The AKAI MG1212 12 Track Recorder

S

studiodrum

New member
Greetings my Analog Brothas' . . . !
Well, I have officially advanced from a 4 track 424 MkII to a multi track 12 Channel recorder, . .Its an Akai MG1212, 1/2" Cassette tape mixer/recorder. I scored this bad boy for almost free! I was helping a friend, clean out some crap from in his garage, and he was throwing away, . what looked like this old mixer. . . Anyway, long story short, . .it turned out to be a Akai MG1212, that used to be owned by his long past father who was an engineer for CBS in NYC many moons ago, . . and if I haul it off, . Its mine!

Unfortunately, this bad boy weighs fricken 95 lbs, . and is huge!!! So, I had to con another friend of mine to help me get this thing home, . . .well, worth the case of beer!

So, far everything works on this thing, . .All the lights and VU lights work, . the motor turns, . . Except most of the pots and faders are pretty scratchy from being in the attic for 10-20 years. . . This thing takes special Akai 1/2" tapes, and I order a few from a supplier in the UK. So, after I clean her up her pots, and lube her faders, . and I receive those new tapes. . .We will see what we get. . . I was planning on getting a Tascam 388, or a 238 for this demo project that I got going on. . . .But, when U came across this thing, .I thought it was worth a try, . Cause, if it works, . It will be perfect for what I need. . . However, if it ain't workin or takes a crap, . then unfortunately, the only people out there that are still working on these things, . . .is VST in Pasadena, Cali, . and at 95 Lbs. .. the shipping would be astronomical, . although since it was almost free, . .Ya never know. . .

Anyway, . I'm excited. Granted. I still might end up with buying a Tascam 388, or 238 with an M-30 mixer. But, for now. . I'm still in the ANALOG Gang, . .and I'm still working with cassette, rater than reels. . . If anyone out there would like to share their MG1212, or MG1214 experiences . . I would love to hear. . !! I will keep ya updated.
Be good guys. . .!
 
Nice score! I hate you... :D

That was a very capable unit in its day. Tapes are the hardest thing, but since you've found a source you're ahead of the game. They would have been standard beta shells but Sony was playing hard to get with licensing so Akai had to make their own proprietary design.

Did you get a manual? If not I can give you the specs and some operational info from some 20-year old brochures I still have.

I had the oportunity to use one when they were new and it was on my list of things to have, but never did get one.

-Tim
 
Hey Tim!
Yeah, . .I know I'm a lucky bastard. . ,That kind crap hardly ever happens to me. But, I guess the Analog Gods were smiling on me that day, . . or somethin'. . .

Although, I'm not out of the woods yet. . since I haven't been able to test the recorder, or playback components yet. When I get the tapes, . . .that will definitely be the final test!

That's really interesting about the Sony Beta story, . .! That makes a whole lotta sense. . .If this thing took beta tapes, . it might have made her a whole lot more attractive. . . I think the fact, that these tapes were so obscure and a new format tape, . that was only obtainable from Akai, . it might have been the downfall of this machine , .. . and the fact that it probably was born on the cusp of the digital age, . .and most people couldn't justify 5000-7000 grand for an analog recorder that ya needed specialized tapes for. . .

Anyway, its a sold built mother, . and hopefully, when I get the new tapes, . it will get me threw this demo project, . . !

Tim, if you have a service manual, . that would be a big help! I already have the operational manual that I downloaded from Akai, . .and it seems like a pretty straight forward machine. Although, I plan on cleaning the heads, and the rubber capstans , .and it looks like I will have to unscrew the cassette tape window, . . with a hex type screwdriver!!! Oh well, .a small price to pay.
 
Beck said:
Try these guys or contact techman777 on ebay.
http://my.execpc.com/4B/9F/warpdriv/warpdrivemusic.com/launch/manuals.HTML It's a beauty. :)
Click to expand...
Thanks for the info Tim! I will give them a shout to see if they have a service manual for this baby. . .Unfortunately, the only problem with this thing is that, . .at this point. You almost need two of them! One for recording, and the other to salvage for parts!!! Cause, Akai definitely don't provide parts anymore for this unit. I was able to locate a guy, who has one or two of these units, and he sells the parts off for anyone needing parts.

