Hi Thanks for this video it really helped me in servicing and replacing the seized motor on my 4000DS Mk2. I managed to pick one up a couple of weeks ago - in the UK - for £60.00 and a found a used motor on eBay in Portugal. New belts and now its all working. With out your video I would not have attempted such a thing as a novice. Very Best wishes to you. Cheers from England, Stuart.
Just watched your video. This morning I picked up a 4000DS and like yours, it seems to work really well. Until I watched your video I thought my power switch was broken, but now I understand how it works. Thanks. Except for the counter belt, all I had to do was clean the heads!
Thank you for your time and patience you have awakened hope to a better understanding of maintaining a prized possession of mine ... My reel to reel ...you are an exellent communicator of wisdom and your blessings are appreciated by me ... Please continue to bring color to my life with your videos ... love you ...
Thanks buddy, great video! Just got this exact machine today in near mint condition, just gotta clean all the same switches and pots you did and it`ll be perfect!!!
Hey Caig, great video on getting this reel to reel working. I sure am a fan of reel to reel machines. Just love their sound. Gave you a like on facebook my friend, thanks again for the great video.
Just came across your video on the Akai 4000 and the mention of another more advanced Akai 260D reel to reel deck. Your negative comments on use of glass ferrite heads used on later Akai units caught my attention. I own of the later GX280D unit, which I bought new almost 50 years ago still works like new! Most of my tape collection is over 30 years old and still play like the day they were recorded. The glass heads did not destroy my tapes. However, I usually bought high quality mylar polyester tapes and always stored them in their boxes in a cool place. I have a few tapes that have gone bad, but they were the cheaper low quality plastic tapes that get brittle with age and shed oxide. Radio Shack sold a lot of budget tape like that.
Yes... 50 years Sound Engineer here. People tend to repeat stuff they heard thinking is true. I have more tapes destroy by every other heads than Glass Ferrite. The point is that most of the times is the machine mechanism the one that destroy tapes and not the heads. Akai glass heads if undamage remains cristal clear and polished for a lifetime NOT destroying tapes. Now if your machine TENSION is not properly adjusted then you will have problems, but don't blame the heads.
Just bought one of those. It’s in a incredible shape, slightly different, doesn’t have the 50/60 Hz adjustment, only 50 since I’m in Europe.Thanks for sharing your incredible knowledge of years of experience. You are an impressive technician,, a master Yoda of electronics. Best Regards from Portugal.
@@12voltvids incredible price. Mine was 250€. But the machine is perfect, cabinet, buttons, everything. Perhaps it was too much but is hard to find good reel to reel machines at a good price. The vintage audio fashion is making prices higher.
@@SergioGalmeyerResende I got mine at a ham radio flea market and the guy originally had a price of 50.00 I was looking at it contemplating if I should buy it, and the guy said, I don't want to take it home, how about 30 and I jumped.
I was hoping you'd do this unit soon. Getting ready to view it now. It would be nice to discuss the bias oscillator. Never understood it too much but know all you get is distortion without it.
The left hand spindle winder is bent, I had same problem with one of my Akais, 3 screws hold top on, I put tiny stainless shaft in a lathe which I used to true it up by bending back with pliers. OK now.
I never heard of GX heads damging tapes. I owned a GX-260D and a GX-635D - never a problem except the well-known "sticky-shed" problem caused by faulty binder and especially back-coated tapes were an issue. My brother was an Ampex application engineer for the magnetic tape division and was an expert on the subject. You've probably heard of "baking" tapes. That relates to this issue.
Yes I have heard of baking tapes. I am well aware of the sticky shed problem of tapes, but it is from what I have experienced far worse on the glass head decks. Hey I love the glass heads on my GX260D. That have never given a problem except for on those shoddy tapes, and those "shoddy" tapes play fine without stiction problem on conventional heads. They do shed on the tape guides during ff and rew operations though. Baking tapes always makes me nervous.
I used to play tapes with borderline issue on my 260 precisely because it didn't use the flanged guides from the back side of the tape. Only way I could play my back-coated tapes. Regular Maxell UD35-90 seemed to hold up pretty well.
Right, but since Ampex "H" formulation was resold under many brands, it gave backcoated tape a bad rap. Much of it ended up as videotape too, and it caused much headaches.
Problem with this Akai design is the manual levers to control tape motion. Behind the two handles are or were two cams and a ball. This one does have that design. The ball would be pushed out into an indentation on the other cam to prevent it from being turned. These were to prevent operator going from one mode to another that would break tapes. The cams were made from poorly cast aluminum, which after decades would crack into pieces. I've got, among many, a GX220D which has a different internal layout and its got three motors too. I'd recommend using the Caig Dexoit fader F5 product for variable controls. And D5 for switches.
What a nice machine, i really like the play as you record feature, possibly handy to get the bias perfect for a particular type of tape. No i didnt notice the switch knocking lol. The only heads i remember for long life were for cassette recorders, "Sendust heads", i havnt a bloody clue what the dust of sen is LOL :-D, i bet you do. I used to use servisol for pots/switches, really good for those horrible long rec/play mode switches :-D
I used Nutrol for years cleaning pots and switches, and am not testing DeoxIT, and so far it has worked great. What might be a nice mod to do to this is move the bias pots external so the tape bias can be set while running test tones, however I don't want to modify the unit, because it is vintage audio, and if someone wants one, they pay top dollar for units that are in good condition.
Just like my 4000DB purchased new in the mid 70s, it over-biases the tape while recording and you have to drop the EQ to 3 3/4 to get any top end out of it. Tapes recorded on correctly-biased machines sound fine played on it with the EQ set at 7 1/2. In 25 years of using it from 1970-something to the late 1990s, I never did discover what tape it was biased for. It sure wasn't any of the countless tapes I bought for it, all of them major brands.
Any idea why the reverse would stop working? I looked inside the belt is in tact and I can hear the motor. when turning the switch to reverse, I observed that it does turn a quarter turn but then stops.
I have an AkAI GX 4000dD with glass heads and Tapes that are over thirty years old they still play like new and I have never worn out a tape or broken one yet on this machine. I have owned it forr over 25 years and my sister had it before that.
I am looking for one I would like to be near to you i you can help me with where I could get one would be help me is it possible to message me or any way to get in touch with me thanks
@@marycrowe734 Hello, Im sorry but I peeked at your message cause Im actually trying to get rid of an Akai 400gx reel to reel, I know nothing of it and it is far to cool of a machine to just toss out. You can message me at 1 604 343 6422 or email me at jacobminhinnick107@gmail.com if intrested. thankyou
Excellent video! I have a Teac 330010, I notice sometimes the tape slips off the pinch roll, I stop the deck at start it back up and it works. I was wonder what would make it slip off the pinch roller in-ward toward the deck? I notice it does the same thing on my Pioneer RT 701 deck too once in a while. The pinch rollers don't look that bad. Any advice would be great. Thanks.
Nice vid. I have a 4000D GX One issue I have had twice is the take up side felt pad under the take up rear mount comes loose and bunches up. I take it apart and but it back nice and flat and it contentious to work. I think I go this way back in the 80's. Glass heads. Any advice at to a replacement? It is a cloth disc with adhesive backing, I think the adhesive has failed. Would love to get a new one.
I shared this video on G+, Liked the Caig Labs Facebook page. I have been subscribed to your channel for a couple of years and enjoy watching you work on the different items. I have been hearing about Caig for several years, but have not tried anything yet with the exception of the soldering paste. I like to enter the drawing for some Caig, please. Thank you for all of your great videos.
