This is just an update. (Btw, thanks Ryan).
Took me an hour to get to the seller's studio. Both the 34 and 246 were indeed in a like new cosmetic condition, on first glance and "low use", definitely. I was excited but this soon turned to disappointment.
Prior to the showing, I had agreed to pay the seller the 500 (he wanted 600 initially) for the 34, totally based on what he said about the condition and low hrs, under 10 infact. I found this to be not accurate.
I inspected the tape path and found several signs that this machine, although fairly low use, had about 10 times the use the seller claimed. There was a significant amount of brown oxide (and some black rubber coloring) on the capstan shaft and the pinch roller had a nice ring of brown on it. Tape guides showed apparent brown deposits as well. The tape lifters showed slight but apparent flat / shiny spots, in good light.
My experience tells me that one doesn't get to that point with single and double digits usage. It may have had about 100 hrs of use, with at least several dozen of tapes being played and shuttled and while I'd still consider it "low use", it was not what the seller claimed and to what I had agreed.
There was another thing which struck me and that is the pinch roller mechanism. When I laid the deck on its back and pressed the pinch roller, manually with my fingers, toward the capstan shaft, it did not come back down fully. In fact, it only moved about 20% down. I immediately knew it may be the solenoid which may have become sticky from non-use or the lever pivots, of the mechanism, which were probably lubricated with some kind of grease, may have dried up, causing the shaft to bind up and prevent the pinch roller from releasing fully. In any case I knew the pinch roller mechanism may have gummed up.
I knew the pinch roller mechanism issue was a fairly common problem but $500 was too much to pay for the trouble and, of course, the rather higher use of the machine. I would have taken it for less but the seller wouldn't budge. Other than that it was a fine sounding machine (upright it was fine) but the amount he was asking was a bit over the top for a unit in need of more than usual servicing.
The 246 I passed on as well 'cause the seller had colored some buttons / switches with a bright red marker or paint to see them better, not to mention some stickers. $400 was too much.
Some of you may think I'm anal about condition and all that but I'm not a typical buyer, at least not now. A few years back I may have bought the above, no questions asked but I have become an informed buyer and I'm very selective. I don't like it when I get my chain jerked by some seller who thinks he can get me to buy by being misleading. In fact this is a guy who owns a studio and has some experience with analog reels in the past. Makes it even more questionable. Anyway .... Sorry for rambling on ..
Yup, got to keep it in perspective!