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Post by ninworks on Jul 26, 2024 6:09:24 GMT -6
I have an old TEAC A3440 4 track tape machine that I used the shit out of back in the day until I graduated to a higher track count machine. It still works....kind of. Track 3 has an intermittent problem but I think it's either a bad connection or cold solder joint somewhere. I'm pretty sure I can fix that myself. I'll just have to disassemble a bunch of stuff to get to it. It might just be a dirty trim pot on the playback amplifier board.
The heads are worn considerably as well as the tape guides and stand-offs. I can deal with the heads and stand-offs but the guides are another matter. No new parts are available anywhere that I know of and the Ebay stuff I have looked at looks no better than what I already have. I can get the heads lapped if needed so that's not an issue. It has a new pinch roller and capstain belt already. I replaced them a few years ago when I transferred a bunch of old tapes to digital so I could get rid of them.
My question is, is this thing worth bringing up to spec to use for anything? 1/4" 4 track is not anywhere near the king of 4 track tape machines by a long shot. I have been thinking about selling it to get it out of my closet. I could use the storage space big time. If I can use it as a color device I might consider keeping it but due to the audio quality I'm not sure it's worth it.
Any opinions?
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Post by svart on Jul 26, 2024 6:12:49 GMT -6
I have an old TEAC A3440 4 track tape machine that I used the shit out of back in the day until I graduated to a higher track count machine. It still works....kind of. Track 3 has an intermittent problem but I think it's either a bad connection or cold solder joint somewhere. The heads are worn considerably as well as the tape guides and stand-offs. I can deal with the heads and stand-offs but the guides are another matter. No new parts are available anywhere that I know of and the Ebay stuff I have looked at looks no better than what I already have. I can get the heads lapped if needed so that's not an issue. It has a new pinch roller and capstain belt already. I replaced them a few years ago when I transferred a bunch of old tapes to digital so I could get rid of them. My question is, is this thing worth bringing up to spec to use for anything? 1/4" 4 track is not anywhere near the king of 4 track tape machines by a long shot. I have been thinking about selling it to get it out of my closet. I could use the storage space big time. If I can use it as a color device I might consider keeping it but due to the audio quality I'm not sure it's worth it. Any opinions? I have one as well. Someone gave it to me broken but, I've been slowly restoring it. No idea how/if I'll use it for regular tracking but it might be cool to dump drums or guitars down to it and then bring them back into the DAW for some flavor. That's sort of my intent, to hit it kinda hard and get some slightly bent sounds out of it and run those in parallel (or maybe even as the primary tracks) |
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Post by sean on Jul 26, 2024 6:28:52 GMT -6
Use it for a slap back machine. I used one on this song:
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Post by ninworks on Jul 26, 2024 6:56:08 GMT -6
I have an old TEAC A3440 4 track tape machine that I used the shit out of back in the day until I graduated to a higher track count machine. It still works....kind of. Track 3 has an intermittent problem but I think it's either a bad connection or cold solder joint somewhere. The heads are worn considerably as well as the tape guides and stand-offs. I can deal with the heads and stand-offs but the guides are another matter. No new parts are available anywhere that I know of and the Ebay stuff I have looked at looks no better than what I already have. I can get the heads lapped if needed so that's not an issue. It has a new pinch roller and capstain belt already. I replaced them a few years ago when I transferred a bunch of old tapes to digital so I could get rid of them. My question is, is this thing worth bringing up to spec to use for anything? 1/4" 4 track is not anywhere near the king of 4 track tape machines by a long shot. I have been thinking about selling it to get it out of my closet. I could use the storage space big time. If I can use it as a color device I might consider keeping it but due to the audio quality I'm not sure it's worth it. Any opinions? I have one as well. Someone gave it to me broken but, I've been slowly restoring it. No idea how/if I'll use it for regular tracking but it might be cool to dump drums or guitars down to it and then bring them back into the DAW for some flavor. That's sort of my intent, to hit it kinda hard and get some slightly bent sounds out of it and run those in parallel (or maybe even as the primary tracks) That is kind of what I thought I might use mine for as well. Just not sure if it's worth the time and expense to fix it up. |
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Post by EmRR on Jul 26, 2024 7:00:18 GMT -6
It’s likely just as easy to find another in better shape for not much.
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Post by drumsound on Jul 26, 2024 10:47:00 GMT -6
Tape Flanging?
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Post by ninworks on Jul 26, 2024 19:32:26 GMT -6
It’s likely just as easy to find another in better shape for not much. I'm not going to waste money on buying another used one. I have one of those already and know where I stand with it. The worn tape guides may not be that much of an issue and that is what I was most concerned about. Getting the heads lapped isn't a big deal and not very costly. Setting it back up and getting the heads aligned and the azimuth set is the part I don't have the equipment for. If I'm going to do it right I will need to buy another calibration tape and an oscilloscope. The tape I have is old and I need to throw it away. My scope bit the dust decades ago and is probably 50 feet deep in the landfill by now. I haven't needed one since I stopped using tape machines back in the mid 90's and got deep into FOH sound. I got back into recording in the mid 2000's when digital was blossoming and have been there ever since. I should probably buy another scope anyway. The digital ones are pretty inexpensive these days. I have a need every now and then but always find a way around having to buy one. I'm not really all that electronically savvy anyway so it's not that important to me. |
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