Heideana Posted October 18, 2006 Share Posted October 18, 2006 I just did a search on reel-to-reel in the forum and it looks like there hasn't been any activity since 2005... I'm getting the bug to get back into reel-to-reel and have a bid out on Technics 1500US. Is anyone else doing anything with them as of late? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duke Spinner Posted October 18, 2006 Share Posted October 18, 2006 well, .... I have about 1000 # of Ampex Grand Master ... that is turning in to separate parts of ... polyester backer, and ferrite dust..... i have been transposing all to the digital medium ..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Travis In Austin Posted October 18, 2006 Moderators Share Posted October 18, 2006 I just did a search on reel-to-reel in the forum and it looks like there hasn't been any activity since 2005... That is a great deck, I have the 1700, you need to try and get that but they tend to go for a premium. There is a bunch of reel to reel activity, we have combined it with the audiokrama forum and we are doing a tape swap with reel to reel owners from New York to Washington. We will be sure to get you in the next round of tapes. I don't know what search terms you used but here is a link to that thread: http://forums.klipsch.com/forums/thread/793782.aspx I hope to hear you were able to make a great deal on that deck. Travis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heideana Posted October 18, 2006 Author Share Posted October 18, 2006 Hey Duke -- I agree with you about the digital conversion. Now that I've got a bit of time, I'm thinking that I'd much rather collect tape then vinyl for my retro vib...[8-|] I remembered recording all of my vinyl albums on tape to save on wear and started to get a hankering for the soft compression you get with a good reel deck. Truth be known, I'm also thinking it's a good tool to add to my audio equipment to "soften" a digital source if I need to. Are your Ampex tapes vinyl to reel recordings or from non-vinyl sources? Also, I thought I read that you can "bake" tape to help restore it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Travis In Austin Posted October 18, 2006 Moderators Share Posted October 18, 2006 Here is another thread that my friend Luther started after he got his Teax X-1000R restored. It kind of got everything rolling again. http://forums.klipsch.com/forums/thread/777677.aspx I grew up in the Bay Area, what part of the City do you live in? Travis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heideana Posted October 18, 2006 Author Share Posted October 18, 2006 Thanks Travis! I stand corrected and have been finding all kinds of kewl stuff here!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duke Spinner Posted October 18, 2006 Share Posted October 18, 2006 Hey Duke -- I agree with you about the digital conversion. Now that I've got a bit of time, I'm thinking that I'd much rather collect tape then vinyl for my retro vib...[8-|] I remembered recording all of my vinyl albums on tape to save on wear and started to get a hankering for the soft compression you get with a good reel deck. Truth be known, I'm also thinking it's a good tool to add to my audio equipment to "soften" a digital source if I need to. Are your Ampex tapes vinyl to reel recordings or from non-vinyl sources? Also, I thought I read that you can "bake" tape to help restore it? all live music ... you can Bake ... but only play once Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heideana Posted October 18, 2006 Author Share Posted October 18, 2006 Thanks for the tip Duke! Baking is for rescuing then.... Travis, I live in an area called Noe Valley...a recent Animal Planet show referred to it as a suburb of San Francisco, which made us laugh a lot! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Travis In Austin Posted October 18, 2006 Moderators Share Posted October 18, 2006 Diamond Heights, what a cool place!!!!!!!! Is Bud's still right off of Diamond? Did you go to HS there? Travis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ben. Posted October 18, 2006 Share Posted October 18, 2006 all live music ... you can Bake ... but only play once For a minute there I thought you were talking about something else... Is there a place that'll do that around here or is it easy enough to do ourselves? Uni's got a mess of 1/4' laying around from their SR work in the 70's and 80's... some decks, too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heideana Posted October 18, 2006 Author Share Posted October 18, 2006 Unfortunately Bud's succumbed to changing economics...Noe's great to live in. I didn't grow up here...transplant from Oregon. SF's been fun place for me to live, but its' definitely not everyones' cup of tea... Ben...I just read that BASF and Ampex put out white papers in the thread that Travis directed me to above. I suspect he or Duke can give you more details...sounds like baking at 225 for ? hours will stabilize your tape for a few plays so you can transfer to another tape...binder issues in the tape's make-up. If I don't watch out, I could end up with 3 machines...the Technics, a Revox B-77 MKII and a Otari 5150....yikes. Its' too easy to get lost in audio... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ben. Posted October 18, 2006 Share Posted October 18, 2006 Temperature range must not be too critical then within reason - DIY is probably an option. The process is old news - they were pretty good at it back in the early 90's when I was at Fredonia dealing with old 2 inch reels. I recall the problems, but not the specifics of the solution. Sounds like a royal pain, but maybe worth it to hear the Talking Heads in a dive bar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Travis In Austin Posted October 19, 2006 Moderators Share Posted October 19, 2006 Temperature range must not be too critical then within reason - DIY is probably an option. The process is old news - they were pretty good at it back in the early 90's when I was at Fredonia dealing with old 2 inch reels. I recall the problems, but not the specifics of the solution. Sounds like a royal pain, but maybe worth it to hear the Talking Heads in a dive bar. Baking is not that difficult to do, the key is letting it cool down slowly as set forth in those white papers. Oh, I almost forgot, it has to be in an electric oven, you are trying to get rid of the moisture and gas has too much water vapor. You will have a big mess in a gas oven. What are these decks that they have? Are they selling them? Travis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duke Spinner Posted October 19, 2006 Share Posted October 19, 2006 all live music ... you can Bake ... but only play once For a minute there I thought you were talking about something else... Is there a place that'll do that around here or is it easy enough to do ourselves? Uni's got a mess of 1/4' laying around from their SR work in the 70's and 80's... some decks, too your oven is fine ....electric only ..! 