Some advice please...getting my first open reel recorder.

  • Thread starter Thread starter fred s.
  • Start date Start date
That's great.

~No free/online manual, AFAIK.

~Clean it w/91% Isopropyl Alcohol and swabs.

~Occasionally degmagnetizing the heads and tape path is recommended.

~Use Quantegy 456 or 457. Some people prefer Quantegy 406/7. The machine was originally biased for 456/7, but Quantegy 499 & GP9 are the hottest tapes available today. If you can find new/oldstock 3M 226 (456 compatible), 806 (406 compatible) or 996 (499 compatble).... for a good price, that would be fine. Emtec/BASF 911 is also 456 compatible, 900 is 499 compatible. Some people like to point out that the smaller 1/4" format, such as the Fostex 8-tracks and a myriad of others, were optimized for a 1-mil thickness/1800' reel of tape, but it will function virtually the same with the thicker 1.5-mil/1200' tape. However, Quantegy 457 & 407 are 1-mil/1800' tapes, as well as 3M 227 & 807,... if I'm not mistaken. FYI, Quantegy is the only company producing new tape currently, but new/oldstock lots of tape auction off all the time on Ebay,... which has it's ups & downs. Anyway,... :eek:

~$500 is high for a 388 that needs work, however minor. VU meter bulbs seem like a minor item, but it requires an extensive teardown of the unit to replace. :eek:
;)
 
fred s. said:
This is my first open reel recorder! What should i look for/test out? I dont have any tape yet...what should i get?
Click to expand...

You may not like my answer but I would take the recorder to a service centre which deals and has extensive experience with reel to reel recorders, shell out a couple of hundred bucks and ask them to do a full electrical and mechanical alignment to bring it to full factory spec and to set it up for a tape of your choice. This needs to be done to any used machine bought today.

Unless you're quite knowledgeable about the process, have all the tools at your disposal and enjoy doing it, I'd pass on the task of allignment to a tech. It'd be a much less time consuming and less expensive route to take.
 
Thanks for the info! I orderd a few of these..

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/prod...oReel-Recording-Tape-14-x-7-x-1200?sku=248003


A Reel Person said:
~No free/online manual, AFAIK.

~Clean it w/91% Isopropyl Alcohol and swabs.

~Occasionally degmagnetizing the heads and tape path is recommended.

~Use Quantegy 456 or 457. Some people prefer Quantegy 406/7. The machine was originally biased for 456/7, but Quantegy 499 & GP9 are the hottest tapes available today. If you can find new/oldstock 3M 226 (456 compatible), 806 (406 compatible) or 996 (499 compatble).... for a good price, that would be fine. Emtec/BASF 911 is also 456 compatible, 900 is 499 compatible. Some people like to point out that the smaller 1/4" format, such as the Fostex 8-tracks and a myriad of others, were optimized for a 1-mil thickness/1800' reel of tape, but it will function virtually the same with the thicker 1.5-mil/1200' tape. However, Quantegy 457 & 407 are 1-mil/1800' tapes, as well as 3M 227 & 807,... if I'm not mistaken. FYI, Quantegy is the only company producing new tape currently, but new/oldstock lots of tape auction off all the time on Ebay,... which has it's ups & downs. Anyway,... :eek:

~$500 is high for a 388 that needs work, however minor. VU meter bulbs seem like a minor item, but it requires an extensive teardown of the unit to replace. :eek:
;)
Click to expand...
 
Wow...youre right. I don't like your answer haha.

I havent tested it yet...will I be able to notice if it needs that type of work once I start using it? Is it that important to have it set up to factory spec?



cjacek said:
You may not like my answer but I would take the recorder to a service centre which deals and has extensive experience with reel to reel recorders, shell out a couple of hundred bucks and ask them to do a full electrical and mechanical alignment to bring it to full factory spec and to set it up for a tape of your choice. This needs to be done to any used machine bought today.

Unless you're quite knowledgeable about the process, have all the tools at your disposal and enjoy doing it, I'd pass on the task of allignment to a tech. It'd be a much less time consuming and less expensive route to take.
Click to expand...
 
fred s. said:
Wow...youre right. I don't like your answer haha.

I havent tested it yet...will I be able to notice if it needs that type of work once I start using it? Is it that important to have it set up to factory spec?
Click to expand...

If you buy a 20 year old car, for example, that has never been serviced in all those years would it still run ? Probably. Would it need servicing for it to drive like it did from the factory or at least close to it ? Definitely. It's the same thing with a tape recorder of this age.

The beauty of analog tape recorders is even after so much time, unserviced, they still can record and work seemingly well. They will not, however, perform to factory spec. Some better some worse. Recorders, as all complex mechanical / electronic devices drift and go bad in time, worse is if they sit unused but that's another story.

It will be rather difficult for you to tell if the machine needs work or not because you don't know what to look and listen for (with appropriate tools) and have nothing else to compare it to, which would be a well alligned recorder. Sure you could run some test tones etc ... but that's a small percentage of work you'd have to do to test and align fully.

