The Official 'Factory-Made' Reel to Reel Tape Thread [Archive]

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Beechwoods

23-01-2009, 20:59

Ok, Ok, so this is just an excuse for me to share some of the officially released (rather than enthusiast recorded) reel to reel tapes I have. They aren't that common, so it may be interesting to some of you, and it'd certainly be great to hear from anyone who has their own factory duplicated reel to reel tapes. Please, take some pictures and post them here if you have any!

All mine so far are 4-Track Stereo. That means you get 2 stereo tracks on one side of the tape and 2 on the other, corresponding usually to each side of the vinyl release. There are 2-Track Stereo official releases - the signal recorded across the full-width of the tape, in one direction only, and 2-Track Mono - bi-directional play, but a mono instead of stereo signal.

Interesting variants of the standard are 2 Track 'Staggered Head' tapes designed to be played on machines that had two separate heads for the left and right channels, the heads being separated from each other. I've seen some jazz releases in this format from the early sixties. Played back on conventional two-track stereo heads there will be a playback delay between the left and right channels. These tapes aren't always clearly labelled so be careful!

There are also the later Quadraphonic (Q4) tapes. These utilised 4 Tracks in one direction on the tape. Quad reel to reel tape is considered the highest fidelity and most 'discrete' of all the Quad formats. It ran at twice the speed and had an obviously higher dynamic range vs 8-Track. Vinyl formats relied upon carrier signals in the 30khz band, or matrixed phase tricks relying upon carefully set up decoders to get a decent result. Q4 just needed a 4-Track quad reel to reel player and a quad amplifier.

By the late 60's most reel to reel releases were in 4-Track stereo, and ran at the higher 7½ inch-per-second speed. As the decade turned, most releases moved to 3¾ ips - an attempt to save costs is my guess. 7½ ips is great sounding. 3¾ ips is respectable, but when you've heard some nice high-speed releases, you wish they were all like that.

It's useful to know though, whatever the playback speed, how the tapes were duplicated. The best way to explain this is by a quote from a thread on Audiokarma in 2007 (http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=133633):

Back in the day, I used to work for GRT (Blue Label Tape division of Chess/Janis records). All the working masters were on Ampex tape running at very high speed (240 IPS) in partial vacuum loose bin loaders. All the duplicating machines for R2R were Ampex slaves running 3000 ft pancakes of BASF 1/4 tape at 120 IPS. They maintained tension well, but the bulk tape was the cheapest we could get that would hold signal, tracking and linearity for 60 days.

The marketing boys decided that new tape owners would play a new tape more during the first few weeks of ownership. As time went on, it would begin to warp and deteriorate, but the owner would think it was something they'd done. It was just the nature of the business. I don't think anything has changed 35 years later?

Given this, it's almost surprising that the tapes I have, mostly NOS, a good number of them still having the leader seal-tape still present (before I unsealed them to have a listen, which it's all about) - sound as good as new :) And good they sound too. Especially those 7½ ips ones ;)

I'm only collecting artists that I really like, and albums I rate. There's lots and lots of easy-listening stuff, classical and mawky-country out there but I'm focussed on quality stuff.

A few things that I'm looking for and haven't got hold of yet are Michael Jackson's 'Thriller' on (well duplicated - apparently) 3¾ ips, any Roberta Flack - most of her classic albums were released on 7½ ips reel by Atlantic, Byrds albums not pictured, most of which were rumoured to have had reel releases, but I've not come across any in 2 years looking, and the Daddy of them all... the only album by Pink Floyd to ever get an official reel to reel release. 'Atom Heart Mother', on the Japanese 'Odeon' label (http://www.popsike.com/php/detaildata.php?itemnr=160203610098), 7½ ips. Sold last year for around £1,200. A bit out of my price range :)

Some pictures...

