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Post by tonycamphd on Sept 13, 2013 13:29:43 GMT -6
Ampex 2 track AG-440B? I don't know much about the machine, my buddy says it powers up fine, heads are good, but needs a little love. It sounds like fun to me, but i dont want to invest my time in something thats not cool sounding when it's rehabbed properly, if you know what i mean? I definitely would love to have a nice tape machine to use for tape effects on different tracks, slowing down speeding up, wow/flutter, hitting the heck out of it for saturation/compression, dragging a finger on the reel, tape stop, all that good stuff. If it's nice enough after rehab, maybe master to it?? anyone have experience with this machine? thanx T  |
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Post by Johnkenn on Sept 13, 2013 13:58:16 GMT -6
This is what it will look like when you fix it up...  |
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Post by tonycamphd on Sept 13, 2013 14:20:25 GMT -6
you take this one,  I'll take this one   |
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Post by Ward on Sept 15, 2013 17:22:54 GMT -6
It wouldn't be me. Those an AWFUL old units, fraught with potential problems. I'd want to be a tech or have a tech on staff to keep it in active service. From what I remember, they break down just sitting there - unplugged.
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Post by levon on Sept 15, 2013 23:45:29 GMT -6
Tape machines are fun. I'd go for it, depending on the costs of bringing this one up to speed. I always run individual tracks through tape, bass, drums, vocals, guitars and it always comes out better. Sure, it's subtle and you can get pretty close with the VTM, but I love the smell of tape and the physical handling of a real machine. Yesterday, I submixed 24 tracks of drums to tape and it gave it a nice low end bump. I grew up on tape, maybe that's why...
If you love the sound of Ampex, get a pro to assess the costs and decide. Personally, I prefer Studers, but that's just me.
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Post by Ward on Sept 16, 2013 7:00:58 GMT -6
Personally, I prefer Studers, but that's just me. I meant to add that also! Studers are a heckuva lot more reliable and solid. Plus they have a very nifty sound to them. |
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Post by tonycamphd on Sept 16, 2013 10:51:10 GMT -6
thanx fella's, I'm a bit of the nostalgia guy myself, i love the low end bump that only tape seems to deliver, but in this case, I actually expect the machine to be out of whack a bit, then i can get pretty extreme tape artifact effects from it, if it only needs a simple tune up, and the thing sounds killer, then i may think differently about it? I am a bit of a diy guy, for $300, it seems like i should give it a go.
thanx for the thoughts
T
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Post by levon on Sept 16, 2013 23:39:43 GMT -6
thanx fella's, I'm a bit of the nostalgia guy myself, i love the low end bump that only tape seems to deliver, but in this case, I actually expect the machine to be out of whack a bit, then i can get pretty extreme tape artifact effects from it, if it only needs a simple tune up, and the thing sounds killer, then i may think differently about it? I am a bit of a diy guy, for $300, it seems like i should give it a go. thanx for the thoughts T Hell, yeah, for 300 bucks, go for it. |
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Post by gar381 on Sept 24, 2013 0:49:58 GMT -6
Ampex 2 track AG-440B? I don't know much about the machine, my buddy says it powers up fine, heads are good, but needs a little love. It sounds like fun to me, but i dont want to invest my time in something thats not cool sounding when it's rehabbed properly, if you know what i mean? I definitely would love to have a nice tape machine to use for tape effects on different tracks, slowing down speeding up, wow/flutter, hitting the heck out of it for saturation/compression, dragging a finger on the reel, tape stop, all that good stuff. If it's nice enough after rehab, maybe master to it?? anyone have experience with this machine? thanx T Tony.. Yes this is a 440B. Yes if the heads are good its worth fixing up. These machines sound Big and Phat and yes they are perfect for mastering. Sign up to the Ampex Mail list.. www.recordist.com/ampex/mail-sub.html Lots of old Ampex guys that can help you with this guy!! Lots of Hit records recorded and mastered on these guys. Go for it Tony!!  come on man ..3 beans almost a steal these days Best of luck.. Gary BTW I own both a 440B-2 and a 440B-4. I like the sound almost as much as my ATR100-2 |
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arny
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Post by arny on Jan 18, 2014 17:32:04 GMT -6
Ampex 2 track AG-440B? , maybe master to it?? anyone have experience with this machine? thanx T Tony.. Yes this is a 440B. Yes if the heads are good its worth fixing up. These machines sound Big and Phat and yes they are perfect for mastering. Sign up to the Ampex Mail list.. www.recordist.com/ampex/mail-sub.html Lots of old Ampex guys that can help you with this guy!! Lots of Hit records recorded and mastered on these guys. Go for it Tony!! come on man ..3 beans almost a steal these days Best of luck.. Gary BTW I own both a 440B-2 and a 440B-4. I like the sound almost as much as my ATR100-2 I have just written to someone who was asking about purchasing an Ampex 440C from EBay . My words were the same as yours Those "A" Class discrete Amps are almost unbeatable, MCI copied them, and lets agree Jeep was no fool. I too have an Ampex 1/2" ATR 102 and its always a 50-50 chance my clients will choose the 440 mix, I agree my 440c has the Servo Motor, I built a Digital RTZ Counter for it and converted it to 1/2". If anyone wants to convert their 440 write to me at anthony@ampex-uk.com
The counter is expensive as it was handmade, but the servo motor and 1/2" heads we keep in stock. Kind Regards Tony, Ampex-UK www.ampex-uk.com& |
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arny
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Post by arny on Jan 18, 2014 17:45:43 GMT -6
Ampex 2 track AG-440B? , maybe master to it?? anyone have experience with this machine? thanx T Dear Tony, I have just posted my experiences above with any Ampex 440. Ampex Europe when they closed down their Audio support chose my company Ampex-UK to continue supplying Ampex Parts, Servicing & Sales for Europe . We are considered to have the largest stock of Ampex Parts in Europe if not the World. Kind Regards Another Tony anthony@ampex-uk.com & www.helios-electronics.comi258.photobucket.com/albums/hh241/Nipper99/124-11.jpg |
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arny
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Post by arny on Jan 18, 2014 18:00:09 GMT -6
It wouldn't be me. Those an AWFUL old units, fraught with potential problems. I'd want to be a tech or have a tech on staff to keep it in active service. From what I remember, they break down just sitting there - unplugged. I have experience the same with Old Studer's, Old MCI's, Old Lyrec's Old 3M's etc. Like you say it all depends whether they were looked after by a good Tech or a Bad one or worse. still " NO TECH" "A car or a machine not used is abused" I have found most Pro Recorders have something to offer its just down to taste I like Trebor Mints but my Wife swears by Polos. Kind Regards Tony. Normal people believe that if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Engineers believe that if it ain't broke, it doesn't have enough features yet. Helios Electronics Ltd & www.ampex-uk.com |
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Post by Ward on Jan 18, 2014 19:01:25 GMT -6
Well said, Arny!