You are in. I will be making a list up, put the names in a hat, and will draw them on camera and post the result. Caig will fulfill the prize. Yes it is good stuff. I heard about them myself many years ago and we actually used some of their cleaners in the shop.
Caig I have a small Sony 353D reel to reel. The speed seems to slow down/up when I put on heavier tapes, lighter tapes OK. I was wondering, would that be the run capacitor on the motor? appreciate the help, Victor
you have no idea what your talking about. Glass heads dont cause tape to peel away. Tape peels away on any head due to binder break down AKA Sticky Shed Syndrome or from tapes that where poorly stored.
I have an Akai GX-4000D, very similair to the recorder you show in your video. The difference is that my machine has GX-heads.I have a mechanical problem with it, a metal block of the play/record mechanism is broken. Do you perhaps know if I could buy a sparepart somewhere?
I just happened to be reading the box of a Scotch brand 5in reel from the 50's as I was watching this and it's talking about a silicone lubricant that as a feature was mixed with the oxide coating to prevent head wear. Maybe after awhile it builds up on the heads if they aren't cleaned.
You talked about 'glass heads'. I had a Teac 7010 that also had glass heads. Not only were these heads so hard but they had a really bad response curve. If you got them to record and playback high freq.'s they would become unstable and not playback at a good freq. pattern. So, they weren't good at capturing anything over 12K. I tried to have this unit recalibrated and the tech said the he was completely fustrated because this recorder wouldn't hold the calibration he set it to. So, I got a couple of Technic RS 1500 US as my original and master making. I still see them for sale for WAY more than I paid back in the '70's. I saw one on Ebay for $10K. Yea, not for me.
I have an Akai GX270-D. When the tape begins to play it almost immediately slips off the capstan causing the reel to speed up to FF speed. Everything is clean and in apparent good condition. Any suggestions on how to correct this?
I’m getting an unbalanced frequency response in record mode. The left and right channel on both the input and playback side are calibrated however they are not totally even over the frequency spectrum. When both sides are even at 1K the lower frequencies (250hz) are heavier on one side and and higher frequencies (10k) are heavier on the other. This makes for a poor stereo image. Any suggestions/input??
I have the 4000ds but output level is poor, I have to have volume on amp high to play tapes, ie cd players at level 12 on amp but reel to reel has to be around 23 to get same playback level (plugged in my Aux) any ideas guys, I did use a record deck pre amp but it was very distorted
Hey There. I just bought a 4000DS for 50Euros. I realized there is a problem on the Right input channel. I barely get any signal input , only really high frequency if i turn the input max. Left channel works fine thought. Does someone have any clue which part of the electronic is causing this? thx a lot
Hi Caig, great videos. You missed an important switch. I have the same model unit, the handle of the switch is right on the front of the head cover. If this switch goes bad, you can lose an entire channel. Still, not too difficult to clean. Please keep these service videos coming.
One idea that was popular in those times was to record in slow speed to maximize recording duration. It was a bad idea because the quality suffered. So they gave the option of recording the channels separately, so most people would prefer not to bypass or delete any of the switches. Mine is fully operational, but I'd always prefer to record in stereo.
@@aufornvic Well that is how I got it. It would be easy enough to reconnect it but totally unnecessary because I have no mobo tapes. Every tape I have is either 3.75 or 7.5. Even if I had a mono tape I would just turn the balance.
Dave, this is great (as usual) Ive just restored to working order a Sharp Cassette deck from my early years- usuall idler gone to oil problem and no Im looking at buying an R2R like this- Ill heed you advice about the GX heads as it makes sense. Ill probably buy one that doesnt work and use your pages to repair it! Top Man!
Patrick Morgan The gx heads are pretty much indestructible however some have said they are not quite as good for sound quality and others claim that they are harder on the old tapes that have developed sticky shead problem. My gx260 has 6 glass heads. Never had an issue with them myself.
Hello. Great video. I have to admit, your comment about the glass ferrite heads made me a bit nervous as I just acquired an AKAI GX-365D. I did a lot of Googling about this and I believe that this is a problem, but it dos not occur in all the glass heads. According to some online articles the results were inconsistent, when heads were manufactured. What is not clear to me, though, is why would this problem be only mentioned for these glass ferrite heads, when in fact all the standard erase heads are also glass ferrite heads and the tapes rub against those heads on every playback? But the online articles do not provide an answer to that. Do you perhaps have the answer to that? Many thanks...
Thank you sir for showing reel to reel repairs. What is the product you had in a small can you clean the control in the back. I could not read what you were using. If you get this please tell me what kind of can you used. I do not have your expertise. Thank you sir.
I picked up a Sony TC-355 last year and it had major mechanical issues, but got it cheap. I repaired that part and the heads looked like they were never cleaned on it, either. The thing that I discovered is because of the oxide being so gunked up on the heads, I'm thinking that saved on the wear of the heads. I could be wrong, but the recordings on this deck are pristine. The only thing that I thought Sony could have done to make it better is to have a belt driven flywheel instead of rim driven. I think the belt driven maintains a more constant speed. I can't hear the recordings in playback any issues with it, but if I had to sync up video and audio with it, it always drifts a little. I have a Teac and Tascam that maintains perfect speed and will sync to a video camera all the way through. Nothing sounds better than reel to reel in my opinion. Thank you for sharing.
Hello, The videos are helpful, but can you advise where one can get an AKAI 4000 serviced in the UK. I've searched, but can find no one that will do it. Thank you.
I had a 4000DB for years, it was the best you could get for the money in my opinion. Eventually sold it 2 years ago for what I paid for it. (I had to as I was moving in with my then partner now wife and we had no room for most of my stuff.) Had it second hand from 1983. Never went wrong. Was gutted to sell it on.
@@12voltvids Millennials have got it in their heads from influencers that Akai is the top brand to get and there should be no other - so they will not hesitate to pt down $300-$400 for these machines if they are confirmed working. They pay $70 for just 1 Akai reel alone. I just got a Sony RC-155 for $90 that's all I was allowed to afford on eBay because you will be outbid on any tape player that looks remotely decent to them. Nobody bid on this one because it was a Sony - they don't want anything to do with Sony. It is "junk" to them.
The inside of this one looks way more simple than my GX 260D. That thing is a solid box of wires, boards and mechanical actuators. Since you also have one. Maybe you can make a video on how to refurbish a 260D? Mine works sometimes but most of the time it doesn't, and it could use a little love. I've taken most of the covers off but cannot for the life and we find a way to deoxit any of the stuff that needs it since it looks like you have to pull off the front cover to do that and there's no simple obvious way to do that without screwing something up. So if you would feel like doing a nice maintenance video on a gx260d Akai, that would be great!
I have a 1710W (The w stands for world edition as it can operate 100 - 240v 50/60 hz). The 1710 is a beautiful tape recorder with a tube amplifier. I love my old 1710, as it was my late fathers deck. He got it as a gift from the captain of the NYK line on its maiden voyage from Japan to Canada. It was customary to bring gifts back in the late 60's. They had the tape recorder sitting in the wheelhouse with a tape of old music from the 40's, Glenn Miller, Benny Goodman ect. and all kids of electronic gadgets they were offering as gifts. On greeting the captain (my dad was a supervisor for the port so he was the first to go up to the ship when it docked) they asked him what he liked from all these gadgets they had. He said it liked the music they were playing, and the captain stopped the tape, unplugged it, but the cover on and handed it to him. My 1710 has so many hours on it now that you can hook your fingernail in the groove worn in the head but it still sounds great.
i had one of these Akai machines many years ago, it did strip some of my expensive Ampex tapes, the sound quality wasn't very good, not as good as a Nakamichi Dragon cassette recorder i had at the time, i eventually sold everything and used a computer for recording and editing on using Audacity, made some great recordings but wasn't as much fun or frustrating as these tape machines!