http://homepage.mac.com/beechwoods/AOS/reel_collection/IMG_1297_s.jpg
http://homepage.mac.com/beechwoods/AOS/reel_collection/IMG_1298_s.jpg
http://homepage.mac.com/beechwoods/AOS/reel_collection/IMG_1299_s.jpg
http://homepage.mac.com/beechwoods/AOS/reel_collection/IMG_1300_s.jpg
http://homepage.mac.com/beechwoods/AOS/reel_collection/IMG_1301_s.jpg
http://homepage.mac.com/beechwoods/AOS/reel_collection/IMG_1305_s.jpg
http://homepage.mac.com/beechwoods/AOS/reel_collection/IMG_1306_s.jpg
http://homepage.mac.com/beechwoods/AOS/reel_collection/IMG_1307_s.jpg
http://homepage.mac.com/beechwoods/AOS/reel_collection/IMG_1308_s.jpg
http://homepage.mac.com/beechwoods/AOS/reel_collection/IMG_1309_s.jpg
http://homepage.mac.com/beechwoods/AOS/reel_collection/IMG_1310_s.jpg
http://homepage.mac.com/beechwoods/AOS/reel_collection/IMG_1311_s.jpg
http://homepage.mac.com/beechwoods/AOS/reel_collection/IMG_1313_s.jpg

John

23-01-2009, 21:18

Lovelly looking reels I would love to hear what a real player can do I heard some people say even better than LPs

Beechwoods

23-01-2009, 21:28

I wish I could show you! Apparently 'Stereophile' magazine had an article back in 1970 or something where they said that reel to reel at 7½ ips was better than vinyl. I don't think my turntable setup qualifies me to state categorically whether this is true or not, but it does sound very nice, definitely preferable to CD in a lot of respects. I certainly find the sound more involving and dynamic...

pulsestudio

12-02-2009, 23:19

Lovelly looking reels I would love to hear what a real player can do I heard some people say even better than LPs

Hi John as an ex-Tascam service engineer and a small home studio owner I can only say that it really depends on the quality of the tape machine and the quality of the tape media, they vary sooooooo much, and if you only ever record from your own source then they are oonly as good as the original obviously, plus sometimes a bit of added hissss and flutter, but they are lovely to relax too and watch as you listen to your favourite tunes.
Happy Days
Paul

Beechwoods

12-02-2009, 23:26

I must admit I've had a couple of recent purchases, 'Killing Me Softly' by Roberta Flack :) and 'Bookends' by Simon & Garfunkel (both 7½ ips) - and played back on my Pioneer they leap out of the speakers in a way which has literally shocked me (my transmission line speakers have made such a difference to my appreciation of music :))... compared with my other sources the impact is quite distinct... :)

John

13-02-2009, 06:59

How much do you end up paying for reels I imagine them being hard to come by but with the right recorded quality being as close to the master tape as you can get

Beechwoods

13-02-2009, 07:35

I've paid anywhere between £7 and £30 for these. The exchange rate is making these purchases somewhat painful of late :) I am however lucky that the artists I like aren't The Beatles, Led Zep and the like because their releases are prohibitively expensive - £50 or more... postage from the states is £7-£10 so that has to be added on too.

There is an audiophile label / project that is still releasing very high quality releases on reel to reel: The Tape Project (http://www.tapeproject.com/). They do releases on 15ips, 1/4" 2 track stereo tape (aka half-track stereo). Their releases are duplicated in real time, so can probably claim to be the closest to the mastertape sound in the analogue world. Their releases are $200-$300 per album, but their obviously have a niche.

The Grand Wazoo

15-03-2009, 10:41

I am however lucky that the artists I like aren't The Beatles, Led Zep and the like because their releases are prohibitively expensive - £50 or more... postage from the states is £7-£10 so that has to be added on too.

When I was a tiny nipper my family lived in Pakistan in a community of mostly Americans & Brits. People used to often accumulate a lot of extra 'stuff' in their 3 - 5 year stays & had to jettison stuff when they left. Also people used to go to Japan or Hong Kong quite a bit on leave, so there developed quite a market in used hi-fi's, cameras and various other bits of techno-kit as they upgraded.

One of the things my Dad bought from a departing Yank was a Sony R-R deck. It don't know what the model was, but we also got a box full of tapes. I came across this box once, years later in the loft at my folks house and looked through the tapes. I can only remember one, and that was a pre-recorded copy of 'Help!' by the Beatles - US release. Someone - and it may have been my Dad (he was a bit of a classical snob) had recorded over it & written in black felt tip on the box what the new recording was. I was only about 10 or 11 years old at the time, but I knew that there was something fundamentally really very, very wrong with this situation!!

Spectral Morn

15-03-2009, 11:07

I can hear Nick crying.....