Taking the car example once again .... If someone has never driven a car in their life and tested that same 20 year old un-serviced vehicle, would he be able to tell if it needs work ? It drives, right ? So, what's the problem ? ;)

Is it important to take this vehicle to a garage ? Is it important to take your recorder to a service tech ? Is it important to bring both to factory specification ? You tell me. ;)
 
fred s. said:
also...are there any (free) manuals available online for this thing?
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This is the A8 manual. I believe the control panel is mostly the same, so it might help.

http://www.jpmorris.force9.co.uk/stuff/a8manual.zip

The A8 was my first machine. Quite nice as a beginning machine, but kind of knackered. Cost of servicing exceeded the total value of the unit, and I managed to get a TSR-8 at a stupid price anyway. I suppose I should sell it or something..
 
fred s. said:
Wow...youre right. I don't like your answer haha.

I havent tested it yet...will I be able to notice if it needs that type of work once I start using it? Is it that important to have it set up to factory spec?
Click to expand...


I wouldn't worry about that right away. I'd try it out for a while.
 
...

jpmorris said:
This is the A8 manual. I believe the control panel is mostly the same, so it might help.

http://www.jpmorris.force9.co.uk/stuff/a8manual.zip

The A8 was my first machine. Quite nice as a beginning machine, but kind of knackered. Cost of servicing exceeded the total value of the unit, and I managed to get a TSR-8 at a stupid price anyway. I suppose I should sell it or something..
Click to expand...
I'm afraid the A8 and the Model 80 are not very similar, at all!! :eek:


(A8)...
 

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(Model 80)................. :eek:
 

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A Reel Person said:
(Model 80)................. :eek:
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Pray explain further. The transport design and basic control layout is the same, it just has some extra features and about three controls have moved around. The track selection might be different, I can't tell from the shots.

Internally they're totally different, and the colours aren't the same but that's hardly the point.

The manual will give him basic instructions, care & feeding and show him the correct way to lace it up.
 
Thanks I downloaded and appreciate the a-8 manual.

I still would like to find one for the Model 80. I know there are people one ebay that photo copy them and sell for like $16.00 but I wont be supporting them.

Funny thing is, I cant sem to find much info on the 80 at all. How long was it in production?
 
A Reel Person said:
~Clean it w/91% Isopropyl Alcohol and swabs.
Click to expand...

I just noticed, I happen to have a brand new bottle of 70% Isoprophyl Alchohol in the cabinets...hah, that was unexcpected!

Will this do or should I actually make the effort of buying 91%?
 
fred s. said:
I just noticed, I happen to have a brand new bottle of 70% Isoprophyl Alchohol in the cabinets...hah, that was unexcpected!

Will this do or should I actually make the effort of buying 91%?
Click to expand...

If you can't get 99% isopropyl alcohol then buy something close to it but stay away from the 70% stuff.

Hint: An alternative to q-tips, especially for larger heads and transports, would be those small no lint make up remover cotton pads.
 
What do you know about makeup???

cjacek said:
If you can't get 99% isopropyl alcohol then buy something close to it but stay away from the 70% stuff.

Hint: An alternative to q-tips, especially for larger heads and transports, would be those small no lint make up remover cotton pads.
Click to expand...
Eh,... never mind!!!............. :eek:
 
jpmorris said:
Pray explain further. The transport design and basic control layout is the same,... .
Click to expand...
True.


jpmorris said:
it just has some extra features and about three controls have moved around. The track selection might be different, I can't tell from the shots..
Click to expand...
Yes, the Model 80 has Memory-Locate 1 & 2, RTZ, Loop & sophisticated sync capabilities that's less than intuitive to figure out without the manual. Track select (Rec-Funct) is different, but only slightly. I couldn't name the exact differences in Rec-Funct of the A8/Model 80 without looking directly at them,... but the "classic" A8 only records 4-simul from 4-inputs, while the A8LR & Model 80 have 8-in/8-out/8-simul capability.


jpmorris said:
Internally they're totally different, and the colours aren't the same but that's hardly the point.
Click to expand...
Yep.

jpmorris said:
The manual will give him basic instructions, care & feeding and show him the correct way to lace it up.
Click to expand...
Yeah, the A8 & Model 80's most basic setup & functions are the same. The A8 manual will get the Model 80 user going from scratch, in a basic sense. Thanx.
 
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A Reel Person said:
jpmorris said:
The manual will give him basic instructions, care & feeding and show him the correct way to lace it up.
Click to expand...

Yeah, the A8 & Model 80's most basic setup & functions are the same. The A8 manual will get the Model 80 user going from scratch, in a basic sense. Thanx.
Click to expand...

No problem, and sorry if it came over a little terse. A proper M80 manual would obviously be better, but as I say, an A8 one should at least get him going.
 
fred s. said:
Will i lose audio quality if i transfer recordings onto my computer from tape for final mixing?
Click to expand...
Yes, but at least you'll be sampling a nice format.
 
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