12voltvids: Sir, could you please help me. I have an AKAI GX-600DB with glass heads. It plays great. However, I have recording issues. The VU meters are very strong on both channels. Yet when I playback the recording, there is no sound on the right channel. I've cleaned the heads thoroughly. However, I've not demagnetized the heads. Could you give me some other ideas what might be the problem? Thank you for your video.
You should use the tape guide just past the capstan. Besides being the auto shutoff sensing arm, it is also the tape guide that helps prevent the tape reel pack moving vertically on the reel , which isolates the capstan/pinch roller from the slight misalignment this could cause as tape exits the capstan. Very important with thin tape, like 0.5 mil.
Being a 3 head there is no rec/play slide switch on this one. Just a basic power switch to the bias oscillator and recording amps. 2 head machines use a record play switch to switch the coils on the record play head between the record amp and the preamp.
Hi, can you tell me how to adjust the tape speed on my GX4000D? It plays a little too fast on both speeds. Is there a potentiometer anywhere? Thanks so much.
Interesting instructional video, thanks. Having said that, you neglected to say with what you were cleaning the head. Is it fair to assume it was isopropanol? I ask because I've just picked one of these up and should probably clean the heads.
Should have cleaned the capstan (both the sleeve and original capstan) with alcohol as well. Also, should have demagnetised the heads, especially since they were so terribly dirty. Recording seems to loose a lot of highs. I was given a 4000DB yesterday which is basically the same as this one with Dolby added. I already own a X-150D. That one is older but I like the speed switch on that one and the auto shut off turns off the entire machine so both reels stop, instead of just the left one.... I find those changes weird because the 4000 was the more modern version. I also like thenVU meters on the 150 better, the 4000 has one central lamp to illuminate both meters unlike the 150. This causes the light to be uneven and also very bright when looking at the machine from a side angle. So far I like the 150 better....
The combination of filthy heads and oily heads makes me wonder if someone was trying to get a sticky shed tape to play by lubricating the heads. That idea has crossed my mind for 2 sticky shed tapes I really want to get transferred, but I've never done it. (I've read about baking tapes; I've just never pursued that or anything else to transfer those tapes.)
Silicone oil on a cleaning pad. My old akai 1710 had a little cotton cleaner that a drop of silicone oil was put on. No trouble with sticky tapes on that one.
"Sticky shedding" of tapes was only a problem to me once - when I bought some factory-sealed Ampex tapes. Even on a fast-forward before using them for the first time, the backing was badly disintegrating on the first pass. Happened on my Akai 4000 DS and also my 1960s Brenell Mk 5 (UK). Apparently "modern" Ampex tape developed a bad reputation for this phenomenon after they experimented with different backing materials. But my 1960s Philips, 3M, and EMItape (UK) tapes are still behaving perfectly, on both machines. Beware Ampex tape!
Just picked up one of these units. I have a couple of questions, as I have never had a reel to reel. The capstan motor runs all the time when turned on, is this normal? If the auto stop lever is lowered you can't turn the machine off, is this a short or normal? Thanks for any help.
On most machines the capstan runs all the time. On these machines that lever to the right of the pinch roller is the on/off switch. You should notice the capstan turning off when the lever is all the way down.
I have an AKAI 4000DB since ten years and it is X-tal head and I am using for a long time; the X-tal head do not do anything to harm the tape the tape itself is not good like Ampex which leaves a sticky residue on the pinch roller, on capstans and other places. X-TAL has nothing to do to tape. Thank you, Krikor from L. A. CA.
The problem with the glass heads is they are very smooth and if you have a tape that is already deteriorating they will destroy that tape. this is not a problem if you have good tapes but if you are in the business like I am of archiving customers prized tapes that there is only one copy you cannot run the risk that running that tape over a glass head machine will ruin the tape. I don't care how much you love your glass heads the fact is the glass head was the worst head design ever made by any manufacturer. I'm sorry if you don't like that bad news but that is the scientific fact glass heads will destroy a bad tape regardless whether you bake it ahead of time or not. On good tapes they're fine but unfortunately someone in the archive business has no control over what walks in the door we get tapes that have been sitting around that are moldy we get tapes that are old I've been sitting under very dry or very humid conditions just tapes that are in bad shape that a client wants to get maybe the only one recording of his grandfather's performance when he was young right or they're old band they're all demo tapes that they made back in the '60s OR 50s from their garage band these are the type of tapes that I see on a regular basis and I would never attempt to play one on an akai glass head machine. I did a demo showing a bad tape on my glass head deck and then the same tape on a conventional metalhead deck. On the glass head deck it stopped and screeched and would not play on the conventional machine it played fine. I only need to get one good pass to get a good transfer after that I don't care but if the oxide sticks to the glass because it's so smooth and comes off the tape I've just destroyed a customer's tape how am I going to explain that to him? you will read all kinds of comments from people that think they know everything on the internet and they'll come to the defensive glass heads well engineers that I've talked to and I know have the 180° opposite opinion of them they have the same opinion that I do that their shit and they should not be used on old tapes.
I'm hearing some high-end loss when listening to the play back. At 7.5 IPS and listening via RUclips, I wouldn't expect to hear that. It make we wonder about bias, head alignment or caps starting to go.
It's better to use DeoxIT F5 or F100 on those potentiometers! And I'm pretty sure you're not meant to apply the DeoxIT with the unit turned on... :P Good video anyway.
I watched your videos and must say they are full of useful tips. Recently I purchased a vintage Grundig TK145 De Luxe reel to reel tape deck from the 60’s. Didn’t know that those units come with synchronous motor and therefore need 60Hz pulley. Unfortunately the supplied 60Hz pulley was taken out of the unit. I am wondering what would be the ratio of 50Hz versus 60Hz pulley diameter? Shaft dia. is 4mm. Maybe I can make one myself. Do you have one I can purchase from you? Regards Alex
Any substantive proof for your claims on wear by glass heads? All I've been able to to find are opinions as to the problem. If there was something published by 3M or Memorex or Maxwell or TDK, I'd be interested in reading it.
OK here we go. There is SO much buck passing out there. Akai will blame the tape manufactures, and the tape manufactures stand behind their tape. Here is what I know as fact. I have a deck with glass heads. It doesn't seem to matter what tape I run through it, after a few passes there is streaks of oxide left behind. Some tapes are worse than others but they all shed their oxide on the heads. This doesn't happen on other decks. Many times the tape can be heard screeching, both in the played tape, and right from the tape itself. Take that same tape off, and play it on a non glass head deck and it plays perfectly, and the heads are not contaminated after a single pass. Musicians I know will not permit their master tapes, or even the 2 track safety copy to be run on an Akai with glass heads for fear of tape damage. I have heard this complaint from multiple people, so it isn't just my deck. This never used to be an issue when I used my GX260 back in the 80's, but it sure has become an issue with old tapes.
hi there, may i ask a simple question please, i just purchased a machine exactly same in pristine condition but when we select speed changes nothing alters so it plays it all what ever the tape size like pinky and perky so switches dont do anything to play the tape at right speed so can you advise us what to do in south coast of the UK Thank You I await your reply hopefully thanks bye
I have one of these unfortunatley it has a broken play/record cam. The machine itself has hardly been used and the cam just destroyed itself due to age and the weak material it was made of. I was hoping to use it to digitise my grandads old tapes (it was his machine) however without this cam I cant even get this machine into play mode. At the end of the day I just need to get it in play mode so I dont know if you have any ideas how to manually actuate the internal arms etc to get it into play? Ideally I'd prefer to replace the cam but they seem to be incredibly rare and the ones I usually find are for other models of Akai. I dont know how compatible they may be (between the 4000 series, not GX-4000 series).
