Reel to Reel Recorders
Contents
1. In the old days there was no DAT no DAW and no CD No wav no aiff no mp3 All you had was tape Tape was not perfect it wasn t 100 accurate and truthful and so the digital age was a relief for a lot of audio enthou Siasts and studio personel But to some the side affects of analog recording are also pleasing the compression of the highs the thicker bass and the saturation give the il lusion of a fuller warmer and more musical sound Some try to re achieve that effect and use it to benefit the overall sound either digi tally or naturally Whether you considder it to be a matter of nostalgia or taste recording to tape does in fluence the final product like a compressor a reverb or an equalizer affect the overall sound This little article isn t about analog vs digital it s only about what to bear in mind on your search for a reel recorder am no ex pert at all ve only been searching for and recording to reel recorders for some years often get questions about what to look for in a reel recorder so hope my experiences can be helpful to some This article is mainly meant to point out what you should consid er on your search for a good reel recorder but since the term quality can be explained differently it might be useful to explain what tape is and how taperecorders work Tape Recording tape is a polyester band with a coating of randomly aimed magnetic par ticles like a formulation of chrome d2. and you ll get a more high fidelity record ing But tape will be far more expensive not to mention buying and maintaining the pro recorders you ll need these tapes for in the first place If you look at it 1 4 tape might seem a bad choice for mastering but the artifacts can also be pleasing and charming to hear it gives a unique sound that is hard er to get with wider tapes And a well maintained and alignec amp 1 4 recorder will sound better than a neglected 1 2 recorder What type of recorder you should get really depends vg on the type of music you record your personal ideas about quality and last but not least your financial position 1 2 8 track 10 5 Reels or 7 Reels For the quality of the recording at 7 5 ips it shouldn t matter what reel size you get only differences is the number of minutes you can record But since most 7 recorders can not record at 15ips speed the only exceptions know of are the Tascam 22 2 and 22 4 you might be best of getting a 10 5 recorder However even a lot of 10 5 consumer re corders won t run on 15ips and as men tioned earlier tape speed is of influeuence to the sound ay Of course you can mount 7 reels on a 10 5 machine altho on pro recorders this might be a problem because of the needed back tension and pull Keep in mind that depend ing on the tape speed and the inches of tape on the reel the available minutes o
3. you buy one with a maintenance history ask for receipts or get one from a company that f specialises in buying restor ing and selling reel recorders It will be more expensive but in the end you ll spend the same amount of money minus the headaches Although a multitrack is like having several stereo 2 tracks figure you best use it for what its supposed to Because of noise issues using a 4 track as if it were a 2 x 2 track stereo recorder by recording 2 x Land 2 x R isn t necessarily a good idea lf you want to mix down a stereo recording to tape suggest you use a 1 2 track stereo recorder Tape Width There s 4 standard tape widths 1 4 inch 1 2 inch 1 inch and 2 inch The width of the tape is important for the headroom dynamic range the S N level even more so when you re looking at a multitrack recorder A 24 channel 2 recorder will effectively have a smaller track width per track which com pared to a 1 inch 2 track recorder which will result in the same artifacts you d get on a 2 track 1 4 recorder 1 4 2 track 14 4 track 1 4 8 track For 2 track recording 1 4 inch 1 2 inch and 1 inch recorders are quite common Quarter inch tape is cheap and tape compression and saturation is very easy to achieve Of course there s downsides as well like satu ration yep some consider this a con cross talk noise and a bad dynamic range If you get wider tape these artifacts get less obvi ous
4. But also differences in the way the pinch roller s have worn or the axis of the supply and take up reel tables will influence the way the tape passes the heads With most recorder designs the tension arms activate the machine When a tape is pulled through the tape path and mounted to the take _ up reel the tension arm moves reac gt up and activates the reel motors and capstan motor If the tension arm has a problem often caused by a loose spring the machine might not get activated ropen For instance if you hit play the tension arm shoots down and deactivates all the motors However this can also happen because the reels motos don t give enough backtension or pull The capstan and on 2 motor recorders the take up reel are often driven by a rubber belt These rubber belts are subject to age so often this belt needs to be replaced Pinch rollers are made out of rubber and rub ber can dry out especially when it s cleaned with alcohol so it s important you check the state of these pinch rollers Pinch rollers can be lapped when they are unequally worn but nobody can do wonders Pinchrollers are also subject to age and will look cracked and or glassy when they are too old Needless to say most rotating parts have bearings that are subject to wear and need to be lubricated or replaced from time to time Bad bearings will make a nasty squeeking noise and will make the machine literally run less smooth Tap
