That's how I make a recording on reel-to-reel tape. Since I have no money for getting brand new tapes, I have to use 60s and 70s tapes that usually need some extra preparation...
I've found one yesterday at the garbage. I'm going to safe it's life! It looks like the on/off switch is broken because that doesn't feel good, so for now it's not doing anything. Let's hope that's all the problems. You motivated me to repair it. You've shown it's worth it. Thanks!
Squeaky tapes most often suffer from Sticky shed syndrome. Silicone might solve this temporaly but tapes suffering from sss better be baked and the content, if worth saving, transfered to other media / another tape. Ampex, Scotch from the mid 70’s, Sony SLH/ULH, Shamrock etc often suffer from SSS BASF, Maxell, TDK (all eras) and 60’s tapes of all brands are most often free from SSS
awesome! I don't think many people would think of cleaning the tape itself like that. I want a R2R, but the machines and tape seem to be very hard to find around here. And I like that feature where you can check the levels of what's just been recorded. Every tape deck should have that!
Love it!! I have been making fantastic music on my reel to reel. I discovered by using my DAC and believe it or not iTunes! I set it up to fit music as close to the end of the tape as I can, also adjusting the music to mix in the songs. The DAC makes all the difference as for the quality of the sound. My tapes really have great sound not to mention how cool it is!!! One bit of advise to you is isolate your turntable as I have experienced being able to hear rumble just by using a switch on the reel to reel. Also if you use a sub, turn it off while recording. Thanks for the video! I would like to see people rekindle reel to reels again. I am thinking on doing a video on what to look for when buying old tapes. Many warning signs with used tapes.
@DrCassette thank you! around here, people usually sell their tape recorder, because they used years ago, and then put it up on the attic. when they were cleaning the place up, they found it again and put it on ebay. usually, when you buy those type of machines, you get a pile of tapes with it, because those were the tapes those people used when they used the machine. those machines usually have some problems like grease gone hard, but that is easy to fix with WD40.
@margaretsville Yes, first video since I returned :D It's always different with tapes, maybe your tapes will be working fine, maybe they too need cleaning because of oxide that came off the tape. It's also possible that the air that's sealed in the plastic has turned bad and ruined the tape. Also that has happened before.
thanks for this video i been recording on a digital recorder since 2003 for music, i found a reel to reel for 125$ at a estate sale that im thinking of buying to toy around with i always wanted a reel 2 reel so itll be mostly for display but seeing this helps me know the basics on how to use it
I bought some really old tapes and thought, "Why would I need to clean the tapes?" So, after playing a tape I looked at my pinch roller and capstan and was in shock to see the amount crap that accumulated on them. So, if the rollers were dirty you could imagine how the heads looked!!
Jonas What a good Idea for cleaning the tapes it never crossed my mind to clean the tape always clean the heads and tape track. I have a lot of BASF tapes as I bought them new in the 70s in Germany. To me they are the very best quality. Warmest regards Richard Great video
That also depends on the machine you are using. To record with auto reverse, the machine needs to have 6 heads. The 4 head machines are only for auto reverse in playback mode.
I was thinking that the cleaning cloth should be very very soft for fear of abrasion on the tape. I think I may try this using my wife's cotton make up pads as they are extremely soft and will not give back lint. Great video!
The recording time depends on the reel size, the tape length, the tape thickness (longplay, doubleplay, tripleplay) and the tape speed. I never care for what my recording time is, I just record until the tape ends.
@Interests2009 I had to spray contact spray into the speed selector and into both speed regulators. When I got this record player the speed on it was messed up too.
Welcome back! I never thought of cleaning the tape as well, but it makes perfect sense. I discoverd that lcd screen cleaner seems to work really well as a head cleaner, seems to work well on vinyl records too, i tried it on a record I didnt mind if it got messed up and afterwards, it ended up looking and sounding like new!
I use to set the levels higher, At the loudest points the needle hits big red but I don't get any saturation, the dynamic is better and there's less noise from the the tape itself.
Nice video, but you forgot head demagnetizing. Also, the way you're cleaning the tape will actually remove the iron oxide on the tape surface. Make sure not to do that very often. One more thing: It's a good idea to fast forward the tape through side one, then let it play through side two at normal speed to reset the tape in the spool so it is 100% even all the way through.
I love reel to reel and tapes! I just went to wal mart and they are so modern they don't even carry blank tapes or microcassette recorders anymore. wal mart sucks!
Because you had the luxury of brand new studio quality tape - keep in mind I was using some 40 years old consumer grade BASF tape. These types of tape deposit a lot of oxide, so you can only record on the tape after cleaning it - otherwisely you will have a head clog a few minutes into the recording!
New studio tape? The only time programs would get new studio tape is if the program was going to be archived or if it was a concert being recorded for the transcription service. Most of the BASF DP26 and AGFA PE31, PER525 tapes which were to record the live transmissions and then played back by master control for the different regions. Were so old the labels put on the boxes in many cases were even thicker than the boxes they were kept in. Both at DW and the Wereldomroep would for the most part only use the consumer grade BASF and AGFA tape for daily use. Sometimes we would also get in stock of ORWO tape, because of cost.
Interesting story, but the tapes would have still been almost new or a few years old, rather than being decades old. Try recording on a 1970s BASF DP26 today - it won't be fun ;)
They were not almost new. At he time I was at DW and RNW in the 90s. We still had tape from the 60s that was being used. The only time the engineers would clean any tape is if it was pulled from the archive, which had been poorly designed and mold became a problem. And they only did this when DW moved from Koln to Bonn. Deutschlandfunk, which was in the next building had an even worse problem. They just dumped the tapes. But if you clean it the way you did. Your not just removing dust, but also magnetic particles. Which will also change the BIAS of the tape and the recording will be awful.