Regards Neil

Beechwoods

15-03-2009, 15:17

:eek: That is almost as sad as the reel to reel I bought off eBay for 50p which had off-air recordings of Top Of The Pops from 1967 and 1968. I'd bid hoping that by some miracle Pink Floyd's appearance from June 1967 was included. As I started to listen and did my research I realised there were about 3 hours of material on the tape, chronological, starting from September 1967! It seemed like whoever it was had recorded everything, too. Now either there's an earlier reel out there, or the person recording it only bought their recorder in September :) It was a little disappointing, but for 50p I don't suppose I can feel too bad about it!

Beechwoods

16-10-2009, 19:17

Does anyone have £2,400 and a burning desire to make one magnanimous gesture that could make a major Floyd / reel to reel to fan very happy?

If so, check this out and drop me a PM :)

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/PINK-FLOYD-MEDDLE-JAPAN-REEL-TO-TAPE-ULTRA-RARE-UNSEEN_W0QQitemZ320435512709QQcmdZViewItemQQptZMus ic_on_Vinyl?hash=item4a9b71e585

Themis

16-10-2009, 21:55

:eek:*sigh* (why don't I have more money ?)

Nick, when I read your posts about reel sound this and reel sound that, I almost cry to have given away my recorder...

*sigh* (what a mistake)

Marco

16-10-2009, 22:03

Beechy, I've just bought it for your Christmas. But you'll need to be a good boy until then or Santa won't bring it to you, okay dokey?

Marco.

Rare Bird

16-10-2009, 22:08

Spectral Morn

16-10-2009, 22:21

Very nice sat here stroking a full set of ELP reel to reel tapes

:lol:

Do you have a Reel to Reel player Andre ? If so which one ?

I have yet to dip my toes into buying prerecorded reels. Someday, haven't seen anything worth buying so far.

Regards D S D L

Rare Bird

16-10-2009, 22:30

I have a Reel To Reel it's a Ferrograph Series 7..It wants new Pich Roll & Idler wheels when i get around to it.

Rare Bird

16-10-2009, 22:33

I have yet to dip my toes into buying prerecorded reels. Someday, haven't seen anything worth buying so far.

Regards D S D L

I have reservations about buying pre recorded open reel tape,doesnt stop me but it's a speed issue which effects the overal sound quality, if you record your own at say 7.5ips you will get a better sound than the pre recorded tape!

Spectral Morn

16-10-2009, 22:41

I have a Reel To Reel it's a Ferrograph Series 7..It wants new Pich Roll & Idler wheels when i get around to it.

Have the idler wheels melted ?... they are easy enough to get on E-Bay. Nice machine.

I have couple, a Revox A77, 4 track, mk4 Dolby, Revox B77 mk2, 2 track, high speed and a very old 4 track Akai, the model number I can't remember at the minute.

Your right about recording speeds, 7.5 is the ideal one, keeps the taping time relatively good and maintains quality. However 15 is the best but...boy does the tape run out fast.

Must say your Prog interests are very interesting, I haven't heard of about 2 thirds of what you have posted so far.

Regards D S D L

Rare Bird

16-10-2009, 22:50

Have the idler wheels melted ?

Kind of, they were made from a rubber that turned to goo over the years, you just send em off & have new better rubber vulcanised onto the old wheel..A couple people offer this service.

Your right about recording speeds, 7.5 is the ideal one, keeps the taping time relatively good and maintains quality. However 15 is the best but...boy does the tape run out fast.

7.5ips is the real quality minimum, you won't find 15ips on a 7" machine but these Ferrograph even though they are technically a 7" machine will take an 8" reel in which ferro made. 10" machines are the choice for that higher speed..30ips is serious studio clobber. If i remember their is a version of this machine that has 15ips & also runs half inch tape.

Must say your Prog interests are very interesting, I haven't heard of about 2 thirds of what you have posted so far.

Hell of a lot of obscure early prog bands a lot of people havent heard of, i'm an obsessive & don't mind being the in house Prog evangelist :eyebrows:

Spectral Morn

16-10-2009, 22:57

Hell of a lot of obscure early prog bands a lot of people havent heard of, i'm an obsessive & don't mind being the in house Prog evangelist :eyebrows:

I am certainly learning from your posts in the music section. I Love prog too.

Regards D S D L

Rare Bird

16-10-2009, 22:57

http://www.ferrograph.info/pages/who_used_ferrographs.htm

Spectral Morn

16-10-2009, 23:02

Rare Bird

17-10-2009, 02:32

Yezda Urfa is about as obscure as my Prog tastes get...2 albums only (that I know of) Yezda Urfa and Sacred Baboon. Worth checking out, but you probably know about them already.