5. at Some if not all recorders have their own specific and typical problems that you must inform yourself of Is the machine easily accessible for repairs and maintenance Everything can be bought but at what price If the recorder your looking at comes without spare parts which is most likely check that these parts are easy to get and make sure you know their prices Take a Good Look and Ask Questions Check the heads and buttons for signs of wear and oxidization Check the tape transport capstan pinch rollers tension arms bearings brakes mo tors counters reel tables tape guides Does the machine start run and brake nicely without throwing the tape into a loop Do the rubber parts look good i e not shiny or cracked Do the bearrings not make a squeeking noise After winding at full speed does the reel roll out nicely Check the machines history If the seller says its always been serviced ask for re ceipts Ask the seller for what specific tape s the machine is calibrated Often private sellers have no clue but it doesn t hurt to ask Amachine that s sold with a service manual user manual reel clamps tools for mainte nance un used spare parts and fun extras like a remote is favourable to one that comes without any Old tape is often worthless and should not influence the price in any way Get the Stuff You Might Need Isopropyl alcohol can be obtained from the pharmacist T
6. atura tion of the tape However a low input level can lead to a noisy signal called tape hiss On the unmagnetized tape the particles are aligned randomly but there is still an audible high pitched type of noise tape hiss or tape noise Whilst a high level will saturate the particles a low level will leave particles non aligned If the recorded signal is too low the tape noise will stay noticeable Noise Reduction A lot of recording studios where confronted with a catch 22 a high input level causes saturation a low input level causes hiss Un less they were recording some rock band they often didn t want either to take place Enter the noise reduction units The most well known noise re duction techniques come from DBX and Dolby Both systems work differently basically Dolby pre emphasizes a high frequency on recording and de emphasizes it on playback DBX compresses the dynamic signal on recording and expands it during playback gage im es 7 Both would eliminate tape hiss dbx and and this might be of con cern to some tape saturation DBX probably eliminates tape saturation bet ter than Dolby but saturation on a Dolby re cording might be different and less pleasing than on a recording without Dolby Especially on multitrack recorders noise re duction can be useful because every track will have noise so more tracks will present more noise On 2 track mastering record ers noise reduct
7. ds and capstan can be cleaned with 96 isopropyl alcohol It needs to be as pure as possible as it doesn t contain much water It doesn t leave any residue and evap orates quickly To apply it you ll need a cotton swab or q tip or whatever you call them You can also get Chemi swabs special swaps that are pre soaked in isopropyl alcohol All should be obtainable at your chemist phar macist Don t use force on stubborn parts you might move the heads a tiny bit Just use more alcohol Pinch Rollers For pinch rollers you must not use alcohol as alcohol dries out the rubber Remove the pinch rollers and clean them with water with a tiny amount of a mild detergent and a soft toothbrush Whatever you do make sure non of the alcohol or detergent enters the machine or touches other parts like the pinch rollers bearings and that you dry all parts before mounting them back on the machine Mechanical parts need some service as well It s nice to have a service manual to do this Mechanical bearings should be lubricated from time to time with a small amount a drop will go far of sewing machine oil While your inside the machine look for signs of wear scattered rubber glassy or cracked looking belts are an indication of wear these rubber parts must be replaced very soon Demagnetizing the Heads Magnetized heads can be the cause of dull sounding recordings drop outs and other unwanted side effects Once in a while de pending on
8. e holding The record head converts the incoming sig nal into a magnetic field that changes as the signal does and aligns the particles on the tape As the tape passes the playback head it picks up the magnetic pattern created by the record head and changes it back into an electronic signal That signal gets amplified and equalized and send to the recorders out puts Erase Head Record Head some recorders have butterfly heads which are less sensitive to wear and some com panies like Revox made softer heads than others Inform yourself of the type of heads on a machine hard heads and butterfly heads will give you more hours of recording All heads have a vertical line a gap on the heads surface On the record head this gap is actually what puts the signal to tape and on the playback head it s what reads the sig nal from the tape Because this part of the heads surface is in contact with the tape it might get worn over time A bit of wear isn t a problem but too much wear will be au dible and you ll need to replace the heads with new ones This can be expensive so when you buy a recorder see that you check the heads for wear and oxidization When you get the recorder maintain the heads well Spare heads can be found new either with the original manufacturer or third party sellers Relacing the heads requires them to be realigned as well Better maintaim them well to get most hours out of them Head wear can indicate