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Post by LesC on Jan 18, 2014 20:45:13 GMT -6
Wow, for $300, and with your DIY experience, I wouldn't even hesitate!
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Post by tonycamphd on Jan 19, 2014 9:45:01 GMT -6
Thanx for the info fellas, yeah I went for it after my last post, sadly she was gone... Next time I'm on it ASAP
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Post by noah shain on Jan 19, 2014 23:24:02 GMT -6
That's a legendary machine. Considered by some to be the sonic pinnacle of amplifier design. The JCF Audio Latte amp stages are taken from the 440b design. When thanked by a happy Latte user Josh from JCF was quoted as saying, "Don't thank me...thank Ampex." The transport is incredibly simple and not sophisticated. I just bought one and I'm doing some recapping and plan to mix to it. So I've been getting an education on it. Dave Rafael of AWTAC (which is, to my ears, BTW the single finest sounding mic pre I've ever used) is a BIG fan of the 440b and he's been helping me out with the machine. Nobody loves the mechanics of the 440b but many people love the SOUND for recording. It's not known as a great playback machine. That's what JCF invented the latte for. It's the record electronics of a 440b built in to a box designed to act as the playback electronics for a tape machine.
We've all heard that machine thousands of times.
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Post by cenafria on Jan 20, 2014 2:12:10 GMT -6
Too bad somebody snapped it up, I also was going to recommend you go for it. Just for the tape echo, it would be worth it. You would have probably ended up always mixing to tape once it was working properly. I know many might consider what I'm about to say as crazy, but, in my experience and to my ears, with a machine that is running properly and the right levels, tape sounds closer to the source than PCM digital. That's why I like tape, for its fidelity. So get a machine, get it running and then get all that saturation/compression/ out of your system and start enjoying tape as an incredible recording format : )
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Post by Bob Olhsson on Jan 21, 2014 9:29:32 GMT -6
Heads are just like tires and wheel alignment. It doesn't take very long to ruin them if the tape path isn't well aligned and unfortunately shipping a studio-size machine will frequently throw it out of alignment.
The other problem is that I've found I can't count on any currently manufactured 1/4" tape not suffering from dropouts after a few months if not immediately. This is probably less of a problem for tracking than mixing but it's a problem we almost never had to contend with during the '50s-'90s.
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Post by noah shain on Jan 21, 2014 9:41:13 GMT -6
Heads are just like tires and wheel alignment. It doesn't take very long to ruin them if the tape path isn't well aligned and unfortunately shipping a studio-size machine will frequently throw it out of alignment. The other problem is that I've found I can't count on any currently manufactured 1/4" tape not suffering from dropouts after a few months if not immediately. This is probably less of a problem for tracking than mixing but it's a problem we almost never had to contend with during the '50s-'90s. Bob Have you noted any tape being better or worse than others? |
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Post by Bob Olhsson on Jan 21, 2014 13:56:06 GMT -6
Not really.
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Post by watchtower on Jan 21, 2014 14:13:22 GMT -6
Forgive my ignorance (I have zero tape experience), but are we talking about drop outs after re-recording on the tape, or after it's just been "sitting" for a few months.
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Post by Bob Olhsson on Jan 21, 2014 15:05:09 GMT -6
Some have been immediate while others developed later on. It kind of burst my back to tape fantasies unless old tape stock is available. A whole lotta' people don't want to hear about this.
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awtac
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Post by awtac on Jan 21, 2014 18:02:35 GMT -6
If there is a better sounding machine than a 440 it almost doesnt matter... Thats how good 440's are.
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Post by tonycamphd on Jan 21, 2014 18:39:55 GMT -6
I feel like an idiot for not jumping on this!!
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Post by cowboycoalminer on Jan 21, 2014 22:40:09 GMT -6
Worst case scenario, couldn't you use the two amplifiers as pre's?
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come on man ..3 beans almost a steal these days