Another very good one, sadly a one of is this Italian Prog band Apoteosi. They are a wee bit like across between Goblin and PFM, but a bit more of a Jazz fusion band as well.

Regards D S D L

Yes i have em..I'm not a Goblin fan tho, too much Horror movie soundtrack stuff for my liking.Yezda Urfa 'Boris' aint bad although a bit late for me..'Sacred Baboon' i don't like ..Yezda Urfa are a typical american copycat band, quite a few copycat American bands, two off the top off my head are Cathederal 'Stain Glass Stories' & Lift 'Caverns Of Your Brain' both in the YES/Genesis vein..

Apoteosi is a bit late fer me again but a good album non the less, got this on an Italian card sleeve edition..Italian prog picked up really where the British prog & German krautrock scene left off, most were obvious advancements sound structure & production wise..There is deffo some briliant Italian Prog bands such as PFM, Panna Fredda, Alusa Fallax, I'Uovo Di Colombo, Gli Alumunogeni, I Califfi etc etc...

Nick:
You need this instead of Meddle:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/PINK-FLOYD-ATOM-HEART-MOTHER-JAPAN-REEL-TO-TAPE-AWESOME_W0QQitemZ320429444403QQcmdZViewItemQQptZMu sic_on_Vinyl?hash=item4a9b154d33

Beechwoods

17-10-2009, 07:48

:eek:*sigh* (why don't I have more money ?)

Nick, when I read your posts about reel sound this and reel sound that, I almost cry to have given away my recorder...

*sigh* (what a mistake)

:eek: Which machine did you have Dimitri? Nice machines are not terribly expensive these days - you might want to have a think about replacing your old machine!

Beechy, I've just bought it for your Christmas. But you'll need to be a good boy until then or Santa won't bring it to you, okay dokey?

Aw, shucks Marco. I'll be extra special good, just you see!

Very nice sat here stroking a full set of ELP reel to reel tapes

:lol:

There is something very satisfying and tactile about a nicely made factory reel. For me that's half the enjoyment!

I know where you're coming from regarding factory manufactured reel to reel versus home-recorded ones, with one caveat - access to a high quality analogue source from which to record. That said I have a number of 7½ips 'facgtory' tapes that sound fantastic. But 3¾ips tapes inevitably lack versus the kind of recordings you could make yourself. I do feel it defeats the object slightly to copy an LP source to reel - personally I'd prefer to listen to the LP itself!

I'm not one of those people who likes to copy CD to reel... The copy might knock the edges off the digital reproduction, but it does nothing to maintain the analogue truth of the original recording, which I'd argue the best factory pressed reels do.

I have a Reel To Reel it's a Ferrograph Series 7..It wants new Pich Roll & Idler wheels when i get around to it.

The series 7 are very nice machines. If I had the room I would definitely have one. And a Pioneer RT-909 :)

Nick:
You need this instead of Meddle:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/PINK-FLOYD-ATOM-HEART-MOTHER-JAPAN-REEL-TO-TAPE-AWESOME_W0QQitemZ320429444403QQcmdZViewItemQQptZMu sic_on_Vinyl?hash=item4a9b154d33

:lol: Andre - I've already got that one.

*cough*

'course I haven't, but I have seen that one before. I'm not sure if it's the same copy as was on eBay a year or so ago and went for £1,200 IIRC but Meddle really does seem to as a rare as a hen's tooth. And Meddle is the better album!

Themis

17-10-2009, 08:48

:eek: Which machine did you have Dimitri? Nice machines are not terribly expensive these days - you might want to have a think about replacing your old machine!
A Revox B77... don't tempt me, I gave away all my tapes with it. :(
You're right, I see often mk2's in excellent condition for hardly 500€... really tempting.

Well, in fact, perhaps I will get another one when I set up a specific listening room. At the moment, it would be impossible to place a RtR into the living room without divorcing first...

But, I really miss the RtR sound. It must be psychological, but I find it different than CD. And different (on the long term) than vinyl. But I never had top-notch vinyl setups, mind you.

Rare Bird

17-10-2009, 11:38

Meddle is the better album!

Were you pissed up when you wrote that?

:lol:

Rare Bird

17-10-2009, 11:44

A Revox B77... don't tempt me, I gave away all my tapes with it. :(
You're right, I see often mk2's in excellent condition for hardly 500€... really tempting.