9. e saturation You probably heard a lot about it but what and how does it affect the sound As mentioned earlier recording tape has a coating of randomly aimed magnetic parti cles that get aligned into a magnetic pattern representing the recorded signal If the signal level you record to the tape is strong enough to magnetize all the particles an even high er signal can t increase the magnetic signal on the tape which results in a fuzzy sound of distortion It s that distortion that s called tape saturation So the saturation point is determined by the recording level but it s also influenced by the formulation of the tape the width of the tape Supply reel Take up reel Hub adapter Tape guide wheel aka inertia wheel or pulley wheel Tension arms Pinch roller A tape with a width of a 1 4 inch saturates sooner than a 1 inch tape An 8 track 1 4 inch recorder will saturate sooner than a 2 track 1 4 inch recorder A recorder winding the tape at 7 5 inch per second will saturate sooner than a recording winding the tape at 15 inch per second Signal to Noise S N or SNR Signal to noise level or ratio compares the level of a recorded signal to the level of the recorders own noise level For reel record ers many different aspects influence the S N level such as record level tape width tape speed the formulation of the tape and the head gap Hiss Tape Noise As said a loud input level can lead to s
10. e where it also gets harder and harder to find spare parts Tapes are rather expensive as well espe cially if you just want to fiddle around a bit For this reason some people decide to find analog recording alternatives like cassette tape or even videotape Cassette tape can be an alternative for that analog sound but it is sometimes limited and can easily be less favourable compared to a reel recorder for making master recordings The tape width is only 1 8 which is more lim ited for making decent studio recordings and on most consumer recorders the tape speed is not adjustable This makes cassette more sensitive for side effects you might not like some of the limitations have been made up for with noise reduction and tape formula tions containing finer particles But because of the low recording speeds wow and flutter always remained an issue on most record ers Even a consumer quarter track at 7 5 ips will be favourable for obtaining artifacts such as saturation and compression which in es sence make that analog sound Finding a 2nd hand cassette recorder in good condi tion is as hard as finding a 2nd hand reel re corder VHS isn t an ideal replacement for recording analog at all because it uses a completely different technique called AFM to write au dio information to tape Because of this tech nique tape saturation or tape compression do not exist on VCR s Most consumer hi fi recorders se
11. eel Now you can continue to record 2 chan nels L R but this time track 3 and 4 are used Quarter track recorders often utilized this way of recording into fun functions they loved back when recording stereo was a liv ing room novelty family fun proto karaoke functions like Sound on Sound recording Sound With Sound recording but also echo can often be found on early 70 s consumer quarter tracks For mixing down a final stereo mix a quar ter track recorder might turn out to be dis appointing because effectively you get less tape width for a stereo recording than you would get on a regular 2 track or should say 1 2 track noticed that at least here in the Netherlands consumer quarter track recorders are often advertised as being 4 track recorders This is wrong because a 4 track recorder is a re corder that records 4 tracks in one direction at the same time a multitrack recorder Multitrack recorders come in many formats ranging from 4 to 48 tracks They are ideal for recording multiple takes of one song for overdubbing or for being able to practice or work on a final mix when the band has al ready gone home The more channels they have have the more technically complicat ed they get Setting them up prior to record ing takes time and you ll spend even more time if you plan to do some overdubbing Calibrating using and maintaining a multi track recorder is harder and more expensive If you buy one advice
12. f tape will vary a 10 5 reel will give you 30 minutes on 15 ips a 7 reel 15 minutes So it can be a economic decision to go for a 10 5 recorder and only use it at 7 5 ips this will give you 60 minutes of recording Smaller 5 reels can be found on older portable reel recorders and field record ers such as the beautiful Nagra IV Hub Adapters NAB Hubs The National Association of Broadcasters is an American association that introduced standards for the broadcasting industry that are often adopted world wide Most of them concern broadcast quality like the NAB EQ curve to improve S N but at least one stan dard was a safety measure the NAB hub When rewinding tape the empty reel ro tates at a tremendous speed Sometimes reels couldn t withstand these speeds and would break free and launch themselves in the studio damaging or hurting anything or anybody in it s flight path So the NAB intro duced a standard clamp design that could hold the reel tightly to the machine This might seem an unimportant little trivia but when you buy a second hand recorder that s suited for 10 5 reels 7 recorders never use hub adapters it would be nice if it comes with NAB hub adapters because a lot of 10 5 reels you buy are only suited for these hubs If no hubs are supplied they can still be bought new some are even extra fan cy and made out of aluminium in a fun colour and with a bigger hub that makes it easier t
