 
famous beagle said:
I don't know about that particular deck. I'm assuming that Miro and RFR know about it specifically, but just in case they were talking about two-track R2R decks in general, I thought I'd chime in.

I have a Sony TC-530 R2R from the 60s, and though it is a two-track design for consumer use, it does allow for overdubbing by recording on track 1 first and then on track 2 separately. So it would be possible to do a simple overdub. I haven't tried this yet, but it clearly says so in the manual.
Click to expand...

Some of those machines could record 4 tracks of mono material. They weren't necessarily meant for multitrack recording. Those with 3 heads (and no Simul-Sync) would record things with a time offset between tracks.
 
bouldersoundguy said:
Some of those machines could record 4 tracks of mono material. They weren't necessarily meant for multitrack recording. Those with 3 heads (and no Simul-Sync) would record things with a time offset between tracks.
Click to expand...

Yes it can do the 4 track mono thing as well. Like I said, I've never tried it, but in the manual it talks about being able to monitor track 1 while recording another track. I thought it would be odd to mention that if it weren't capable of overdubbing, but maybe they meant something else?
 
From what I read, the TEAC A-4010S has "Sound on Sound" capabilities...but that's not necessarily the recording of individual tracks, in sync. SoS is usually just lets you record on top of what's already there...though I'm sure there are different implementations of SoS.

My Multivox Tape Echo (similar to the Roland Space Echo units) has SoS...single, for doing one pass and then one more on top of it...or plural, for endless stacking every pass....WAY COOL for some analog space effects.
With each new pass, the older stuff degrades, and you kind have to pick a point where you want to shut it off...and then it just loops around. :cool:

Damn...I've not used my Multivox tape echo on anything in ages....now I'll have to find a purpose on some new song. :)
You Lo-Fi analog tape nuts would eat this shit up with a spoon if you heard it!!! :D ;)
 
Yep, I've used a Multivox. Not two hours ago I was trying to remember the name but could only come up with Space Echo and Echoplex. I believe the Multivox I used also had a reverb tank in it.

That deck may be 2-head instead of 3. That might allow it to do multitrack in sync.
 
bouldersoundguy said:
Yep, I've used a Multivox. Not two hours ago I was trying to remember the name but could only come up with Space Echo and Echoplex. I believe the Multivox I used also had a reverb tank in it.

That deck may be 2-head instead of 3. That might allow it to do multitrack in sync.
Click to expand...

My Sony TC-530 is a two-head deck as well. As I said, though, I have yet to try the overdubbing technique.

The thing works well and sounds really good, but the one issue is that it seems to play back slight fast, so that recordings sound about almost a half step higher than when recorded. I've replaced the belt, but I haven't replaced the pinch roller yet. Does anyone know if that could cause such a symptom, or is it likely to be something else?
 
famous beagle said:
My Sony TC-530 is a two-head deck as well. As I said, though, I have yet to try the overdubbing technique.

The thing works well and sounds really good, but the one issue is that it seems to play back slight fast, so that recordings sound about almost a half step higher than when recorded. I've replaced the belt, but I haven't replaced the pinch roller yet. Does anyone know if that could cause such a symptom, or is it likely to be something else?
Click to expand...


The pinch roller shouldn't affect the speed as its driven off the capstan. But if the rubber is badly degraded, that could affect the grip strength between it and the capstan turning. Maybe degraded cam drive wheels or the drive motor itself or the power feeding it? Hard to say specifically.
 
bouldersoundguy said:
Yep, I've used a Multivox. Not two hours ago I was trying to remember the name but could only come up with Space Echo and Echoplex. I believe the Multivox I used also had a reverb tank in it.
Click to expand...

Mine is the Multivox MX-201, and yes it has a spring reverb in it.
There was also the MX-312, which for the life of me, I can't see anything on it different than the MX-201...externally it looks identical.

I've had mine since 1978(?) when I bought it new. It still works perfectly.
 
These seem to be common Goodwill / thrift store finds. I found mine also at a GW a few years ago, I think for $15.00 and I snagged it just because it was an old Teac in really nice shape physically. Then I got it home and found out there were problems with amp itself; switches, VU meters acting up, etc... I've even gone as far as replacing the drive belt and trying to get it all up to snuff before I just abandoned it because it was no longer worth the effort. I still have it but I don't use it for anything... it just sits there as the conversation piece.
 
We use a TEAC deck for mixdown sometimes but I use it a ton for bouncing down drum tracks and then running them back into Pro Tools as a stereo track, getting all sorts of great sounds like the obvious analog warmth (so sick of using that description) and tape saturation. That would probably be yr best bet and for $25 you totally scored on it if it's working.

If all else fails, sell it on eBay or something. Things like that are blowing up over at that hell hole of a site.
 
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