I have a 1710W and I believe the cams on the levers are the same. It has the same mechanism, and both my machines are working fine. If you have old R-R tapes you want digitized, you can always send them in. I offer an archiving service to transfer audio. I have a steady stream of musicians that are bringing me their studio DAT tapes because nobody has DAT machines anymore. You can contact me by email with any questions. For R-R I can play 1 7/8, 3 3/4 and 7 1/2 IPS speeds only.
@@12voltvids Ah, hello again! I just replied to your most recent video regarding the 4000DB with the same issue I had in my example. I didn't see your reply here back when I was looking for replacement parts, thanks for the offer for transfer. Unfortunately I'm on the other side of the pond.
I have one and the tapes I play are dragging. I've cleaned the heads and rollers but no change. The unit seems to overheat after a period of time. What can I do to fix this problem?
Hi, I can see you know what you're talking about and I'm not even hinting that you don't, but whenever you go into a deck this old and you know it's been longer than one year since a belt change, you should always change the belt. Most belts are made from petroleum-based chemicals and a common bag of rubber bands are a good example to use in demonstrating the steady and certain decomposition of petroleum-based rubber products. This category and quality level produces products with an inescapable shelf life. If these products are used with any regularity, they break down even quicker but the point is, used or not, they’ll all break down. The common rubber band is not of the same quality that most audio system-based belts are designed for, but the differences are mostly in the manufacturing and not so much in the chemical makeup. The amounts of a single ingredient like a preservative (which most rubbers contain), separates a bag of 300 rubber bands for $1.98 and a turntable belt for $25.00 If you were to leave a handful of rubber bands in a drawer, (unsealed, just as a tape deck or turntable’s belt), you may notice that some have started sticking to themselves. The amount of time before this happens is hard to estimate. Factors such as the average temperature, humidity, and altitude all play into it. The level of quality the manufacturer of the rubber band, (and/or audio system belt), is striving to hold, is another factor. However, it's surprisingly sooner than most people would expect. You may have rubber bands in your drawer that are several years old and they don't feel 'sticky'. That's because the 'sticky phase' is a mid-point in the breakdown of the rubber. The sticky rubber will ‘dry out’ after a while and that phase indicates the rubber is near its end. If you use one then, you could find that it’s elasticity has all but gone or it’s even broken. As a previous, hard-core audiophile (circa 1979-1990) I've owned a number of reel to reel decks but it seems like I never owned the one I wanted, (like a high-end Tandberg for instance, LOL), and I can't afford to get into audio like I was in it 30+ years ago. I have an Akai 4000DS MK II and a '1/2-track' Tascam 32. I bought both on eBay the Akai about a year ago and the Tascam was bought less than two months ago. I’ve changed the Akai belt just after I got it and I’m changing it again today. The Tascam 32 is next but I need to buy a belt for it. Anyway, my point is that when you go through the trouble of taking a deck apart, (especially one like the 60 lb. Tascam), it's a general rule to change the belts, at the very least, the capstan belt. Of course, either that’s assuming you don't know when the belt was changed last, or you know that it wasn't changed in the last 1 to 2 years. Thank you for the video, I found it most helpful! I gave it a “thumbs-up” and I certainly recommend people who are new to R2R decks, watch it. Rich
Rich Paul hi I have around 30 pre - 1972 akai machines and I’ve found that the rubber components ie pulleys & belts never perish or go sticky. I haven’t had any snap either. The oldest Akai’s I have , date from the late 50’s and they have their original belts on and work fine . I’ve only had to replace two belts, not due to deteriorating , but stretching caused by de-laminated motor mounts and sitting with extra tension for 40+ years. I think Akai belts are very good quality. I have some Phillips machines , now that’s a very different story. Still trying to clean the carpet from bits of gooey Phillips belts .
Oh wow, great video, thank you for posting this. I wonder, how easy is to find the belts for these machines? can youstill find them new? Thanks again, great job!
Nice tutorial, what i don't like about this 4000 mechanism are these tape-pull-free-from-heads metal strips. They have no spindles or tiny rolls that have no friction on the tape while you FF or RWD the tape at full speed. This is as much destruction to the tape as glass-in-ferrite tape heads do. You should find a way to retrofit those metal strips. Nylon will do just fine.
Well I don't use real to real or any tape for that matter for anything other than archiving an old tape. So for me a tape is going to get one pass be recorded onto the PC and then the tape is either put away or thrown away.
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Hi Thanks for this video it really helped me in servicing and replacing the seized motor on my 4000DS Mk2. I managed to pick one up a couple of weeks ago - in the UK - for £60.00 and a found a used motor on eBay in Portugal. New belts and now its all working. With out your video I would not have attempted such a thing as a novice. Very Best wishes to you. Cheers from England, Stuart.
Just watched your video. This morning I picked up a 4000DS and like yours, it seems to work really well. Until I watched your video I thought my power switch was broken, but now I understand how it works. Thanks. Except for the counter belt, all I had to do was clean the heads!
These things are real troopers. As long as you keep them maintained
they will never be a problem really. Great video. Cheers! 🍻 -AL
Thank you for your time and patience you have awakened hope to a better understanding of maintaining a prized possession of mine ... My reel to reel ...you are an exellent communicator of wisdom and your blessings are appreciated by me ... Please continue to bring color to my life with your videos ... love you ...
Thanks buddy, great video! Just got this exact machine today in near mint condition, just gotta clean all the same switches and pots you did and it`ll be perfect!!!
Deoxit is certainly the magic fluid to repair everything - clocks, electrics, everything you name it, liquid gold!
i enjoy restoring these machines, had about 5 of them. theyre easy and quick to work with
I had no idea Gene Hackman repaired reel to reels.
Your voice is awesome and your repair skills superb!
Hey Caig, great video on getting this reel to reel working. I sure am a fan of reel to reel machines. Just love their sound. Gave you a like on facebook my friend, thanks again for the great video.
Just came across your video on the Akai 4000 and the mention of another more advanced Akai 260D reel to reel deck. Your negative comments on use of glass ferrite heads used on later Akai units caught my attention. I own of the later GX280D unit, which I bought new almost 50 years ago still works like new! Most of my tape collection is over 30 years old and still play like the day they were recorded. The glass heads did not destroy my tapes. However, I usually bought high quality mylar polyester tapes and always stored them in their boxes in a cool place. I have a few tapes that have gone bad, but they were the cheaper low quality plastic tapes that get brittle with age and shed oxide. Radio Shack sold a lot of budget tape like that.
Yes... 50 years Sound Engineer here. People tend to repeat stuff they heard thinking is true. I have more tapes destroy by every other heads than Glass Ferrite. The point is that most of the times is the machine mechanism the one that destroy tapes and not the heads. Akai glass heads if undamage remains cristal clear and polished for a lifetime NOT destroying tapes. Now if your machine TENSION is not properly adjusted then you will have problems, but don't blame the heads.
Always enjoy your videos mate. Great job.
Just bought one of those. It’s in a incredible shape, slightly different, doesn’t have the 50/60 Hz adjustment, only 50 since I’m in Europe.Thanks for sharing your incredible knowledge of years of experience. You are an impressive technician,, a master Yoda of electronics. Best Regards from Portugal.