200 - 300 deg. ......... 1/2 hour ..... don't forget to take the Brownie's out, to .......[] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heideana Posted October 19, 2006 Author Share Posted October 19, 2006 So I've lost out so far on my bid for the Technics 1500us. Anybody have any recommendations on good sources of for Reel-to-reel decks beside e-bay? I'm almost about to take a leap on an Otari MX5050, but doubt that I'll meet the reserve.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Hardy Posted October 19, 2006 Share Posted October 19, 2006 hmmm... if the goal of baking tapes is to drive off moisture, wouldn't putting them in a sealed container ("Tupperware"!) with some desiccant (i.e., silica gel or "Drierite") be a safer, gentler way to do it? www.drierite.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Travis In Austin Posted October 19, 2006 Moderators Share Posted October 19, 2006 hmmm... if the goal of baking tapes is to drive off moisture, wouldn't putting them in a sealed container ("Tupperware"!) with some desiccant (i.e., silica gel or "Drierite") be a safer, gentler way to do it? No, but it is great to use for storage to try and prevent the problem. The moisture actually binds with the polyester and desiccant won't suck it out. It has to be driven with heat. Travis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Travis In Austin Posted October 19, 2006 Moderators Share Posted October 19, 2006 all live music ... you can Bake ... but only play once For a minute there I thought you were talking about something else... Is there a place that'll do that around here or is it easy enough to do ourselves? Uni's got a mess of 1/4' laying around from their SR work in the 70's and 80's... some decks, too your oven is fine ....electric only ..! 200 - 300 deg. ......... 1/2 hour ..... don't forget to take the Brownie's out, to .......[] From my experience that is way too hot, and not near enough time. Try 150 to 180 for 4 hours. Try these sites for more info: http://www.josephson.com/bake_tape.html http://www.tangible-technology.com/tape/baking1.html http://audio-restoration.com/baking.php http://beradio.com/notebook/radio_baking_magnetic_recording_2/ (this article has the most accurate information in my opinion in terms of temp, times, removing flanges, etc. this link is from a forum of pros, and you can see they don't even agree Part 1 http://recforums.prosoundweb.com/index.php/m/179312/0/?srch=bake+tape#msg_179312 Part 2 http://recforums.prosoundweb.com/index.php/m/187235/0/#msg_187235 Travis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heideana Posted October 19, 2006 Author Share Posted October 19, 2006 So I ended up getting this machine... http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=010&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&viewitem=&item=200035695080&rd=1&rd=1 I thought at first its a high price, but on the other hand, its' ready to go, serviced and calibrated. Turns out this gentleman is right across the bay and can also provide support, etc...and I can also save on shipping. He's a recording engineer and this is his hobby. He also has a Technics 1500 and Revox B-77 that I might shift gears on when I go to see him next Sunday morning.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Travis In Austin Posted October 19, 2006 Moderators Share Posted October 19, 2006 So I ended up getting this machine... http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=010&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&viewitem=&item=200035695080&rd=1&rd=1 I thought at first its a high price, but on the other hand, its' ready to go, serviced and calibrated. Turns out this gentleman is right across the bay and can also provide support, etc...and I can also save on shipping. He's a recording engineer and this is his hobby. He also has a Technics 1500 and Revox B-77 that I might shift gears on when I go to see him next Sunday morning.... Great deck, and the price is not too bad either. I have corrisponded with this guy in the past. In my opinion he has the best decks on ebay, and he stands behind everything. You have purchased a 2 track deck, which is professional, and is high speed, 7.5 IPS and 15 IPS. This means you are going to have the best recording quality you can get in 1/4 inch, but you will not be able to play pre-recorded tapes (they are 2 tracks in one direction, and 2 tracks in the other direction, thus 4 track). In addition, you only record in on direction with these tapes, there is no side 1 and side 2. At the end of the tape it has to be rewound to play again. With 4 track tapes at the end you flip the tape and play the other side. 4 track decks usually come in the lower speeds of 3 3/4 and 7.5. This means you will burning up twice the tape if you record at 7.5, because you can only record once with two track, or burning up 4X the tape if you record at 15 IPS. With a 2 track tape the prefered way to play the tape is to play the tape but do not rewind it, you put it back in the box for storage. This is called tails out. When you get ready to play it you load it on your machine on the right reel, thread it backwards to the left reel and rewind it all the way back and then play it. This is done because if you play it and then rewind it the tape does now rewind evenly, you can see portions that are misaligned and it is not a good idea to store a tape in this way. In addition, storing a tape tails out reduces the chance of print through. You might want to talk to him about the 1500 which is 4 track. What did he want for the 1500? When you are there can you ask him if he has a Technics 1700 and what he wants, I would like to get another one? Another option is you can get the nice 2 track machine and try it out and if you decide to go to a 4 track machine let me know and I will buy the 2 track from you, I need another one. Let me know if you have any questions. Travis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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