Well, in fact, perhaps I will get another one when I set up a specific listening room. At the moment, it would be impossible to place a RtR into the living room without divorcing first...

But, I really miss the RtR sound. It must be psychological, but I find it different than CD. And different (on the long term) than vinyl. But I never had top-notch vinyl setups, mind you.

My next machine is the Ferrograph Logic 7.Last proper Ferrograph machine & a beauty too, this would be a better machine than the Revox B77.

http://www.bassboy.com.au/getreel/site/samples/cc/logic7/logic7.htm

I would settle for another Super 7 tho, my old ones in Germany somewhere, it's a last min attempt to make an bigger mache but essentially uses the same parts as the standard Series 7..

http://www.audioscope.net/ferrograph-super-seven-p-341.html

(Click on the small pic)

DSJR

17-10-2009, 14:41

I made some great recordings on our demo Logic 7. The sound was easily up to Revox standards IMO and I liked the transport too, although I think it was idler driven as well (could be mistaken here).

The one to be careful of (mechanically speaking) was the otherwise great Tandberg TD20A. We had a collection of machines (including the Technics 1500) and well used master copies at KJW1 back then and the TD20A was the only machine which tore some ageing edits up when fast winding. Sort of put me off, although I'm sure it was a good domestic recorder..

Rare Bird

17-10-2009, 19:56

Beechwoods

04-06-2010, 22:28

Here's a few more factory reels I've acquired recently. A couple of nice scores here... the Ron Frangipane one was sealed when I got it and complimented my copy of the same LP. It's an album of Laura Nyro covers, and folks may know I'm a big fan of hers. Hence you can imagine my excitement when 3 copies of her first album 'More Than A New Discovery' turned up in rapid succession on eBay. Prior to this, I had seen hide nor hair of her Verve Folkways album on open reel, having been looking for a number of years. I was successful getting two of them. The second was necessary because the first had handwriting on the back of the box!

The 'Tommy' reel is a bit beaten up. I'd not normally go for reels in this condition, but Who stuff is highly sought after and this is the rarer 7½ips version spread over 2 reels. The price was right, too. It plays nicely.

My current wish-list, of albums / artists I know released stuff on open reel is:

Michael Jackson - Thriller 3¾ ips
The Who - Quadrophenia 7½ ips
Kraftwerk - Anything (Autobahn exists)
Linda Ronstadt - Anything (Greatest Hits 1 exists)

http://i560.photobucket.com/albums/ss49/aos_images/beechwoods/IMG_3756_s.jpg
http://i560.photobucket.com/albums/ss49/aos_images/beechwoods/IMG_3755_s.jpg
http://i560.photobucket.com/albums/ss49/aos_images/beechwoods/IMG_3754_s.jpg
http://i560.photobucket.com/albums/ss49/aos_images/beechwoods/IMG_3753_s.jpg
http://i560.photobucket.com/albums/ss49/aos_images/beechwoods/IMG_3747_s.jpg
http://i560.photobucket.com/albums/ss49/aos_images/beechwoods/IMG_3746_s.jpg
http://i560.photobucket.com/albums/ss49/aos_images/beechwoods/IMG_3745_s.jpg
http://i560.photobucket.com/albums/ss49/aos_images/beechwoods/IMG_3744_s.jpg
http://i560.photobucket.com/albums/ss49/aos_images/beechwoods/IMG_3743_s.jpg
http://i560.photobucket.com/albums/ss49/aos_images/beechwoods/IMG_3757_s.jpg
http://i560.photobucket.com/albums/ss49/aos_images/beechwoods/IMG_3759_s.jpg

Barry

04-06-2010, 22:37

Hi Nick

Don't think I could be bothered with all the rewinding necessary once you have listened to the tape. One of the reasons why I embraced cassette as soon as I realised I could make tape copies as good as those made on my Ferrograph. And they could be played in the car.

The only reason I keep my Nagra is to replay the recordings I made of radio plays.

Regards

Beechwoods

04-06-2010, 22:47

Don't think I could be bothered with all the rewinding necessary once you have listened to the tape.

You need an auto-reverse machine Barry, especially with these pre-recorded tapes. Load the tape once and be done with it - my RT-707 does continuous play too.

And my Uher is small enough to go in the car ;)

Barry

04-06-2010, 23:00

You need an auto-reverse machine Barry, especially with these pre-recorded tapes. Load the tape once and be done with it - my RT-707 does continuous play too.