I paid 30 dollars for mine and I think I paid too much.
@@12voltvids incredible price. Mine was 250€. But the machine is perfect, cabinet, buttons, everything. Perhaps it was too much but is hard to find good reel to reel machines at a good price. The vintage audio fashion is making prices higher.
@@SergioGalmeyerResende I got mine at a ham radio flea market and the guy originally had a price of 50.00 I was looking at it contemplating if I should buy it, and the guy said, I don't want to take it home, how about 30 and I jumped.
I was hoping you'd do this unit soon. Getting ready to view it now. It would be nice to discuss the bias oscillator. Never understood it too much but know all you get is distortion without it.
I have a DS4000mk2 and love it very much. Many thanks for this excellent video.
Thank you very much for the video! I have a 4000DB and was wondering about reaching these switches without having to dismantle the whole front block
The left hand spindle winder is bent, I had same problem with one of my Akais, 3 screws hold top on, I put tiny stainless shaft in a lathe which I used to true it up by bending back with pliers. OK now.
I have the same machine. Works perfectly after a refresh of the electrolytic capacitors. Sounds great - with an extern DBX device.
I haven't even done the caps in mine and it sounds great.
I'd like to see a recap video.
I never heard of GX heads damging tapes. I owned a GX-260D and a GX-635D - never a problem except the well-known "sticky-shed" problem caused by faulty binder and especially back-coated tapes were an issue. My brother was an Ampex application engineer for the magnetic tape division and was an expert on the subject. You've probably heard of "baking" tapes. That relates to this issue.
Yes I have heard of baking tapes. I am well aware of the sticky shed problem of tapes, but it is from what I have experienced far worse on the glass head decks. Hey I love the glass heads on my GX260D. That have never given a problem except for on those shoddy tapes, and those "shoddy" tapes play fine without stiction problem on conventional heads. They do shed on the tape guides during ff and rew operations though.
Baking tapes always makes me nervous.
I used to play tapes with borderline issue on my 260 precisely because it didn't use the flanged guides from the back side of the tape. Only way I could play my back-coated tapes. Regular Maxell UD35-90 seemed to hold up pretty well.
All that back coated tape was bad stuff. Backcoated video tape was even worse in many cases.
not "all" back coated audio tape is/was bad; only those using the Ampex 'H' formulation. Baking tape is not to be feared - only respected !!
Right, but since Ampex "H" formulation was resold under many brands, it gave backcoated tape a bad rap.
Much of it ended up as videotape too, and it caused much headaches.
Problem with this Akai design is the manual levers to control tape motion. Behind the two handles are or were two cams and a ball. This one does have that design. The ball would be pushed out into an indentation on the other cam to prevent it from being turned. These were to prevent operator going from one mode to another that would break tapes. The cams were made from poorly cast aluminum, which after decades would crack into pieces. I've got, among many, a GX220D which has a different internal layout and its got three motors too. I'd recommend using the Caig Dexoit fader F5 product for variable controls. And D5 for switches.
Thanks for the video ... always very interesting stuff!
What a nice machine, i really like the play as you record feature, possibly handy to get the bias perfect for a particular type of tape.
No i didnt notice the switch knocking lol.
The only heads i remember for long life were for cassette recorders, "Sendust heads", i havnt a bloody clue what the dust of sen is LOL :-D, i bet you do.
I used to use servisol for pots/switches, really good for those horrible long rec/play mode switches :-D
I used Nutrol for years cleaning pots and switches, and am not testing DeoxIT, and so far it has worked great.
What might be a nice mod to do to this is move the bias pots external so the tape bias can be set while running test tones, however I don't want to modify the unit, because it is vintage audio, and if someone wants one, they pay top dollar for units that are in good condition.
Just like my 4000DB purchased new in the mid 70s, it over-biases the tape while recording and you have to drop the EQ to 3 3/4 to get any top end out of it. Tapes recorded on correctly-biased machines sound fine played on it with the EQ set at 7 1/2. In 25 years of using it from 1970-something to the late 1990s, I never did discover what tape it was biased for. It sure wasn't any of the countless tapes I bought for it, all of them major brands.
I hear you there. It was supposedly set up for Akai's own SRT.
The heads on these machines last for a looong time. Gd machine my g!
Any idea why the reverse would stop working? I looked inside the belt is in tact and I can hear the motor. when turning the switch to reverse, I observed that it does turn a quarter turn but then stops.
it looks like a nice, simple and reliable workhorse machine.
Beautiful!!!! I love tape decks. But the disadvantage is you can't change a worn head nearly as easily as a stylus on a phonograph.
They don't make heads anymore, so that adds to the problem if yours are worn.Cheers
I have an AkAI GX 4000dD with glass heads and Tapes that are over thirty years old they still play like new and I have never worn out a tape or broken one yet on this machine. I have owned it forr over 25 years and my sister had it before that.
I am looking for one I would like to be near to you i you can help me with where I could get one would be help me is it possible to message me or any way to get in touch with me thanks
@@marycrowe734 Hello, Im sorry but I peeked at your message cause Im actually trying to get rid of an Akai 400gx reel to reel, I know nothing of it and it is far to cool of a machine to just toss out. You can message me at 1 604 343 6422 or email me at jacobminhinnick107@gmail.com if intrested. thankyou
Excellent video! I have a Teac 330010, I notice sometimes the tape slips off the pinch roll, I stop the deck at start it back up and it works. I was wonder what would make it slip off the pinch roller in-ward toward the deck? I notice it does the same thing on my Pioneer RT 701 deck too once in a while. The pinch rollers don't look that bad. Any advice would be great. Thanks.
Nice vid. I have a 4000D GX One issue I have had twice is the take up side felt pad under the take up rear mount comes loose and bunches up. I take it apart and but it back nice and flat and it contentious to work. I think I go this way back in the 80's. Glass heads.
Any advice at to a replacement? It is a cloth disc with adhesive backing, I think the adhesive has failed. Would love to get a new one.
I shared this video on G+, Liked the Caig Labs Facebook page. I have been subscribed to your channel for a couple of years and enjoy watching you work on the different items. I have been hearing about Caig for several years, but have not tried anything yet with the exception of the soldering paste. I like to enter the drawing for some Caig, please. Thank you for all of your great videos.
You are in. I will be making a list up, put the names in a hat, and will draw them on camera and post the result. Caig will fulfill the prize. Yes it is good stuff. I heard about them myself many years ago and we actually used some of their cleaners in the shop.
Caig I have a small Sony 353D reel to reel. The speed seems to slow down/up when I put on heavier tapes, lighter tapes OK. I was wondering, would that be the run capacitor on the motor? appreciate the help, Victor
you have no idea what your talking about. Glass heads dont cause tape to peel away. Tape peels away on any head due to binder break down AKA Sticky Shed Syndrome or from tapes that where poorly stored.
Great video. Do you have any video on AKAI X201D and AKAI GX210D? These two reel to reel machines are awaiting servicing and maintenance.
I have an Akai GX-4000D, very similair to the recorder you show in your video. The difference is that my machine has GX-heads.I have a mechanical problem with it, a metal block of the play/record mechanism is broken. Do you perhaps know if I could buy a sparepart somewhere?
I also liked Caig's page and shared your video. Nice score by the way.
Thanks. I will be putting everyones names into a barrel and drawing a winner probably the beginning of june, and to be fair, I will record the event.
Good find well done.
😊😊😊😊😊
I bought a Akai 4000Ds at a thrift store for $100 today. I will use your fix-it video to clean knob connections.