13. hey ll probably sell good Q tips as well the real cotton ones that don t leave fibres Special pre soaked cotton swaps can also be bought but are more expensive New tapes are made by RMGi and ATR no 1 4 with ATR tho You can buy them online Empty take up reelshub adapters can often be bought from the same places you you or der tape A demagnetizer can be bought new 2nd hand is an option new ones can be bought from R B Annis and Bernsteinn a o Reference tape can be bought new never bought one myself but this German seller was pointed out to me by a friend German language site www bluthard de index php testbaender 1 To Conlude Quality is subjective term Do you want to re cord to tape because it sounds more true or do you want it because you can use it as an effect in the studio Either way a reel re corder is a demanding piece of machinery it needs constant attention Some reel record ers never received this attention and their price will be accordingly or at least it should be As said before am no expert just some body who uses a reel recorder regularly probably covered only half of what there is to be known tape recorders are complex when you look at them in detail But the general idea is quite simple and you don t need to know everything there is to it If you do want to know more lots of information can be found on the internet and my guide should at least be able to point
14. how often you use the recorder you should also demagnetize the heads with a special tape head demagnetizer or head degausser like the R B Annis Han d Mag which is still in pro duction The tip of the demagnetizer should have a rubber end so you won t accidently scratch the surface of the heads Here s a step by step de magnetizing guide 1 Turn the power of the recorder off 2 Keep the demagnetizer well away from tape or tape machines at least 3 feet 1 meter NEH zow d Smagnetizer i towards the recorder until the tip contacts the parts of of the recorder Demagnetize the heads guides and the capstan 4 Move across all the metal part s surfaces from one part to the next all very slowly and smoothly If you slip and move fast go back and redo that part 5 When you re done doing all metal parts very slowly and smoothly move the demag netizer away until you are again at least 1 meter away 6 Turn the demagnetizer off Never turn the demagnetizer off before it s 1 meter away from the machine as you might end up magnetizing the parts instead of de magnetizing them You don t need to move the demagnetizer very slowly towards the recorder only when you move it away from the machine Head Alignment and Calibration If you plan to replace worn heads with new ones be aware that you need to align and calibrate the recorder Depending on the hours you use it alignment and calib
15. how well the record er operates if one side of the head has more wear then the other there could be some thing wrong in the tape transport or in the way the heads are aligned Tape Transport Feed Reel Supply Reel Take Up Reel Capstan Pinch Roller Ten sion Arms Tape should be transported across the heads on an average speed with an average ten sion as it affects the quality of the recording To transport the tape most especially semi pro and pro recorders have three motors one for the feed reel or supply reel which supplies back tension one for the take up reel which pulls the tape and one for the capstan Relieve Slot Playback Head The supply and take up reel give tension to the tape Aged motors might not give enough backtension or pull and throw the tape into a loop or make the machine difficult to start up The capstan is a metal spindle that ro tates against a rubber pinch roller The tape is pressed between these two and gets pulled across the heads Besides these parts there will be an extra tape wheel s and ten sion arms to guarantee a smooth tape trans port These are equally important to reduce something called wow and flutter audible variations in tape movement When you buy a recorder try to be sure that all transport parts are functioning and run ning straight If for instance the capstan is slightly out of balance or even dirty it can af fect the quality of the recording
16. important factor in the degradation of the binder and therefore figure it can only be obvious that unless youre a hi fi enthousiast looking for record ings youre better of avoiding second hand tape But why avoid NOS tape The type of binder and the process used by the manufacturer can also be of influence on the degradation of the tape In the 1980s for instance manu facturers used a certain popular type of bind er that later turned out to be causing sticky shed problems There are some people who keep track of sticky stock tapes but person ally think it s just best to also stay clear from any NOS tape because you can t always be sure on what exact batch your bidding There are definitely exceptions and a good deal can be made but if you don t know the an swer to the question why wasn t it sold when it was simply New Stock you should better leave it and go for new ATR or RMG tapes In my humble opinion if you find a second hand recorder that comes with a few reels of old either used or unused tape it should not affect the price in the sellers benefit Tape can be baked yep in an oven to reac tivate the binder It s a specific process that can be used to salvage tape and or the re cordings on them Reel to reel cassette or VHS Reel to reel recorders are without a doubt a charming and effective devices for a record ing studio But they can be hard to find in a good maintained state in a tim
