TEAC A-3440 Squealing

B

Bigtwnvin

New member
I've had this machine for 30 years. Used to do 4 track live recordings of a band I played with feeding it from four house mix sends. Anyway, the machine is running well been maintaining it by the book all these years but all of a sudden there's an audio squeal (so far) on pre recorded tapes that were done on a "stereo" machine! If I retract the tape tension arm and let the tape run across the heads toward the capstan and pinch roller it disappears. I'm stumped, did the tape tension arm go out of alignment? I'm by no means an experienced engineer but somebody must know what the heck!
 
Are you using Ampex tape by any chance? This sounds like a symptom of the sticky shed that Ampex tapes are famous for. The bad news is that you shouldn't try and play the tapes in their current state but the good news is that you can bake the tapes and they will play fine for long enough to retrieve the recordings.
 
jamesperrett said:
Are you using Ampex tape by any chance? This sounds like a symptom of the sticky shed that Ampex tapes are famous for. The bad news is that you shouldn't try and play the tapes in their current state but the good news is that you can bake the tapes and they will play fine for long enough to retrieve the recordings.
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Nope. Scotch Highlander Low noise recorded at 7 1/2 ips . I do have a boatload of Ampex large reel tape 4 track recordings. I’m going to replace the pinch wheel with a new tire. The existing one looks a little worn to the one side. The tape might be going across the heads slightly off alignment. I sure hope that’s it.
 
If you can, capture something video of the issue, upload the video somewhere and post a link here.
 
Bigtwnvin said:
Nope. Scotch Highlander Low noise recorded at 7 1/2 ips .
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I’ve experienced shedding with Scotch also, not just Ampex. But mostly flakey shed.
Personally I don’t know what the problem is, but at least you get a bump. ;)
 
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