I sincerely thank you for your time and effort in preparing this video It's more than an operating manual to me as I am having the same unit. Once again thank you and God bless you
Nice little machine, it's the first Reel to Reel That I own. I like it so much that I rebuild it completely 😁😁. All new transistors and capacitors. I love Akai for the good Fidelity that it offers.
thanks Big Matt Great video,I had this same unit while stationed in germany,bought it in the early 80 to 81 and wore it out,just bought another in mint condition and needed a refresher course, have a Merry Christmas ! Wet Willie
Excellent vid -- Pls recommend best way to clean the "glass" heads of a GX 4000D. Glad I found you here on YT and hope to do biz w/ you in the future. Thanks, DM
Hi Matt, Thank you for the video - just picked up one of these in perfect cosmetic condition - the left and right do output, but the right level meter seems dead - the left level meter is fine. How fixable is this? I tested the head phone jack and the left and rights were playing fine - although the headphone jack could use some deoxit hmmmm - thank you for any reply
Hi Matt, I’m wondering if you can explain in regards to the Akai 4000 the speed selection. I’m a bit confused because I’ve read about an extra spindle collar that needs to be put on beside the pinch roller/ capstan? Apparently the collar is kept under the head assembly cover on the left-hand side? Is that spindle actually required to play and record at the higher speed? Thanks.
Brilliant Video... I've been looking at getting a reel-2-reel tape recorder for as long as I can remember, in the UK the prices have gone up considerably. At the time of writing this comment I've just ordered one on eBay from a seller in Europe after watching your video. I will strip it down check the wiring mains/etc and give pots/switches a clean as well, also good practice to clean tape heads, path and demagnetise... Do you plan on doing a video on basic maintenance for reel to reels, I know these are long in the tooth but the engineers knew their stuff back in the day and properly setup they can perform really well. Thanks for the Video Big M
Great Video I have two of these. I had one that i got from a friend. I left it at my Fathers when I moved and after he passed I had two. I have some questions what taps work best for sound quality and the big one is when i run out of talent where is your shop located? Dad loved his HiFi we had black ad white TVs but good 4 channel equipment he would have loved your posts!
I have the same unit but the right channel doesn't work at all. (Meter inactive and if you put the switch to track 3-2 and rise the volume all the way up you barely hear a tiny bit of treble.) I believe a capacitor somewhere in there has dried and shorted internally, because if I add a higher voltage to the right channel input or the right side of the head it temporarily starts working again and sounds a little distorted. Left channel is perfectly fine. Any recommendations on which caps I should replace?
Great video. Got a question. If you want to hook up a turn table to record 45rpm records do w need a amplifier or can we hook turn table directly into the recorder.
Great video, thanks for sharing. This is a great unit, I've been hauling mine around for years and it still works like a charm. But thanks to this video I now know that I'm missing the capstan sleeve. Now where to get one? lol
Great video but Sound On Sound really does not work how you described it. It allows you to bounce the L track to the R track or vice versa while mixing that audio with live audio from the RCA or mic inputs. It does not facilitate mixing new material over existing audio on the tape without erasing it.
There is a difference, it is more pronounced on some songs than others. Try 3-3/4 first, if the quality is acceptable to you stick with that speed. If not, boost speed to 7.5
how much are these worth? I am being offered one for $200, with some cosmetic issues... I am also looking at a Akai GX-266D for $350 but unknown functionality
Those are fair prices if the machines are operational. Make certain they record ok before purchasing. If they don't, negotiate the price downward or find a working machine.
Have a few questions. Just picked up one of these. Lights up, but pinch roller seems to not squeeze in to the (capstan?). Also the capstan continues if I don't manually stop it by dropping lever down. I also get no response from my mp3 player. All functions on machine( pause, ffw, reverse) etc all seem to work. Any ideas?
I'd remove the front cover to see what is preventing the pinch roller from making contact with the capstan. Ot is a simple mechanical movement, so the problem should be easy to spot/fix. As for the lever not moving down at the end of the tape to stop the machine, I'd guess the old grease has hardened and hampers the movement of the lever, or the spring has become too weak to bring the lever down at the end of the tape. Try spraying contact cleaner on the TAPE/SOURCE switch and working it in and out many times, do the same for the Line In and Output controls. Let me know how it goes.
You are a Godsend. Thanks for the informative video for a newbie. Contact cleaner, interior grease cleaning, button wiggling, prayer and solid information brought mine back to life. Keep up the good work!
hey so if my tape is sagging after i pause it after playing and i got the tension as tight as i could, what do you think the problem would be after that?
Hi Izoyt, 2 songs: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-tE9km4iiWvE.html and ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-yhjmS2VPZwI.html (check out the video)
Hello Big Matt. Are you still in the repair business? I sent an email to you several days ago about needing help with my Teac X-2000R. If you did not receive it I can resend if you let me know here. I'd like to get it going again. Thanks in advance!
Yeah man, I sent a reply. This is a copy. Take care Hey Raymond, Sounds like it could be the motor, but I'm hoping it is the belt. If you isten closely when you turn the power on with a tape loaded,, you should hear the motor running - this indicates a worn belt. If you don't hear the motor spinning, remove the cabinet and the case, then you'll be able to tell pretty quickly by listening for, or feeling the motor running. Yes, I live near Charlotte. We can coordinate a day you can bring it by. Matt