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Reel to Reel
a year ago
😸Incoming Mowing🐾
Aside and apart from other things going on in my life rn, I've finally been getting back into reel to reels! This started when I pulled the boxed 1960s portable Westinghouse dictation machine out again to look at it and remind myself what was wrong with it. Well, i thought it was belts because the motor would go but the reels wouldn't spin. Figured out the issue was lubrication related instead and now i've got a lovely lil dictation machine I've been using for voice training ever since :3
this is that machine playing the tape that it came with, some recordings of music and radio and a home in the early 1970s: https://youtu.be/Lb_Ib2VV09I
Then I've also been having a good time with my early 1960s Norelco which has a much better old recording on its reel which i've kept. Its a charming 7" reel deck luggable that's kind of dreary in color but interesting in detail. Phillips makes a similar model. Mine is showing some lugging wear and tear with some holes in the contact paper on the outside of the wooden chassis and in cleaning the brightwork face panels I accidentally wiped off the control labels! I'm planning a nice customization for both of those to remedy that glum color with its wear and tear, instead brightening up the deck and making it an eyecatching piece I'll gladly haul around.
There's a 1970s Sears boxfan i found on the side of the road with an excellent motor and fan blades but everything else chipped and rusted. Cord is safe, but missing the speed/power knob. This is getting a makeover restoration too. Noting this because its gonna come before the reel to reel makeover for those at home keeping score. Yes, there will be pictures and video!
I have a bit of a collection at this point, and I've really grown a passion for these things. They're quirky yet dependable, a process to use yet uncomplicated, and they deliver exactly the result I want from them. There's a lot I'd love to do with them and every machine is suited for a different kind of thing. For example, the Westinghouse is a dictation machine you'd have on a desk or carry with you while the Norelco is a playback deck even though yes it does record, and the Fostexes are professional/prosumer editing decks while the Nagra III is for recording sound for film/TV on location. Integration with Super 8 filmmaking is a priority, as is a car system. But those are still behind voice training, voice acting, sound effects, radioplays, narration, music recording, music editing, playlists/mixtapes, and so-on.
Speaking of the Nagra III, that was one I got for christmas back in 2009. Its a professional recorder that makes very high quality recordings, uses 5" reels natively that fit under the clear dustcover, and uses mostly professional din plug hookups. Mine was owned and used by a production company on some films I'm tracking down copies of. I'd love to use it more but most of my current gear is prosumer at most and very little in the way of XLR connectors. That said, it completes the career trifecta from my dad who also gifted me his old two Fostex machines; one 4 track the other 8 track, both from the 80s. Very much looking forward to getting deep in this stuff.
One I'm thinking about a lot but without a specific usecase is a department store model variant of what I believe is a Panasonic recorder from the middle 1970s shaped and styled like a suitcase with its faceplate cover on. This was the first reel to reel I had found in the wild, at a store I loved called The Blessing Barn. This was its first location, next to the church that runs it- housed in a smallish white outbuilding with one floor and a big weatherproof tent out back (from the road its really "to the side" but when you walk in its "out back") that one might very easily refer to as "the barn". Its speed is a smidge off, its recordings playing a bit fast when played back on other decks. I remember how excited I was to find one! At the time most "cases" I found were slide projectors which I didn't yet have any slide for so I had one and that was enough till I did. I'd always open them to find out anyways, and this one was a reel to reel instead! I still smile wide when I think about it, and that feeling never really goes away in the hunt, even after so many finds under my belt. As y'all know I was a Brave Little Toaster kid so my appliances are like friends to me, and some of them really feel like buddies and this one feels like that to me.
On collecting, I'm mostly looking for decks that are unique, fill a usecase for me, or happen to be models of importance to me such as the Akai 7" reel suitcase models that i believe use amplifier tubes. That deck is one I had saw a lot of on ebay back in the day, sometimes for very cheap, but is so heavy it would cost insane numbers like $200 to ship. It might be silly but there's a model by Craig that's just a rim drive portable for dictation, but I've always liked the manual transmission-like controls on them. Sometimes very "of the era" names jump out at me, but really its all whatever catches my fancy. I love low prices, it feels like nature is healing and things aren't so insane anymore when I can find what I'm looking for without feeling ripped off.
I'm looking to fix a few of them that i've had in non-working condition for a while including a GE 3" reel portable, a Concord Soundcamera (yes, like in Mission: Impossible!) a Sony portable, and a teac that's very special to me.
And I am looking to expand my collection, learn more about how they work in all their forms and how to maintain them in good working condition. Uh I guess if you want a lil heads-up on the next things I'll be thinking about its super 8 and 16mm projectors and editors, early analog video equipment, analog video editing hardware, a retread on radios with a stop in 8-track decks, a brief holdover in color organs then film cameras (still and motion) with their associated hardware and accessories. Record players and electric guitars + accessories are an overarching theme throughout.
hm.