BUT, what's the deal with a SERVICE MANUAL. . ??? If I have a service manual can I take this machine to a reputable technician, . who is willing to work on this unit for me, . . Again, cause Akai couldn't recommend anyone on the east coast to service this, . except for the guys at VST in Pasadena California, . .and shipping this 100 lb machine, . probably wouldn't be very cost affective?

Well, hopefully, when I get the tapes delivered to me next week, . .and get her lubed, and cleaned. All will be well. . .We will see. . .

A Reel Person said:
............................:)
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Yeah, Dave!!!!! She is real sweet, except for some dust, and some scratch pots, and faders. I order some of that CaliLube MCL, and some DeoxIT yesterday, and I will start to clean her up soon. . .

She's not a Tascam 388, or a 238, like I was hoping to get. . .But, She's kinda a half-Breed!!! Half 1/2" tape, and half Cassette, . . and for free!!!, and if she works, . . I will at least have a pretty nice recorder to get my feet wet. . . and its STILL ANALOG, Baby!!!!. .and if worst comes to worst , and the recorder doesn't work. . At least I have a VERY heavy 12 Channel sub mixer for my drums!!!

So Dave, . .what's your opinion on the recording quality of this recorder???

Anyway, I'm not sure if I can rig this board to give me a separate outs on each 12 channels, . .It looks like its only a Stereo Buss. .However, it does have
an ACC / CH OUT (1/4" plug on each channel) under the ACC Receive plug. . .Whatever that means. . . ???

Anyway, if anyone is interested, you can download the manual at the Akai pro website here: http://www.akaipro.com/archives.html

Thanks guys, . and I'm sure you will here me crying for everyone's help soon!
 
I've never heard one,...

but I like the porta-foramat (Portastudio-clone) design.

I'd like to see more info on it, but I've always been impressed by the Akai MG1212. Was is a straigt 12 tracks, or 12-audio with 2 control tracks? If it's 14 evenly sized head elements on 1/2", that would be a fraction wider than the 1/4"-8-track format, track per track. The other difference would be tape speed and NR. What's the tape speed and noise reduction?

Yeah, proprietary media is a drag,... but if you get this unit functional, I'd seek far & wide to score any media I possibly could. Of course, it would be supplies of "new-old-stock" tapes, as I'm sure they've not been produced in years.

Yeah, it's cool to look at,... & would be twice as cool once you get it up and running! That sure solves all the mixing questions you had with your 4-track, but I don't wanna see "how do I mix 16 sources onto my 12-track" questions any time soon!;) :eek:

Like the 388, the MG1212 seems to have come along a little late in the game to be truly successful in the marketplace.
 
Another thing you got going for you is Akai designed a Super GX glass rec/play head on this thing. You shouldn't see wear like you will on a metal head. They're pretty indestructible. Akai gets an A+ for this design decision.

If I could design one from the ground up my dream multitrack would incorporate Akai-like GX heads.
 
I believe it's a 3-3/4 ips transport.

Anyway, that's fat, and a big boost over a 424mkII. You better suck up all the media you can! (after it's running). :eek:
 
Beck said:
Another thing you got going for you is Akai designed a Super GX glass rec/play head on this thing. You shouldn't see wear like you will on a metal head. They're pretty indestructible. Akai gets an A+ for this design decision.
Click to expand...
Wow, I didn't realize that these heads we GX glass heads. Very cool! I haven't even attempted to clean the heads, and capstans on this baby. But, I'm assuming that I can use the same head, and rubber cleaner as the Tascam 424's.
A Reel Person said:
I'd like to see more info on it, but I've always been impressed by the Akai MG1212. Was is a straight 12 tracks, or 12-audio with 2 control tracks? If it's 14 evenly sized head elements on 1/2", that would be a fraction wider than the 1/4"-8-track format, track per track.
Click to expand...
Ya gotta check out the manual on this baby, . . You can download it on the akaipro.com site. . http://www.akaipro.com/archives.html. Its not written too badly for a Japan to American translation, . a bit sparse. But, still filled with a lot of useful information. it would be interesting to see what you think, . . .
A Reel Person said:
What's the tape speed and noise reduction?
Click to expand...
I believe cjacek is correct, it has 2 speeds, (3 3/4 ips, and 7.5 ips) and has DBX Type 1, . Sweet Huh! ;)
A Reel Person said:
Yeah, proprietary media is a drag,... but if you get this unit functional, I'd seek far & wide to score any media I possibly could. Of course, it would be supplies of "new-old-stock" tapes, as I'm sure they've not been produced in years.
Click to expand...
Yeah, not fun. But, I have found a decent source to get some New Old Stock tapes, . and also another source to buy some used ones too. So, I should be okay. . At least for the time being.
A Reel Person said:
Yeah, it's cool to look at,... & would be twice as cool once you get it up and running! That sure solves all the mixing questions you had with your 4-track, but I don't wanna see "how do I mix 16 sources onto my 12-track" questions any time soon!
Click to expand...
Yeah, I really dig the look too. . .and you got that right Dave, If I can say it with 12 fricken' Tracks, . then it wasn't meant to be said at all. . No cryin for 4 more tracks for me baby. LOL :)
A Reel Person said:
Like the 388, the MG1212 seems to have come along a little late in the game to be truly successful in the marketplace.
Click to expand...
Yep, its a real shame, . cause both machines are truly great little units, . .
 