And my Uher is small enough to go in the car ;)

I should of course have said that I also have the Nagra to play copies you make for me! :doh:

Do you really use your Uher in your car? Are you interested in taking my Uher 4400 off me? It needs a thorough service and I no longer have need for a 4-track machine any more. I don't want anything for it, just the postage if you are interested.

Regards

Beechwoods

04-06-2010, 23:06

I have used in the car a couple of times, but mostly because I could, and I thought it'd be a bit of fun! I have an aux-in on my head-unit and an iPod seemed a bit passée ;)

I would be very appreciative if you saw fit to pass on your 4400. Mine is a 4000RM, the later model half-track mono version. A 4-track portable would be extremely useful, and they aren't too hard to service (I bought my own back to life with advice from the UK Vintage Radio Repair & Restoration forum).

Drop me a line and we'll sort something out. And thank you! :)

The Grand Wazoo

05-06-2010, 00:05

Blimey Barry are you really giving away tape decks?!
If you've got any left after Nick's been at 'em, give us a shout!!

Barry

06-06-2010, 20:00

Blimey Barry are you really giving away tape decks?!
If you've got any left after Nick's been at 'em, give us a shout!!

Uher 4400 Report L portable stereo recorder

http://www.radiomuseum.org/images/radio/uher_werke_munchen/report_stereo_4400_alt_152986.jpg

Image: www.radiomuseum.org (My machine is in far better cosmetic condition than the sample shown above)

Hi Chris,

This is not quite as magnanimous as it might seem. I no longer have any need for a 4-track machine, or a portable recorder. I could put it up for sale on eBay, but that would mean taking photos and going through the whole rigmarole of registering as a seller, then paying commission on what would be a small amount of money. Uhers simply don’t fetch much these days – nobody wants them; portable digital recorders have taken their place. No, far better to find it a good home with a reel-to-reel enthusiast.

http://www.studerundrevox.de/uher-galerie/uher-4400-report-stereo_01.jpg http://www.studerundrevox.de/uher-galerie/uher-4400-report-stereo_02.jpg
Image: www.studerundrevox.de

If you've got any left after Nick's been at 'em, give us a shout!!

Well actually, yes I do. I no longer need my Ferrograph 632 machine. It’s a two-track machine, using all-triode electronics. I ‘retired’ this machine many years ago, when I found I could make copies that were just as good on my, then, Sony cassette machine.

Alas Chris, I have promised the machine to another member of AoS, once I have replaced the idler wheels (they have ‘melted’ with age – a problem with most Ferrographs including the Series 7). I didn't know you were interested in reel-to-reel machines Chris.

http://www.ferrograph.info/pages/series2-6.htm

http://i.ebayimg.com/17/!BoboC7Q!2k~$(KGrHqMH-DEEuUwY0E21BLn(MsRw)g~~_12.JPG

This leaves me with my Nagra IV-s, also a two-track stereo machine. I won’t be getting rid of it; I still use it to playback tapes I have made, as well as those that Nick makes for me on his Nagra. My machine now needs some attention and I will have to ship it off to Nagra for an expensive (!) service.

http://lossycodec.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/nagra-iv-s-professional-tape-recorder.jpg

Regrets

Beechwoods

06-06-2010, 20:08

Lovely pictures Barry. Your post crossed with a PM I've just sent :)

Did you realise the picture of the IV-S you've included is a (fantastic) artists rendering? The person responsible created it never having seen a real machine. Incredible given it's accuracy. There are a couple of anomalies that come clear when you realise this. The lid catch isn't right, and the headphone level pot is a button rather than a screw top, but I love it. I'll have to find the original page where it was posted (to demonstrate what the guy could do with Adobe Illustrator!).

http://www.illustratorworld.com/artwork/410/

There's also a variation by another artists featuring the IV-S TC, with branded Tascam metal reels: http://dangeruss.deviantart.com/art/Nagra-IV-S-76234966.
Mine looks like this but slightly less shiny!

Rare Bird

06-06-2010, 20:26

Barry PM

Barry

06-06-2010, 20:33

Hi Nick,

It may be an artist's composition (I didn't know that), but it's accurate as far as my (early) machine is concerned. The catch for the lid on my machine is a 'twist to open' style - the later machines used a 'squeeze' type catch.