I got mine for 30.00
I just happened to be reading the box of a Scotch brand 5in reel from the 50's as I was watching this and it's talking about a silicone lubricant that as a feature was mixed with the oxide coating to prevent head wear. Maybe after awhile it builds up on the heads if they aren't cleaned.
You talked about 'glass heads'. I had a Teac 7010 that also had glass heads. Not only were these heads so hard but they had a really bad response curve. If you got them to record and playback high freq.'s they would become unstable and not playback at a good freq. pattern. So, they weren't good at capturing anything over 12K. I tried to have this unit recalibrated and the tech said the he was completely fustrated because this recorder wouldn't hold the calibration he set it to. So, I got a couple of Technic RS 1500 US as my original and master making. I still see them for sale for WAY more than I paid back in the '70's. I saw one on Ebay for $10K. Yea, not for me.
I liked CAIG's page and also shared this video.
I have an Akai GX270-D. When the tape begins to play it almost immediately slips off the capstan causing the reel to speed up to FF speed. Everything is clean and in apparent good condition. Any suggestions on how to correct this?
Liked the page and shared your video. Thanks 12voltvids!!!
I’m getting an unbalanced frequency response in record mode. The left and right channel on both the input and playback side are calibrated however they are not totally even over the frequency spectrum. When both sides are even at 1K the lower frequencies (250hz) are heavier on one side and and higher frequencies (10k) are heavier on the other. This makes for a poor stereo image. Any suggestions/input??
I have the 4000ds but output level is poor, I have to have volume on amp high to play tapes, ie cd players at level 12 on amp but reel to reel has to be around 23 to get same playback level (plugged in my Aux) any ideas guys, I did use a record deck pre amp but it was very distorted
the auto stop switch has a notich in it so that the tape does not slide up and down on the capstan and pinch roller
WOW I used to have one of these!
Hey There. I just bought a 4000DS for 50Euros. I realized there is a problem on the Right input channel. I barely get any signal input , only really high frequency if i turn the input max. Left channel works fine thought. Does someone have any clue which part of the electronic is causing this? thx a lot
Hi Caig, great videos. You missed an important switch. I have the same model unit, the handle of the switch is right on the front of the head cover. If this switch goes bad, you can lose an entire channel. Still, not too difficult to clean. Please keep these service videos coming.
I didn't miss it. It is disconnected. The guy I got it from bypassed it so it is always in stereo mode.
One idea that was popular in those times was to record in slow speed to maximize recording duration. It was a bad idea because the quality suffered. So they gave the option of recording the channels separately, so most people would prefer not to bypass or delete any of the switches. Mine is fully operational, but I'd always prefer to record in stereo.
@@aufornvic
Well that is how I got it. It would be easy enough to reconnect it but totally unnecessary because I have no mobo tapes. Every tape I have is either 3.75 or 7.5. Even if I had a mono tape I would just turn the balance.
I must say that I have had an AKAI GXC_75D and GX-M10 cassette deck, and neither of them shed tape oxide off the tapes.
This is a Real good recorder, have it 4 35 years, if u can catch One go ahead 🤟😉
Dave, this is great (as usual) Ive just restored to working order a Sharp Cassette deck from my early years- usuall idler gone to oil problem and no Im looking at buying an R2R like this- Ill heed you advice about the GX heads as it makes sense. Ill probably buy one that doesnt work and use your pages to repair it! Top Man!
Patrick Morgan
The gx heads are pretty much indestructible however some have said they are not quite as good for sound quality and others claim that they are harder on the old tapes that have developed sticky shead problem. My gx260 has 6 glass heads. Never had an issue with them myself.
Hello. Great video. I have to admit, your comment about the glass ferrite heads made me a bit nervous as I just acquired an AKAI GX-365D. I did a lot of Googling about this and I believe that this is a problem, but it dos not occur in all the glass heads. According to some online articles the results were inconsistent, when heads were manufactured. What is not clear to me, though, is why would this problem be only mentioned for these glass ferrite heads, when in fact all the standard erase heads are also glass ferrite heads and the tapes rub against those heads on every playback? But the online articles do not provide an answer to that. Do you perhaps have the answer to that?
Many thanks...
I have a Akai 365D but I have to open it up and change transistors.It's a nice looking rtr.Cheers
Thank you sir for showing reel to reel repairs. What is the product you had in a small can you clean the control in the back.
I could not read what you were using.
If you get this please tell me what kind of can you used.
I do not have your expertise.
Thank you sir.
I picked up a Sony TC-355 last year and it had major mechanical issues, but got it cheap. I repaired that part and the heads looked like they were never cleaned on it, either. The thing that I discovered is because of the oxide being so gunked up on the heads, I'm thinking that saved on the wear of the heads. I could be wrong, but the recordings on this deck are pristine. The only thing that I thought Sony could have done to make it better is to have a belt driven flywheel instead of rim driven. I think the belt driven maintains a more constant speed. I can't hear the recordings in playback any issues with it, but if I had to sync up video and audio with it, it always drifts a little. I have a Teac and Tascam that maintains perfect speed and will sync to a video camera all the way through. Nothing sounds better than reel to reel in my opinion. Thank you for sharing.
Hello, The videos are helpful, but can you advise where one can get an AKAI 4000 serviced in the UK. I've searched, but can find no one that will do it. Thank you.
Mine does not output sound at the Left RCA output jack in the back. Can you help spot the probklem?
There is a similar model to this which is the Akai 4000DB where it has a Dolby noise reduction feature, and it looks exactly the same as the 4000DS.
I have one. The cams are shot
never needed to change the belts on my Akai reel to reels,still the original ones.
I had a 4000DB for years, it was the best you could get for the money in my opinion. Eventually sold it 2 years ago for what I paid for it. (I had to as I was moving in with my then partner now wife and we had no room for most of my stuff.) Had it second hand from 1983. Never went wrong. Was gutted to sell it on.
I paid 30.00 for this one. I am sure someone would pay me much more than that for it.
@@12voltvids Millennials have got it in their heads from influencers that Akai is the top brand to get and there should be no other - so they will not hesitate to pt down $300-$400 for these machines if they are confirmed working. They pay $70 for just 1 Akai reel alone.
I just got a Sony RC-155 for $90 that's all I was allowed to afford on eBay because you will be outbid on any tape player that looks remotely decent to them. Nobody bid on this one because it was a Sony - they don't want anything to do with Sony. It is "junk" to them.
The inside of this one looks way more simple than my GX 260D. That thing is a solid box of wires, boards and mechanical actuators. Since you also have one. Maybe you can make a video on how to refurbish a 260D? Mine works sometimes but most of the time it doesn't, and it could use a little love. I've taken most of the covers off but cannot for the life and we find a way to deoxit any of the stuff that needs it since it looks like you have to pull off the front cover to do that and there's no simple obvious way to do that without screwing something up. So if you would feel like doing a nice maintenance video on a gx260d Akai, that would be great!
My 260 is working but 8 will probably do an overhaul on it this year.
My Akai 1721W has the same type of mechanism and design which is quite similar to the 4000 and other Akai models.