A Reel Person said:
............ ;) ;)
Click to expand...
Yeah, baby, . .I'm really siked about this analog beauty too . . . ;)

So, I'm spending this weekend meticulously calculating my plan to clean this bad boy up, . . .so, I went and order some DeoxIT, . and some Calilube MCL, . .(since when I fired this baby-up, . there was a lot of scratchy pots, and faders . .although the more I turned the pots, and moved the faders, .the crackling seemed to slowly begin to dissipate. So, I'm pretty confident that the DeoxIT should help things considerably. . .

Anyway, I was wondering what the best way to clean-up all the XLR, and LINE inputs, . . for the XLR plugs, . .should I spray some DeoxIT onto an XLR (male) plug, .and work it into the XLR input, . and do the same for the 1/4" and RCA jacks, and plugs .. .?

. . . AND what about the heads? I'm assuming that I can use the same Teac head cleaner for the heads, and Teac Rubber cleaner to clean the heads, and capstans (I believe I still have some old Teac RC-1, and HC-1 small spray cans that came with my 424) I'm guessing that since the parts surrounding tape path are still made of metal, ands that static electricity can probably still build up on glass, . that I probably should. . .However, what is the best way to demagnetize? I have read several different ways, . .some say lightly touch the heads with the demagnetizer, some say DON'T touch the heads. . . I have only done it once or twice, and both times I did not touch the heads, . . anyone want to chime in on this one!!? :)
 
studiodrum said:
However, what is the best way to demagnetize? I have read several different ways, . .some say lightly touch the heads with the demagnetizer, some say DON'T touch the heads. . . I have only done it once or twice, and both times I did not touch the heads, . . anyone want to chime in on this one!!? :)
Click to expand...

Regarding the demagnetizer, you must NOT touch the heads directly with the metal probe of the demagnetizer or it will destroy them. However, most demagnetizers have a plastic or rubber sheath around the probe to prevent that from occurring. Some people add their own using sticky tape I think.
 
It's a sad day. . .

. . . just wanted to give you guys an update on my new toy, . . Bad news, my MG1212 is shot. . .I received the tapes for it yesterday, and right off the bat it ate-up 2 tapes. . .I cleaned the heads, and the pinch rollers, . . and unfortunately, it ate a 3 tape! Upon further inspection, . .I noticed that the motor that turns the reel is not moving, . .the unit doesn't REV, or FF, . . You can hear it hum, and try to move but, no-dice.

It sounds like the 'reel motor' is shot. Apparently there are two motors in this unit, . a capstan motor, and a Reel Motor.

So, needless to say,. . I'm pretty much boned. Its just not cost affective to get it repaired. . .especially since Akai doesn't make any parts for this unit anymore, . . .and its way too heavy to ship.

Anyway, It was nice try. . .
 
Hello!

This could be your biggest DIY project ever!!

I'll go out on a limb, and say there is probably FF/RW mechanism that's similar to other (cassette) units. What you have down there is 1 motor and a 2-sided cam that pivots either to the left hub or the right, when the motor is activated. This cam has 2 little rubber tires that transfer the energy from the motor to the hubs. My theory is that (like all other Porta's before it) these two little rubber tires are shot and sticky goo, which PREVENTS the motor from turning and PREVENTS the cam from doing it's normal job. (Hint: the motor is humming).

