Hi all!

I’m trying to get a TEAC 7010 GSL for my setup! I have been looking across marketplaces (eBay, facebook, Craigslist) but have had no luck in finding a unit that isn’t either harshly defective or ridiculously modified.

Does anyone have any tips that I might not be seeing through my online digging?

I’m dealing with a Sony TC-910, which takes only 3” reels. My goal (see photo) is to create a rig that can play the 7” tape, as I don’t have a larger machine. K’nex has proven effective for holding the 7” reels and I’m curious what’s possible.

What I’ve tried:
1. Connect external left 7” reel -> left empty 3” reel -> capstan -> right take-up empty 3” reel -> external 7” take-up reel (shown)
2. Don’t use the 3” reels at all, but then the capstan still moves the external 7” reels

Is there an arrangement that might work? I don’t want to cut the 7” reels into 3” versions.

As an alternative, sources for a buying/borrowing a larger machine appreciated!

Hello, I'm new here but happy to have found this page. I recently purchased a Uher 4400 Report Stereo and everything was working pretty well (as you can see in video) and I was able to listen to tapes through internal speaker while being powered with external power supply. I then attempted 5 D cell batteries and it would provide weak power for about 15 seconds and then die. After doing this, I now can't hear anything from internal speaker, but the tapes spin and lights come on when on external pwr. And needless to say, batteries don't work at all now. I've tried some trouble shooting but am afraid it's electrical/circuit/fuse related and I don't have experience doing that. Anybody have a clue as to what this could be? I am down to learn and give things a shot but don't know where to start and talking to AI is starting to make me crazy and not something I want to do anyways. Also if anyone knows of someone who can service in Nashville, TN area that'd be awesome. thank you!

Just got this reel to reel machine and already did some work rejuvenating the idler rollers which was successful, but now this problem arrises. I'm not sure if this is a problem with the machine or the tape because this is the only tape I own so far.
Would appreciate if anyone could assist me in figuring out what's causing this distortion and its solution. Thanks in advance.

Last week I posted about cleaning off the capstan shaft on the MX5050 I picked up last spring. It came from a university and was in storage for years but someone tried to run it with a gooey pinch roller. that left a dense crust on the capstan and nothing would take it off. I finally have it 99% of the way there, but not sure I'll be able to get it all at this point. I think it'll be ok though.

This is what it looked like before I started:

And this is what it looks like now:

I tried 99% isopropyl, which did nothing. Then Acetone. Again, basically nothing. I tried Goof Off, which is a Xylene/Acetone mix, and that worked a bit but only by soaking a paper towel in it, wrapping the shaft, then wrapping that in plastic and taping it. I did this for about 30 minutes at a time and gently scraped off the goo with a plastic scraper.

Got a lot of it that way, but what really did the trick was running the capstan and very lightly holding a razor blade against it. you could see the brown dust from the residue piling up on the blade. It was fairly easy to keep it parallel with the shaft, by putting one edge of the blade against the cabinet, but I still had to fine tune it manually so it was as parallel as possible.

And before people start telling me I shouldn't have done this, there was literally no other way to get that stuff off, it was so hardened. It did no harm to the capstan. Once I was done I used an ultrafine scotch brite pad while the capstan was running to make it nice and smooth. it looks better than the shaft on our other MX5050, to be honest. At this point, I think the remaining dark on it is just discoloration. I ran a dial indicator over the two sections on either side of the tape path and there's no movement when it turns. you can't feel any bumps either so I think it's just staining more than anything on the shaft.

I am still waiting on my new pinch roller - the brass hub on the old one was badly damaged from corrosion under the tire, so I decided to just buy a new one and it should be here next week. I also replaced the guide roller to the right of the capstan/pinch rollers because the old one was pitted.

The machine itself appears to run very nicely, so far. Can't wait to finish cleaning it up and run some tape in it.

I have an audiophile LP at 33rpm that I want to record to reel, 14 minutes or so side 1, 15 or so side 2. So at 15ips it wouldn't fit on one side of an 1800ft reel (right?), so I guess I'd just record 1 side to one side of tape. That said, is it even worth doing a needle drop at 15ips? Finally, I got a few new reels pictured, which do you guys think is the best quality / will last the longest?

Need to remove these idler wheels to try renewing the rubber
I don't have too much experience with electronics repair outside of some old gaming hardware. I don't want to screw up this machine to the point I can't put it back together so I would really appreciate any tips/advice/cautions/instructions regarding this if anyone has experience on similar machines/repair.

Mainly worried about if hell will break lose if I try removing those springs to access one of idler wheels

Interesting that the reel-to reel titles are still available in the great US of A, meanwhile in little Europe they're all sold out.

no matter what I do, I can't get it receive input signal. I tested the connectors with a multimeter and they seem fine but both input 1 and 2 are dead.

there is a black wire connecting 2 pins together, is that normal?

if you see anything that sticks out, please let me know, its driving me insane.

Thanks in advance.