I have a 1710W (The w stands for world edition as it can operate 100 - 240v 50/60 hz). The 1710 is a beautiful tape recorder with a tube amplifier. I love my old 1710, as it was my late fathers deck. He got it as a gift from the captain of the NYK line on its maiden voyage from Japan to Canada. It was customary to bring gifts back in the late 60's. They had the tape recorder sitting in the wheelhouse with a tape of old music from the 40's, Glenn Miller, Benny Goodman ect. and all kids of electronic gadgets they were offering as gifts. On greeting the captain (my dad was a supervisor for the port so he was the first to go up to the ship when it docked) they asked him what he liked from all these gadgets they had. He said it liked the music they were playing, and the captain stopped the tape, unplugged it, but the cover on and handed it to him. My 1710 has so many hours on it now that you can hook your fingernail in the groove worn in the head but it still sounds great.
i had one of these Akai machines many years ago, it did strip some of my expensive Ampex tapes, the sound quality wasn't very good, not as good as a Nakamichi Dragon cassette recorder i had at the time, i eventually sold everything and used a computer for recording and editing on using Audacity, made some great recordings but wasn't as much fun or frustrating as these tape machines!
12voltvids: Sir, could you please help me. I have an AKAI GX-600DB with glass heads. It plays great. However, I have recording issues. The VU meters are very strong on both channels. Yet when I playback the recording, there is no sound on the right channel. I've cleaned the heads thoroughly. However, I've not demagnetized the heads. Could you give me some other ideas what might be the problem? Thank you for your video.
You should use the tape guide just past the capstan. Besides being the auto shutoff sensing arm, it is also the tape guide that helps prevent the tape reel pack moving vertically on the reel , which isolates the capstan/pinch roller from the slight misalignment this could cause as tape exits the capstan. Very important with thin tape, like 0.5 mil.
Yes I know. It just has the ability to start the unit without using the exit guide . auto stop lever.
just purchased that exact machine and im finding the source button is intermittently working, is it easy job to clean? cheers
I'm getting the same player shortly. Does this unit have an internal amp where u can listen to the tape without hooking it up to a reciever or amp?
No power amp on this one. Just preamp out.
Had one of those, only thing ever wrong with it was too little lube on the capstan.
Why do Revox R2R's work either with 50 or 60 Hz via a switch on the power supply ?
it's good to clean the rec/play slide switchactivated by the rec button, especially on Sony RtR recorders. Don
Being a 3 head there is no rec/play slide switch on this one. Just a basic power switch to the bias oscillator and recording amps.
2 head machines use a record play switch to switch the coils on the record play head between the record amp and the preamp.
Nice akai , these akai have amps?? Or only preamps
Hi, can you tell me how to adjust the tape speed on my GX4000D? It plays a little too fast on both speeds. Is there a potentiometer anywhere? Thanks so much.
Takes just one screw in the track switch knob to make it far easier to clean the heads.
Nice video!!! I have a problem with my akai 4000 mkII. All works well but rewind spills a bit of tape until stops.
Any advice to fix? Thank you
I do have the same problem - only on rewind, not on fast forward
Interesting instructional video, thanks. Having said that, you neglected to say with what you were cleaning the head. Is it fair to assume it was isopropanol? I ask because I've just picked one of these up and should probably clean the heads.
Yes Isopropanol 99%
Should have cleaned the capstan (both the sleeve and original capstan) with alcohol as well. Also, should have demagnetised the heads, especially since they were so terribly dirty. Recording seems to loose a lot of highs. I was given a 4000DB yesterday which is basically the same as this one with Dolby added. I already own a X-150D. That one is older but I like the speed switch on that one and the auto shut off turns off the entire machine so both reels stop, instead of just the left one.... I find those changes weird because the 4000 was the more modern version. I also like thenVU meters on the 150 better, the 4000 has one central lamp to illuminate both meters unlike the 150. This causes the light to be uneven and also very bright when looking at the machine from a side angle. So far I like the 150 better....
The combination of filthy heads and oily heads makes me wonder if someone was trying to get a sticky shed tape to play by lubricating the heads. That idea has crossed my mind for 2 sticky shed tapes I really want to get transferred, but I've never done it. (I've read about baking tapes; I've just never pursued that or anything else to transfer those tapes.)
Silicone oil on a cleaning pad. My old akai 1710 had a little cotton cleaner that a drop of silicone oil was put on. No trouble with sticky tapes on that one.
@@12voltvids Oooh, thanks! One of my decks (all currently in need of repairs) is an Akai X360, with a cleaner like that.
What chemical to be used for cleaning alcohol?
"Sticky shedding" of tapes was only a problem to me once - when I bought some factory-sealed Ampex tapes. Even on a fast-forward before using them for the first time, the backing was badly disintegrating on the first pass. Happened on my Akai 4000 DS and also my 1960s Brenell Mk 5 (UK). Apparently "modern" Ampex tape developed a bad reputation for this phenomenon after they experimented with different backing materials. But my 1960s Philips, 3M, and EMItape (UK) tapes are still behaving perfectly, on both machines. Beware Ampex tape!
Ampex made bad video tape as well. 3M had a bad batch too. It always seemed to be the backcoated that was the problem.
Just picked up one of these units. I have a couple of questions, as I have never had a reel to reel. The capstan motor runs all the time when turned on, is this normal? If the auto stop lever is lowered you can't turn the machine off, is this a short or normal? Thanks for any help.
On most machines the capstan runs all the time. On these machines that lever to the right of the pinch roller is the on/off switch. You should notice the capstan turning off when the lever is all the way down.
Good job! Very profesional
..apart from the scraping of the heads with finger nail. Manual says only use firm cotton buds with pure alcohol.
how do you connect the machine, then you can hear tape and source to the amplifier?
Either the RCA outputs into an amplifier...or use the headphone outs.
...I have so many questions right now...
(Recent Akai 1710 holder).
That tape recorder is about 80% the same as mine.
Help my source is fine but my monitor is very low. Am I doing something wrong.
I have an AKAI 4000DB since ten years and it is X-tal head and I am using for a long time; the X-tal head do not do anything to harm the tape
the tape itself is not good like Ampex which
leaves a sticky residue on the pinch roller, on capstans and other places. X-TAL has nothing
to do to tape. Thank you, Krikor from L. A. CA.
The problem with the glass heads is they are very smooth and if you have a tape that is already deteriorating they will destroy that tape. this is not a problem if you have good tapes but if you are in the business like I am of archiving customers prized tapes that there is only one copy you cannot run the risk that running that tape over a glass head machine will ruin the tape. I don't care how much you love your glass heads the fact is the glass head was the worst head design ever made by any manufacturer. I'm sorry if you don't like that bad news but that is the scientific fact glass heads will destroy a bad tape regardless whether you bake it ahead of time or not. On good tapes they're fine but unfortunately someone in the archive business has no control over what walks in the door we get tapes that have been sitting around that are moldy we get tapes that are old I've been sitting under very dry or very humid conditions just tapes that are in bad shape that a client wants to get maybe the only one recording of his grandfather's performance when he was young right or they're old band they're all demo tapes that they made back in the '60s OR 50s from their garage band these are the type of tapes that I see on a regular basis and I would never attempt to play one on an akai glass head machine. I did a demo showing a bad tape on my glass head deck and then the same tape on a conventional metalhead deck. On the glass head deck it stopped and screeched and would not play on the conventional machine it played fine. I only need to get one good pass to get a good transfer after that I don't care but if the oxide sticks to the glass because it's so smooth and comes off the tape I've just destroyed a customer's tape how am I going to explain that to him? you will read all kinds of comments from people that think they know everything on the internet and they'll come to the defensive glass heads well engineers that I've talked to and I know have the 180° opposite opinion of them they have the same opinion that I do that their shit and they should not be used on old tapes.
I'm hearing some high-end loss when listening to the play back. At 7.5 IPS and listening via RUclips, I wouldn't expect to hear that. It make we wonder about bias, head alignment or caps starting to go.
Playback head was magnetized. Sounds great now.
It's better to use DeoxIT F5 or F100 on those potentiometers!
