Bought used R2R, where to get tapes, rec'd maintenance?

[fvoelling]

Hi,

Just bought my first reel-to-reel tape deck, a Teac A-4300. Previous owner originally bought it back in the 70s and never used it much (he estimated <10hrs). Demo'd it, seems to work fine.

Given the low usage, I'm guessing that I don't have to worry about alignments and dirt too much (stored in original box). But what about other possible maintenance, such as rubber parts (belts), do they dry out over time and require replacement? What about weakened capacitors?

Also, where do you buy either new or good used tapes (7.5ips)?

Thx,
Frank

[bobschneider]

Yes, belts and electrolytic caps do go bad in storage (in fact, they may go bad faster in storage than in moderate regular use). Get a copy of the service manual for your deck (it may be available on the net), and at least change the belts, which you should also be able to find on the net. Caps you need not change at first if the deck doesn't show any obvious problems, but you'll likely want to replace the electrolytics in the audio circuits and maybe the power supply eventually.

You can get new blank tape and other supplies from http://usrecordingmedia-store.stores.yahoo.net/ Prerecorded tapes aren't made anymore, except for a couple of very high end projects like http://www.tapeproject.com for which you need a deck more exotic than your Teac, but you can find a good selection of used ones on eBay (usual cautions apply).

In addition to this forum, good sources for tape related info and discussion are http://www.audioasylum.com/cgi/etv.mpl?forum=tape and http://www.tapeproject.com/smf/index.php

[fvoelling]

Thanks for the info and the links!

I guess the "reel" (pun intended) cost is going to be the media, unless I can find a good deal on some used ones.

[jayk]

Hi,

Just bought my first reel-to-reel tape deck, a Teac A-4300. Previous owner originally bought it back in the 70s and never used it much (he estimated <10hrs). Demo'd it, seems to work fine.

Given the low usage, I'm guessing that I don't have to worry about alignments and dirt too much (stored in original box). But what about other possible maintenance, such as rubber parts (belts), do they dry out over time and require replacement? What about weakened capacitors?

Also, where do you buy either new or good used tapes (7.5ips)?
Thx,
Frank
i just started bidding/buying r2r tapes on ebay yesterday. i have about 8 coming so far but wont see them actually delivered til next week. both 3.75 and 7.5 ips although i prefer the latter.
seem to be some pretty good deals. but the good stuff can be pricey.

[Fred Longworth]

The main thing that goes wrong with this model of Teac R2R is that the pinch roller arm assembly will get a sticky -- or, in some cases, frozen -- pivot bearing.

Other than fixing this failure, the #1 thing to do on your R2R is to oil the motors.

Fred