#410

I absolutely loved this - thanks so much for sharing. I’ve been wanting to make a lofi tape delay from a couple of dictaphones (or maybe a single dictaphone and regular walkman would work) and this is quite inspirational stuff, as you might imagine!

As an additional aside: I bought this recently but unfortunately it doesn’t play at all (it does rewind, though, but that’s it). Has anyone used something like it for musical composition? It’s a Sony BM-76 Legal transcription machine (cassette-based, obviously).

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Sony BM-76.jpg1200×1600 329 KB

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#411

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Finally dug this reel to reel out, found in the rubbish outside a friend’s flat years back. Weird combo of high end features and extreme cheap-feeling construction - Picking it up is actually a shock, it’s like 1/5th the weight you expect, made of plastic :smiley:

Want to set up my old tascam 22-2 too but seems like the drive belt is gone :frowning: will try and fix some time

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#412
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#413

There is a speed control so that’s really nice. If it rewinds but doesn’t play probably one of the rubber belts is broken. So you’ll have to find one and replace it.

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#414
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#415

I found this lovely battery operated little Aiwa tape machine.

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#416

Ha! That’s a cool one!

#417

A couple years later… I inherited one of these, and it appears to be a consumer-grade machine. The one I have still works, though the output is muffled. Sadly right now I have neither the time to work on it myself, nor the money to pay for servicing, but I hope to soon since I want to record to it as well as digitize some family reels. My extrapolation is it’s durable, but I’m sure there are better-sounding machines out there.

#418

I just watched the Kerri Chandler video this morning - amazing! Loved it when he had to do an impromptu repair to one of his machines mid-set!

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#419

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Picked up this bad boy tonight.

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#420

I am thinking of doing a mod on my Re-201 to switch off the eraser head (for sound on sound). I am wondering what would happen if instead of a switch to install a potentiometer? (Disintegration loops)

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#421

I’ve decided to get a reel to reel. Always wanted to. One time thing, so can splash out. Want something pretty (of course), reliable, and that’s about it.

It’ll be an art piece as much as a functional thing.

Anything to watch out for?

#422

I used to have a very Akai reel to reel with tube amps. I ended up taking it apart and using the amps for other things until they blew. I got tired of lugging it around. Now I wish I had it (I did get many years of use out of it though). I also had an Otari and I never got it working properly. I gave up on it and sold it but in retrospect I wish I’d held fast to both of these. Again on a recent trip I saw a reel to reel at a junk shop that looked like it was in beautiful shape. My first thoughts were a) more stuff, b) big stuff… I passed on it but I regretted it a bit. Meanwhile I have lots of cassette decks.

edit: this is the Akai I had, the M8. It was a workhorse and survived a lot of abuse before I took it apart completely. If you can find one in good shape I recommend it.

image

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#423

I found a mint and recently serviced Teac. Can’t wait to pick it up.

Will post pictures when it arrives. Need to find some furniture to put it on.

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#424

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I picked this up yesterday for the grand sum of £28!

It helped to offset the disappointment of this MR66 arriving like this:

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IMG_20200312_1343443000×4000 2.45 MB

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#425

Is this an expander you’ve got there? How does it work?

#426

It’s an MN-15 mixer/compressor

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IMG_20200316_2156154000×3000 2.61 MB

http://www.muzines.co.uk/articles/fostex-mn-15-mixer-compressor/4125

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#427

Hi Jasper,

I know this is an old post, but I just picked up the same machine and was wondering if you would have any advice.

It didn’t include a power supply - I picked up a 15V DC supply, but the machine still doesn’t turn on. The power LED blinks for a moment though. I also tried using a 12V DC supply, and it runs for a moment when I hold down the power button, but then shuts off.

The playhead on mine was also jammed, but I was able to use the flywheel to coax it back into position. Thanks in advance for any useful info!

#428

Hey Josh,

I sold that machine a long time ago and am unfortunately of little help at this point. Tape machines are really tough to fix for me and I haven’t had much success over the years working on them so I usually end up moving on from them.

I vaguely remember the Yamaha being picky about its power supply though. So you might want to keep trying different supplies. I think I was using a 9v supply with the one I had.

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#429

Would this be an appropriate place to ask for recommendations on favorite tape simulators or low cost options that can achieve this effect? I realize its not quite the fit but want to avoid opening another thread for such a narrow question…

Specifically, I’d love to incorporate some lightly overdriven tape crunch on some acoustic instruments. Not looking for a cassette sound - I have a Tascam 424 I could use for that. Looking for the sound of 2" with a slightly hot signal. I have a UA Apollo and the Studer plugin as well as the ATR-102. Any other suggestions? Could be analog rackmount, pedal, some other tape machine, or a plugin. Just thought I’d ask.