And I'm pretty sure you're not meant to apply the DeoxIT with the unit turned on... :P
Good video anyway.
I watched your videos and must say they are full of useful tips.
Recently I purchased a vintage Grundig TK145 De Luxe reel to reel tape deck from the 60’s. Didn’t know that those units come with synchronous motor and therefore need 60Hz pulley. Unfortunately the supplied 60Hz pulley was taken out of the unit.
I am wondering what would be the ratio of 50Hz versus 60Hz pulley diameter? Shaft dia. is 4mm. Maybe I can make one myself.
Do you have one I can purchase from you?
Regards
Alex
Well it is smaller! Thats about all I can tell you as I have no idea the size or where you might be able to find one.
Any substantive proof for your claims on wear by glass heads? All I've been able to to find are opinions as to the problem. If there was something published by 3M or Memorex or Maxwell or TDK, I'd be interested in reading it.
OK here we go. There is SO much buck passing out there. Akai will blame the tape manufactures, and the tape manufactures stand behind their tape.
Here is what I know as fact.
I have a deck with glass heads.
It doesn't seem to matter what tape I run through it, after a few passes there is streaks of oxide left behind. Some tapes are worse than others but they all shed their oxide on the heads. This doesn't happen on other decks.
Many times the tape can be heard screeching, both in the played tape, and right from the tape itself. Take that same tape off, and play it on a non glass head deck and it plays perfectly, and the heads are not contaminated after a single pass. Musicians I know will not permit their master tapes, or even the 2 track safety copy to be run on an Akai with glass heads for fear of tape damage. I have heard this complaint from multiple people, so it isn't just my deck. This never used to be an issue when I used my GX260 back in the 80's, but it sure has become an issue with old tapes.
hi there, may i ask a simple question please, i just purchased a machine exactly same in pristine condition but when we select speed changes nothing alters so it plays it all what ever the tape size like pinky and perky so switches dont do anything to play the tape at right speed so can you advise us what to do in south coast of the UK Thank You I await your reply hopefully thanks bye
This is a single speed motor. You change tape speed between 7.5 and 3.75 by removing the sleeve on the capstan post.
EQ switch is used in conjunction with the tape speed.
Yes that's why it's there.
lso had no idea those tape head kill tape. I have never had an issue.
Great videos.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I have one of these unfortunatley it has a broken play/record cam. The machine itself has hardly been used and the cam just destroyed itself due to age and the weak material it was made of.
I was hoping to use it to digitise my grandads old tapes (it was his machine) however without this cam I cant even get this machine into play mode.
At the end of the day I just need to get it in play mode so I dont know if you have any ideas how to manually actuate the internal arms etc to get it into play? Ideally I'd prefer to replace the cam but they seem to be incredibly rare and the ones I usually find are for other models of Akai. I dont know how compatible they may be (between the 4000 series, not GX-4000 series).
I have a 1710W and I believe the cams on the levers are the same. It has the same mechanism, and both my machines are working fine.
If you have old R-R tapes you want digitized, you can always send them in. I offer an archiving service to transfer audio. I have a steady stream of musicians that are bringing me their studio DAT tapes because nobody has DAT machines anymore. You can contact me by email with any questions.
For R-R I can play 1 7/8, 3 3/4 and 7 1/2 IPS speeds only.
@@12voltvids Ah, hello again! I just replied to your most recent video regarding the 4000DB with the same issue I had in my example.
I didn't see your reply here back when I was looking for replacement parts, thanks for the offer for transfer. Unfortunately I'm on the other side of the pond.
I have one and the tapes I play are dragging. I've cleaned the heads and rollers but no change. The unit seems to overheat after a period of time. What can I do to fix this problem?
Run capacitor for the main motor
Hi, I can see you know what you're talking about and I'm not even hinting that you don't, but whenever you go into a deck this old and you know it's been longer than one year since a belt change, you should always change the belt.
Most belts are made from petroleum-based chemicals and a common bag of rubber bands are a good example to use in demonstrating the steady and certain decomposition of petroleum-based rubber products.
This category and quality level produces products with an inescapable shelf life. If these products are used with any regularity, they break down even quicker but the point is, used or not, they’ll all break down.
The common rubber band is not of the same quality that most audio system-based belts are designed for, but the differences are mostly in the manufacturing and not so much in the chemical makeup. The amounts of a single ingredient like a preservative (which most rubbers contain), separates a bag of 300 rubber bands for $1.98 and a turntable belt for $25.00
If you were to leave a handful of rubber bands in a drawer, (unsealed, just as a tape deck or turntable’s belt), you may notice that some have started sticking to themselves.
The amount of time before this happens is hard to estimate. Factors such as the average temperature, humidity, and altitude all play into it. The level of quality the manufacturer of the rubber band, (and/or audio system belt), is striving to hold, is another factor. However, it's surprisingly sooner than most people would expect.
You may have rubber bands in your drawer that are several years old and they don't feel 'sticky'. That's because the 'sticky phase' is a mid-point in the breakdown of the rubber. The sticky rubber will ‘dry out’ after a while and that phase indicates the rubber is near its end.
If you use one then, you could find that it’s elasticity has all but gone or it’s even broken.
As a previous, hard-core audiophile (circa 1979-1990) I've owned a number of reel to reel decks but it seems like I never owned the one I wanted, (like a high-end Tandberg for instance, LOL), and I can't afford to get into audio like I was in it 30+ years ago.
I have an Akai 4000DS MK II and a '1/2-track' Tascam 32. I bought both on eBay the Akai about a year ago and the Tascam was bought less than two months ago. I’ve changed the Akai belt just after I got it and I’m changing it again today. The Tascam 32 is next but I need to buy a belt for it.
Anyway, my point is that when you go through the trouble of taking a deck apart, (especially one like the 60 lb. Tascam), it's a general rule to change the belts, at the very least, the capstan belt. Of course, either that’s assuming you don't know when the belt was changed last, or you know that it wasn't changed in the last 1 to 2 years.
Thank you for the video, I found it most helpful! I gave it a “thumbs-up” and I certainly recommend people who are new to R2R decks, watch it.
Rich
Rich Paul hi I have around 30 pre - 1972 akai machines and I’ve found that the rubber components ie pulleys & belts never perish or go sticky. I haven’t had any snap either. The oldest Akai’s I have , date from the late 50’s and they have their original belts on and work fine . I’ve only had to replace two belts, not due to deteriorating , but stretching caused by de-laminated motor mounts and sitting with extra tension for 40+ years. I think Akai belts are very good quality. I have some Phillips machines , now that’s a very different story. Still trying to clean the carpet from bits of gooey Phillips belts .
Oh wow, great video, thank you for posting this. I wonder, how easy is to find the belts for these machines? can youstill find them new?
Thanks again, great job!
Yes belts are still available, but most have to be ordered online, as most of the shops have disappeared.
Thank you! I saw one listed just like this one is a good price, I will try to fix it following your video :)
I would like to have a reel to reel tape player but never did.
Same here, but I was looking for Studer or Revox, just perfect machines.
I’m very liked music you’re playing. Can you tell us names of songs. By the way amazing job.
Nice tutorial, what i don't like about this 4000 mechanism are these tape-pull-free-from-heads metal strips. They have no spindles or tiny rolls that have no friction on the tape while you FF or RWD the tape at full speed. This is as much destruction to the tape as glass-in-ferrite tape heads do. You should find a way to retrofit those metal strips. Nylon will do just fine.
Well I don't use real to real or any tape for that matter for anything other than archiving an old tape. So for me a tape is going to get one pass be recorded onto the PC and then the tape is either put away or thrown away.