R2R Resurrection

[Mallette]

So Travis is sending me an R2R surprise and I can't wait. I love surprises, and especially musical ones. But that means I've got to get an R2R up and running. I have two, a workhorse Teac 2300S that did yeoman duty from about 1976 until about 1986 when it joined the TT's in limbo due to the advent of "perfect sound forever," and a Sony TC-765 I picked up for 25.00 at a garage sale about 10 years ago. Due to having a stack of 10" reels that came with the Sony I've not checked out plus the fact that the tape tension arm coming off the main counterweight of the Teac is sheared off and repair is going to be a serious "McGiver" challenge, I decided to go with the TC-765. It's a 3 motor closed loop job and it has been 20 years since I messed with R2R, so I go into to it with a prayer and fingers crossed.

Crikey, what a HEAVY beastie. Must be 75 lbs. and just getting it to the workbench is a real challenge. Figure the best approach is just to load up a real and see what happens. Power up. Looks good...just one of 4 meter bulbs is out and its nice to see life again. I load up a 10 incher labeled "Eagles" punch the > button. Left reel turns and tape spills onto the bench as the takeup reel ain't. Not good. I start dismantling. Good grief, getting to anything is a CHORE. I'd forgotten how much stuff was in these things and everytime I pull off a plate there is something else in the way. I finally get to where I can see the reel motors and note the brake selenoids aren't moving. I squirt a bit of WD40 into one and work it a bit. Voila! She takes off. Same treatment on the other and I've got take up and rewind back, nice, smooth, fast, and quiet. The two solenoid driven idlers aren't so cooperative. I can even find the solenoid that controls them and they are major sticky. Another hour and several more access plates and I finally find a big one, but it is still about 8" out of reach. I get the deck in a position and fire a burst of WD40 and manage to hit it square without much splash. This one takes a LOAD of working before it finally breaks loose enough to do anything.

So I reload the tape. Now I find that the tape is squirting off to the inside of the tape track after a few seconds of travel. Yuck. The old Akai 4000D with it's pure mechanical system and even the somewhat more sophisticated Teac 2300S would never do that. I still haven't figured out what is up there, but gave it a rest when I found it stayed put when the deck is lying flat. Given I don't see anything loose or traveling about when power is applied this is a bit strange...but that I'll leave for another day. I stick some headphones in and am rewarded with VERY promising sound of the Eagles. I am no Eagles expert (though I like them) so I don't know the album...but I know good sound when I hear it and this is it.

It's enough for one day and other things to do, so further fun will have to wait for my next days off which isn't until a week from Tuesday. I suppose this is a bit premature as I haven't even hauled it to the music room yet, but I felt so good after working through all the issues I just hadda share. I suspect I have around 60 more hours of R2R to transfer so it's important. I also uncovered a DBX20 pure 2:1:2 noise reduction unit while I was at it that makes me want to try using it as an "alibi" recorder for my digital sessions. A few, notably Spey at Mapleshade, are doing this and I think it worth a shot just for grins. Besides, these old units simply used as analog sources equal just about anything we have today and certainly beat the pants off CD.

More later...

Dave

[Travis In Austin]

Dave,

Glad to hear that you are going toi be ready for the Easter Bunny's delivery. I am really impressed with how much you were able to do on that thing. I don't think I would have attempted half of what you were able to get in good working order.

I will let you know when the package flys.

Travis

[Tarheel]

Don't know about the Sony but when the tape runs off the side of the pinch roller on one of my three Teacs it is usually due to a problem with the surface of the roller. I have roughed up the rubber surface with 220 grit sandpaper and sometimes it corrects the problem....sometimes you need a new pinchroller.....still readily available. Make sure you didn't get any WD-40 on the rubber.

I talked with Pierre Sprey at Mapleshade a couple of times....think he is recording at 15 ips and as I recall using pro DBX and tubed mikes...not positive .....been awhile.

[thebes]

"Crikey"

I say old toff, it's simply been an age since I heard that adjective employed in a descriptive fashion.

There's a simple cure old sport. Simply take your spanner and bang the stuffing out of the bonnet. Almost never works but it's cracking good fun

[Mallette]

Well, bu**er me with a policeman's truncheon, I was caught quite unaware.

[Marvel]

I had a solenoid on my Teac 3340S that was incredibly sticky. I used some kind of degreaser on it and flushed out the junk, and then lubed it up again. Worked fine after that. I imagine the degreaser is not on anyones "good for the environment" list, but it sure did the job.

Dave- hope my pm wasn't too much to handle. Things are really ok.

Bruce

[HarryO]

Dave,

I've worked on dozens of the Sony models over the years and I've found it is quite common. If it has the rubber feet only on it's back that is the only way they want to run. They have quite a few models that are designed to only properly run on their back. If it has feet on the bottom also, then there are other issues. They are good sounding decks when tuned up.

HarryO

[Mallette]

Marvel: I'll check PM. I almost never do that. Seems there used to be some sort of PM notification...perhaps I am overlooking a setting?

WD-40 seems to free up the solenoids pretty well, and I'll check the tip (which I now recall) about the surface of the idler wheels next days off. I am really looking forward to this. Hate to think how many thousands of feet of tape I cut in another life. It was fun! I could have gotten Nixon off...[6]

Dave