Reminds me I need to get all my reels back from where they are in storage so I can get serious about these things. Don't even get me started on the video tape recorders that run on reel to reel formats, I am drooling profusely over them and very upset that they've thus far manifested as mere intangible carrots on strings in my life instead of something tangible I can easily obtain and use- and as everyone should know, when something is clearly what I want but held out of my reach, I ignore every mention of it out of spite that i'm not in on the fun like i used to be more often. ;3
Oh yeah and note to self, I need something good to shoot with my Sony CD Mavica. Remembered that last night upon finding some OLD fursuit pics with FA's metadata claiming were taken on a Sony Mavica CD500, and the Mavica branded mini CD-Rs were another gift from dad. Been waiting for some floofs or to have my car ready or something!
this is that machine playing the tape that it came with, some recordings of music and radio and a home in the early 1970s: https://youtu.be/Lb_Ib2VV09I
Then I've also been having a good time with my early 1960s Norelco which has a much better old recording on its reel which i've kept. Its a charming 7" reel deck luggable that's kind of dreary in color but interesting in detail. Phillips makes a similar model. Mine is showing some lugging wear and tear with some holes in the contact paper on the outside of the wooden chassis and in cleaning the brightwork face panels I accidentally wiped off the control labels! I'm planning a nice customization for both of those to remedy that glum color with its wear and tear, instead brightening up the deck and making it an eyecatching piece I'll gladly haul around.
There's a 1970s Sears boxfan i found on the side of the road with an excellent motor and fan blades but everything else chipped and rusted. Cord is safe, but missing the speed/power knob. This is getting a makeover restoration too. Noting this because its gonna come before the reel to reel makeover for those at home keeping score. Yes, there will be pictures and video!
I have a bit of a collection at this point, and I've really grown a passion for these things. They're quirky yet dependable, a process to use yet uncomplicated, and they deliver exactly the result I want from them. There's a lot I'd love to do with them and every machine is suited for a different kind of thing. For example, the Westinghouse is a dictation machine you'd have on a desk or carry with you while the Norelco is a playback deck even though yes it does record, and the Fostexes are professional/prosumer editing decks while the Nagra III is for recording sound for film/TV on location. Integration with Super 8 filmmaking is a priority, as is a car system. But those are still behind voice training, voice acting, sound effects, radioplays, narration, music recording, music editing, playlists/mixtapes, and so-on.
Speaking of the Nagra III, that was one I got for christmas back in 2009. Its a professional recorder that makes very high quality recordings, uses 5" reels natively that fit under the clear dustcover, and uses mostly professional din plug hookups. Mine was owned and used by a production company on some films I'm tracking down copies of. I'd love to use it more but most of my current gear is prosumer at most and very little in the way of XLR connectors. That said, it completes the career trifecta from my dad who also gifted me his old two Fostex machines; one 4 track the other 8 track, both from the 80s. Very much looking forward to getting deep in this stuff.
One I'm thinking about a lot but without a specific usecase is a department store model variant of what I believe is a Panasonic recorder from the middle 1970s shaped and styled like a suitcase with its faceplate cover on. This was the first reel to reel I had found in the wild, at a store I loved called The Blessing Barn. This was its first location, next to the church that runs it- housed in a smallish white outbuilding with one floor and a big weatherproof tent out back (from the road its really "to the side" but when you walk in its "out back") that one might very easily refer to as "the barn". Its speed is a smidge off, its recordings playing a bit fast when played back on other decks. I remember how excited I was to find one! At the time most "cases" I found were slide projectors which I didn't yet have any slide for so I had one and that was enough till I did. I'd always open them to find out anyways, and this one was a reel to reel instead! I still smile wide when I think about it, and that feeling never really goes away in the hunt, even after so many finds under my belt. As y'all know I was a Brave Little Toaster kid so my appliances are like friends to me, and some of them really feel like buddies and this one feels like that to me.
On collecting, I'm mostly looking for decks that are unique, fill a usecase for me, or happen to be models of importance to me such as the Akai 7" reel suitcase models that i believe use amplifier tubes. That deck is one I had saw a lot of on ebay back in the day, sometimes for very cheap, but is so heavy it would cost insane numbers like $200 to ship. It might be silly but there's a model by Craig that's just a rim drive portable for dictation, but I've always liked the manual transmission-like controls on them. Sometimes very "of the era" names jump out at me, but really its all whatever catches my fancy. I love low prices, it feels like nature is healing and things aren't so insane anymore when I can find what I'm looking for without feeling ripped off.
I'm looking to fix a few of them that i've had in non-working condition for a while including a GE 3" reel portable, a Concord Soundcamera (yes, like in Mission: Impossible!) a Sony portable, and a teac that's very special to me.
And I am looking to expand my collection, learn more about how they work in all their forms and how to maintain them in good working condition. Uh I guess if you want a lil heads-up on the next things I'll be thinking about its super 8 and 16mm projectors and editors, early analog video equipment, analog video editing hardware, a retread on radios with a stop in 8-track decks, a brief holdover in color organs then film cameras (still and motion) with their associated hardware and accessories. Record players and electric guitars + accessories are an overarching theme throughout.
hm.
Reminds me I need to get all my reels back from where they are in storage so I can get serious about these things. Don't even get me started on the video tape recorders that run on reel to reel formats, I am drooling profusely over them and very upset that they've thus far manifested as mere intangible carrots on strings in my life instead of something tangible I can easily obtain and use- and as everyone should know, when something is clearly what I want but held out of my reach, I ignore every mention of it out of spite that i'm not in on the fun like i used to be more often. ;3
Oh yeah and note to self, I need something good to shoot with my Sony CD Mavica. Remembered that last night upon finding some OLD fursuit pics with FA's metadata claiming were taken on a Sony Mavica CD500, and the Mavica branded mini CD-Rs were another gift from dad. Been waiting for some floofs or to have my car ready or something!