17. ion can be equally useful but you have to decide what type of sound youre actually looking for Record and Play Back Equalization Recording to tape affects the high and low frequencies of a recorded signal To improve the S N level the recorder itself equalizes the incoming and outgoing signal meeting standard specifications During recording it slightly boosts the low and high frequencies at playback it cuts these frequencies again Depending on the make of the recorder and the tape formulation compression remains a side affect and there are different EQ curves NAB IEC and AES with their own specifi cations Print Through A reel of tape is a spool of many layers Since these layers are magnetized they can affect each other leaving a weak copy of one layer on another This copied magnetic information can be audible as a dull sound ing pre or post echo of a recorded signal which is called print through To avoid print through tape manufacturers tried different tape formulations that required different lev els of bias ie pre magnetization Also the thickness of the backing material thus the polyester band that holds the magnetic par ticles is of influence to print through as well as the duration and conditions of storage Hecing Fechnctapy Horses moo Beg Tape Speed Tape speed is one of the factors that will in fluence the S N level Tape speed is indicat ed in inch per second ips Often semi pr
18. ioxide or ferro oxide During recording a magnetic field aligns the particles into a magnetic pat tern that represents the recorded signal Tape formulation is an important factor as it is of influence to the recording and recollec tion of the signal especially where it comes to high frequencies It also affects the S N level print through and bias and even the chance of physically wearing the heads The polyester band used to hold the coating also affects the quality of a recording since it s elasticity and strength affect wow and flutter and it s thickness affects the printthrough Heads On any recorder heads are the number one part sensitive to wear The heads are electro magnets that convert an audio signal into a magnetic field and vice versa Most pro and semi pro recorders use three heads The re corder will have one erase head one record head and one playback head Older con sumer recorders have often a combined record playback head For the studio 3 head recorders are preferable because they have a monitor function by pressing the playback head onto the tape you can im mediately hear what you just recorded a few seconds ago Because the playback head has a few milliseconds of delay to the actual recording you can also us a three head re corder as a tape delay Using bias the erase head makes a magnetic field that orientates the particles on the tape randomly erasing the magnetic history they wer
19. o and pro recorders can only record on 7 5 and 15 ips sometimes even on 30 ips In order to get as many minutes as possible on one single tape consumer machines will most of the time record at 7 5 ips 3 3 4 ips and or 1 7 8 ips Even most consumer re corders suitable for 10 5 reels would not re cord on 15 ips The decrease of speed will give you more minutes to record but it will also most cer tainly effect the quality of the recording The higher the speed the more headroom you have and the less noise and saturation you get Recording on at least 7 5 ips is recom mended in the studio it s nicer if you can choose between 7 5 or 15 ips Quarter Track Half Track 4 Track Multitrack 2 track stereo recorders are often referred to as half 1 2 track recorders because they use half of the tape for a channel But what about 4 track and 1 4 quarter track record ers They both use a quarter of the tape so what s the difference Except for low recording speeds consumers where helped to save even more tape and thus money by using a system that allowed to use tape in 2 directions a bit like a cas sette deck but not quite The quarter track recorder has 4 tracks to record 2 stereo sig nals by flipping the tape 2 channels L R are recorded on track 1 and 2 When the feed reel is empty and all the tape is now on the take up reel you remove the reel from the take up reel and put it back on the feed r
20. o tightly mount the hub 10 5 tapes are also available with trident fitting For these reels you do not need a hub adapter AEG Hubs AEG Spooling plates Pan cakes Another type of hubs are AEG hubs They are meant for mounting tape on AEG spool ing plates AEG spooling plates or pan cakes are flat reel plates you won t see of ten except on pro recorders or older AEG Magnetophone recorders hence the name If the recorder can be used lying down in stead of standing up you don t necessarily need a regular reel to hold the tape anymore It s easier to mount the tape to the recorder and winding and unwinding the tape will go tighter on a recorder that s lying down which can improve the wow and flutter Pancakes also make buying tape more economic Buying Tapes New Tape There s many types of tapes for as many purposes Most consumer and semi pro machines will be set up for different tapes with different formulations and different bias types Most Ssemi pro machines are aligned to be used with one type of tape only Depending on the bias what tape should you get Well as for brands the market pretty much narrowed your options down to 2 brands ATR USA and RMGi Nether lands ATR doesn t produce 1 4 inch tapes so if you buy a 1 4 recorder you have only RMG tapes to choose from The RMG prod uct range is pretty wide so no worries there RMG uses the old Basf Emtec formulations The SM tapes a