What I recommend is to take that beast apart, DIY style, and inspect the FF/RW cam mechanism. I'd bet dollars to donuts that it's a failed "rubber" problem and not a bad motor itself. It's a common enough symptom that I'd be comfortable saying that. The good news is that those two little rubber tires are typically 50¢ items.

I think you can do it, although this may be the biggest DIY project you've ever seen!

I'd have great pics for'ya to illustrate this mechanism, but unfortunately I had a hard drive corruption last week that I lost like 40G of data. :mad:

You may want to scope Ghost's pics of his 244 repair for reference.

It's not all lost! You may also want to try to salvage those tapes for test.

Worst case, hand carry it and deliver it to me, and I'll tear it apart!

This goes to show you again, that there's no such thing as a "free lunch"! :rolleyes:

Hang in there! Best of luck!
 
I had

one of those once. I bought it for 900 bucks from music go round in around 1995. Getting the tapes was a bitch because i had to order them in sets of 12. I put it in my room while i was still living at home with my dad. I made some pretty good recordings with it but i sucked badly back then and it was probably too much for my inexperience to handle. I was doing the thing that inexperience does with extra tracks like doubling shaker parts and tripling guitar parts. Due to the lack of easy to find tape i ended up trading it to a music store for 500 bucks to put towards a 63 fender jaguar that cost me 2100 bucks. I hope you can get it running well because the recordings were clean and sounded very nice.
 
A Reel Person said:
It's not all lost! You may also want to try to salvage those tapes for test.
Click to expand...
I'd ditto ARP's sentiment here - I am not familiar at all with this unit but it does sound like you're not really that far from having a working mechanism. :cool: The humming means that its definately trying to work, so its worth investigating.

ARP's probably closer, but you're also welcome to bring it to the southern coast of NZ for me to have a look at! ;)
 
The rubber goes bad on these things like any reel or cassette. Any belts, rollers, wheels usually have to be replaced or reconditioned, especially after a long storage in a garage or basement.

It can all be fixed, even if the manufacturer no longer supports the product.

I think arjoll mentioned Terry's Rubber Rollers in another recent post. Terry has been around for along time and can replace the rubber on about anything round.

If I were you I wouldn’t be discouraged at all. This is just the first step. Once you start digging into it and identify the problems it starts getting fun. :)
 
studiodrum said:
Greetings my Analog Brothas' . . . !
Well, I have officially advanced from a 4 track 424 MkII to a multi track 12 Channel recorder, . .Its an Akai MG1212, 1/2" Cassette tape mixer/recorder. I scored this bad boy for almost free! I was helping a friend, clean out some crap from in his garage, and he was throwing away, . what looked like this old mixer. . . Anyway, long story short, . .it turned out to be a Akai MG1212, that used to be owned by his long past father who was an engineer for CBS in NYC many moons ago, . . and if I haul it off, . Its mine!

Unfortunately, this bad boy weighs fricken 95 lbs, . and is huge!!! So, I had to con another friend of mine to help me get this thing home, . . .well, worth the case of beer!

So, far everything works on this thing, . .All the lights and VU lights work, . the motor turns, . . Except most of the pots and faders are pretty scratchy from being in the attic for 10-20 years. . . This thing takes special Akai 1/2" tapes, and I order a few from a supplier in the UK. So, after I clean her up her pots, and lube her faders, . and I receive those new tapes. . .We will see what we get. . . I was planning on getting a Tascam 388, or a 238 for this demo project that I got going on. . . .But, when U came across this thing, .I thought it was worth a try, . Cause, if it works, . It will be perfect for what I need. . . However, if it ain't workin or takes a crap, . then unfortunately, the only people out there that are still working on these things, . . .is VST in Pasadena, Cali, . and at 95 Lbs. .. the shipping would be astronomical, . although since it was almost free, . .Ya never know. . .

Anyway, . I'm excited. Granted. I still might end up with buying a Tascam 388, or 238 with an M-30 mixer. But, for now. . I'm still in the ANALOG Gang, . .and I'm still working with cassette, rater than reels. . . If anyone out there would like to share their MG1212, or MG1214 experiences . . I would love to hear. . !! I will keep ya updated.
Be good guys. . .!
Click to expand...

Great unit. Beats the s*** out of the lowly 388 by ten miles (at least).
 
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