Also, my machine does not have the headphone volume level control in the same position as yours. Mine has a 4-position level control, positioned at the top left hand of the fascia. The button, when depressed, mixes the two channels for mono headphone monitoring. Clearly a little used facility and removed from later machines.

Regards

Beechwoods

06-06-2010, 20:42

Interesting... I'd just assumed they were errors because they didn't match my own machine. The Nagra IV, and IV-S came in a bunch of different configurations though. And were sometimes modified aftermarket to handle timecode before the TC variant amongst other things. I shouldn't have been so hasty assuming it was artists error!

The Grand Wazoo

08-05-2011, 13:57

I'm rather chuffed with myself this weekend.

Originally Posted by Beechwoods
I am however lucky that the artists I like aren't The Beatles, Led Zep and the like because their releases are prohibitively expensive - £50 or more... postage from the states is £7-£10 so that has to be added on too.

When I was a tiny nipper my family lived in Pakistan in a community of mostly Americans & Brits. People used to often accumulate a lot of extra 'stuff' in their 3 - 5 year stays & had to jettison stuff when they left. Also people used to go to Japan or Hong Kong quite a bit on leave, so there developed quite a market in used hi-fi's, cameras and various other bits of techno-kit as they upgraded.

One of the things my Dad bought from a departing Yank was a Sony R-R deck. It don't know what the model was, but we also got a box full of tapes. I came across this box once, years later in the loft at my folks house and looked through the tapes. I can only remember one, and that was a pre-recorded copy of 'Help!' by the Beatles - US release. Someone - and it may have been my Dad (he was a bit of a classical snob) had recorded over it & written in black felt tip on the box what the new recording was. I was only about 10 or 11 years old at the time, but I knew that there was something fundamentally really very, very wrong with this situation!!

Well, today I got a chance to repay the sins of my Dad (or some anonymous American engineer). This morning we took a drive to pick up a portable mono reel to reel player that I won on Ebay yesterday.
I wouldn't have looked twice at this machine, but there was something else in the description that caught my eye. No picture and just a few words, but I thought it was worth a sneaky bid.

http://img84.imageshack.us/img84/7811/dscf3412s.jpg

Look - no writing on the 'Help!' box!!!!

Jac Hawk

08-05-2011, 15:05

you scored there mate:drool:

Beechwoods

08-05-2011, 15:23

Wow Chris. That was a dream deal, especially knowing how much you paid for them :stalks: :stalks: I can't believe the seller didn't realise what they had!

The Grand Wazoo

08-05-2011, 15:43

Nice lady & her husband - she told her sister that she really shouldn't chuck her teenage pride & joy tape deck in a skip. Someone might have a use for it & she'd try selling it for her on Ebay. She's only ever bought from Ebay nine times & never sold - she couldn't believe that this little tape deck was worth as much as £50-odd quid. The tapes were just some tapes that her & her sister used to listen to - I don't expect she had the slightest notion that they might be actually slightly desirable, never mind of value.
Crackin' deal - everyone's happy & no-one feels ripped off.

Even at 3.25 ips/mono they sound fantastic.
I've never seen the white album on reel before!
There's a pile of home recorded stuff too, one of which appears to be a Beatles fan club Christmas album.

Oh, and the tape deck works a treat. Not sure what I'll be doing that, though!

........back to the music - Sgt Pepper next!!!

Beechwoods

08-05-2011, 15:54

It's so nice that they're the mono's - and for some of the Beatles' biggest 'stereo productions' - more interesting than the regular stereo mixes I think.

The Grand Wazoo

08-05-2011, 15:59

Mono is a much derided medium, I reckon. I've always preferred their albums in mono where it's available. It just sounds right to me. Don't get me started on the early 'stereo' abominations!!

Beechwoods

08-05-2011, 16:14

I was much chuffed to see The Byrds' 'Younger Than Yesterday' has had it's mono mix rereleased in the last few weeks :) Unfortunately not one of theirs that got released on reel to reel, and it's got some classics on it.

The Grand Wazoo

08-05-2011, 16:19

Yes, that's probably my favourite of their albums.

I just heard 'A Day in the Life' with no locked groove at the end for the first time in my life! That's a bit better this way than the cacophony you usually have to endure before you get to the cueing lever!

'The White Album' next - God, I'm having fun!

Jonboy

08-05-2011, 17:03

very nice result Chris, shame the tapes are of the Beatles though :sofa:

Alex_UK

08-05-2011, 17:04

Cracking result Chris - sounds like you're enjoying them too!