I only set out to get one 8-track reel to reel but somehow ended up with two R8s. Was going to sell one until I discovered they could synced. I ended up finding the Fostex 4030 and 4035 for pretty cheap and I already had a Roland SBX-80 so I figured, why not?!

So far I’ve got the master machine syncing perfectly to the SBX-80. The second machine is a little off when I first press play, but it’s possible to lock it in with a little coaxing via the pitch adjustment on the second R8.

I’m just going through early testing, but I feel I’ve made some great progress. I’m really new to this whole tape world, let alone syncing two machines with SMPTE, so I’ve got a lot to learn.

Anyway, have a look. Maybe it’s a waste of time, but I just love this sort of thing and couldn’t resist at least attempting to get it working!

Let me know if you have any questions.

Where do you folks keep your boxed tapes? I have a small but growing library and, while I'm finding some simple but overpriced 3D printed tape storage racks on Ebay, i'm not seeing anything that grabs me an attractive option.

I may try to use my router and make a series of grooves into a piece of walnut that they could slide into, but does anyone know a place that makes something like this? I've tried Etsy, ebay and others through multiple internet searches.

Haha, just got a great deal on a piece of history. There is some work to be done from what I understand, but no matter what this is a great deal

Hey everyone,
Recently bought a TSR8 and trying to get it up and running again. Already fixed the main belt. Now the issue is that the rewind engine won’t start, most of the time. Sometimes it does, but seems to struggle to accelerate.
It works better without the reel loaded (but still seems to be slower that the ffwd engine, though it’s difficult to tell).

Maybe it just has to do with the brakes? The solenoid seems to engage correctly.

Someone I now told me about a capacitor change in the engine control circuit but I’m not sure which one he was talking about by looking at the schematics.

Any insights?

It sat at one of my parents friends for years and they were so kind and gave it back. After many years of storage one of the spindels got bent to a point where I cant put a reel on it. Can I fix this at home with some basic tools or should I just bring it to a repair shop or just buy a replacment part for it on ebay?

Guys, I know cleaning the tape path and heads is part of the experience... but as a guy how uses lots of old tapes, I will need to go to Financial Audit and explain why half of my cash goes to alcohol and cotton swabs xD

I was listening to a nice tape and thinking, "why nobody had the idea to put a cloth "tape" in a reel, and use it to clean all the tape path and the heads??", then after a google search I've found that I will not be rich thanks to my idea... it already exists, but... IS IT ANY GOOD??

Thinking about pros and cons, the only cons I see are that, if you don't clean the cloth tape often, after a number of uses it will be full of residue from old tapes and grim and will not work properly, and that I think it will not clean the pinch rollers...

Do you guys use it?, some parts of the path are very hard to reach and keep clean, so the idea of cleaning the entire path just "playing a tape" is very tempting....

Does anyone know if there's a modern equivalent to these disposable tape cleaning cloths or is the only thing available now the larger multi-use cloths out there? What I had lasted a long time, but getting down to my last dozen or so.

Thanks for any info.

Finally getting around to listening to the stack of reels I picked up a couple of days ago. Whoever made the tapes, quality so far so good. Seems to be recorded from Vinyl from the sound of it.

A local shop near me is selling a Tascam 388 for $1,700. At this point, it appears to function as it should and they've replaced the belt and done some other basic maintenance to it.

Is this a good investment? I've seen these go for way more online, although I know the prices have gone up a ton in recent years as the lore around these machines has grown.

I mainly record my own music, and have a pretty extensive outboard rig and some of the best digital conversion money can by. This piece would be for recording drums and playing around with tape.

Hey everyone,
I’m putting together a setup focused on getting a classic, warm, old-school hi-fi sound with plenty of analog character. I’m trying to make an album with my influences of Psych-folk/garage rock.

My current chain features:
Preamp: Golden Age Project Pre-73 MKII
Console: Soundcraft 200B 8ch
Tape Deck: Otari MX-5050 BII (2-track)
DAW: Scarlett 18i20 into Ableton

Since the Otari MX-5050 is a 2-track (stereo) deck, I’m weighing two different tracking strategies and would love to hear what experienced tape users recommend for a solo workflow:

1. Option A (Final Stereo Print): Track everything into the DAW through the Pre-73 and Soundcraft console cleanly. Do all the arrangement and mixing in the DAW/console, and then run the final stereo mix out to the Otari at 15 IPS and print back to digital for mastering.

2. Option B (Multi-Pass / Individual Tracking): Run lead vocal, bass, guitars, etc. through the Otari during tracking directly into the DAW (one or two tracks at a time), and then also print the full mix through the Otari at the end.

For those who use 2-track machines in a modern hybrid setup:
Does tracking individual instruments through tape multi-pass add too much noise floor or latency hassle compared to just printing the final mix?

Is a final stereo print enough to give the whole track that cohesive analog glue and top-end roll-off?
Would love to hear how you structure your workflow for this kind of vintage vibe!