21. ration is also something you might have to do every few years Heads need to be correctly aligned and calibrated to get the best result out of a re cording the bias needs to be correct for the tape you plan to use and the position the heads should be correctly aligned and the playback and record eq NAB AES or IEC should correspond to the tape you want to use Aligning and calibrating the recorder can be done by the user but its not some thing you should do without owning a service manual and a reference tape You ll need a reference tape with pre recorded test signals to help you align and calibrate the recorder It s a specific task that requires specific tools and expertise so think you re better have an experienced technician do it for you Repairs Some manufacturers still maintain and re pair recorders If you happen to buy a ma chine that s still supported by the manufac turer keep in mind that shipping the entire recorder can become expensive Therefore itis nice to have a machine on which you can easily take the vital parts apart so you can send the part to the manufacturer or repair man for review and repair Aservice manual often holds many treasures of information They might make it possible for you to do minor repairs yourself or at least make it possible to correctly take the machine apart Parts Parts are sometimes still sold by manufac turers or third parties or can be found on private seller
22. re your best choice when you record in the studio the SM number de pends on the bias of your machine My own recorder can t take SM900 or SM468 which are High Bias tapes so stick to SM911 The LPR and PER tapes are probably bet ter suited for archiving and or for use with conventional long play consumer record ers and perhaps I have no experience with them for use with tape echo s Because of the rougher particles used they might wear heads sooner Buying Tapes Second hand tapes NOS tapes and Sticky Shed Baking When you search for other brands of tape like the almost legendary but unfortunately out of production Ampex Quantegy 456 tapes you ll often find them listed on private seller sites like E Bay Most of the times list ed as used but sometimes listed as New Old Stock NOS sealed and never used reels of tape Buying these tapes is tempting espe cially if your machine is calibrated for these out of stock tapes However you have to be very cautious because of sticky shed As explained earlier recording tape is made of a polyester band with oxide par ticles To hold the oxide particles on the tape a special binder formulation glue is used Sticky shed comes from the degra dation of the binder If the binder degrad ed particles of oxide will shed all over tape path and beyond If the particles are still sticky the tape is even unplayable and cleaning will be even harder Storage and age are an
23. sites like e bay To avoid sur prises make sure you can actually get ser vice and or spare parts and be aware of their price LF fi fi Buyer Beware Since there s no manufacturers that build reel recorders anymore except for ATR they still produce the ATR100 you ll have to buy one used Best is to buy from a compa ny that s specialised in restoring recorders It will seem a lot more expensive but in the end it will be more economic and it will safe you from worries With private sellers you just never know what you re gonna get even if you inspect it well If you buy one from a private seller you must inform yourself of the overall state of the recorder Prepare Yourself Imagine the disappointment when you find out that the half track recorder you ve been looking at for so long is actually a quarter track Always check the type and make and be sure it is really what you think it is Search for info on the recorder what versions where there and how do they compare Some re corders have different makes MKI MKII MKIII etc or product numbers with different specifications Take for instance the popular Revox A77 it came in different makes in dif ferent speeds and in quarter track and half track versions It can all be very confusing especially if a seller doesn t list any specs or details in the advertisement See that you also do a bit of web research on the exact make of the machine you re looking
24. t the recording gain automatical ly so if you get any distortion it will probably be because you re overdriving the inputs not because you re saturating the tape To back up and store music hi fi VCR s can be a so lution but in these days of cheap hard disks and soundcards doubt if even that purpose is a good motivation First of all keep the recorder in use A re corder that stands still for longer periods can show trouble just as well If you don t use if often clean it after you stop using it and clean it when you start operating it again When you buy a machine it s perhaps wise to see first whether the important parts of the tape transport and tape path are eas ily accessible for these typical maintenance chores Aservice manual could be very help ful especially if some maintenance chores require the machine to be taken apart Most regular maintenance chores can be done without a service manual Cleaning the Tape Path The tape path is anything the tape passes af ter the tape left the reel tension arms pinch rollers heads capstan and all other metal parts such as the tape guides It is impor tant that this entire path is kept clean and maintained so that everything keeps running smoothly When the sound of recording and playback gets distorted or fuzzy or dull it s definitely time to clean the tape path but it s better to just do it before every important recording Heads and Capstan The hea
25. you in the right direc tion
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