@DrCassette it's a bit weird that those plastic philips reel-to-reels seem to have no good reel brakes. the reel just keeps spinning when you press stop, and lets the tape fly around, so you had to stop it by hand. on all machines i've got (even ones that wind a lot faster that that philips) the reels stop immediately if you press stop...
@hifijohn Wrong. There are two head reel to reels as well as single head reel to reels. And if you set the levels while recording the recordings won't come out good.
I guess your cleaning method is brand specific. If you had a Teac, Tascam, or some other brands which have a right hand tension arm you'd have to block the arm up before the transport assemble would Forward or Reverse. Without the arm in the engaged position the transport system will not function, on other brands that is. It didn't look like yours has a tension arm.
If the added head is offset then you will have to play it back on the same offset deck. The 'sound on sound' decks used separate tape heads for record & playback. The playback head 1st, Record head 2nd. The PLAYBACK head allows you to listen to the recorded material unspooling from the left reel. It passes by the playback head 1st. Followed by the RECORD head. You can record over what you just played ( a split second later as it hits the record). Watch Les Paul: Chasing Sound! "Sound on Sound"
@Lachlant1984 The cloth was very dirty on the first turn, it got better at the secornd turn. I don't clean compact cassette tapes. If the tape is dirty, I throw out the cassette, because they are still available new. So why should I mess around with bad old ones :D BASF cassettes are a complicated story... if you have used a japanese made cassette deck with BASF chrome cassettes it wouldn't surprise me at all that you liked TDK better.
You don't have to clean the heads every time. The reason you're having to do that so much is due to oxide shed from using a tape from the 1960s. If you use brand new tape (yes it can be bought) you would be surprised how great that deck will sound. That is if the deck is running properly and is aligned. You shouldn't let the tape run over a cloth like that, that destroys the tape. It's shedding so much because the tape is old. Get some new tape, problem solved.
@DrCassette I'm guessing the tapes I used were standard normal position tapes, I don't believe I have any Chrome tapes, and most of the tape decks I used back when i used tapes on a daily basis were usually made in China or Taiwan or Malaysia. Welcome back by the way, did you enjoy your time away?
When tapes get old enought, especially poor quality ones, they start to loose their magnetic layer, i understand u can clean them with your method but that is în vane, they Will never be the same as they were, because u just cannot replace that layer...... It is nonsense to lose Time and record a tape, and then u find out sound is weak or no treble.... Belive me i done that stupidity
To do this to shedding tapes are useless but all tapes, especially open reels, get dusty. All is not oxide. Tapes can also get dusty and get deposits on them just from being used. The shown method prevents dropouts due to dirt and dust when using quality tape.
What is that record!? I had it back in the seventies. Argent? Almost sure it's Argent. Going to fix up my Akai 4000DS so i'm checking a lot of R2R tips right now. Nice vid.
@djFadeOut122 Your video inspired me to make this video :D I do the cleaning only before I record on them. During playback, I have to clean the heads from time to time. A bit annoying, but that's the way it is with these old tapes :) Tapes by Maxell, Scotch and Sony sure are very good, but very expensive. I have one Philips tape, I like the plastic case of those reels, you can have an index just like with a cassette.
Okay, that makes sense. How much does the fidelity and frequency response decrease when recording at 3 and 3/4 rather than at 7 and 1/2 inches per second?
@FeCr3 Ja, die alten LGS und die späteren DP Bänder sind wirklich sehr zuverlässig. Laufen nach Reinigung perfekt! Nur scheinen sie nicht für hohe Geschwindigkeiten gemacht worden zu sein. Die meisten werden bei 19cm/s sehr unordentlich aufgewickelt, zumindest auf meinen Maschinen.
I like the Pioneer RT-707 model. It actually has 4 heads, and I found a lot of specifications about it. The frequency response at 7-1/2 is supposedly 28,000 Hz and even at 3-1/2 it is still an impressive 20,000 Hz. It didn't say the frequency response at 1-7/8, but I would think 3-3/4 is a good enough speed that should give you long durations of recording time. Also, how do you record on both sides? Do you use the auto reverse feature, or do you flip the reels to the other side?
This is certainly very instructive and interesting. How diety was the cloth when you finished cleaning the tape? Do you have a procedure for cleaning regular compact cassette tape? I've used VASF cassettes in the 90's, I personally didn't like them all that much, I always thought TDK tapes were better, but that's my opinion. Your videos are always vey instructive and inspiring at the same time.
What is the general rule of thumb for doing that? I always see numbers in the thousands on blank reel to reel tapes. What does that high number represent?
What about 3% hydrogen peroxide on a cloth and clean the tapes with that. I read that TAPEHEADS says that is the only liquid cleaner they approve of? I believe they were referring to moldy tapes but wouldn't this be good for general purpose cleaning?
Wow a face to that fine voice you have...I did not match you with what I thought you would look like. Just being kind to ya...thanks for all the great videos.....
Nice Video. But answer a question of mine. Is this tape made of acetate?. I´ve noticed in the end of the cleaning it have the mix of brown/orange colour. If so, why it did not suffered from vynegar syndrome? The tape breaks or worn very badly, and the smell of vynegar (hence the name). Thankx
The record player must be connected to a phono preamplifier. In this case, it was the built-in phono preamplifier of my Onkyo receiver. The line out (or record out) connection of the receiver / amplifier is then connected to the line input of the reel to reel.
Would using a static-free or reducing electrical cloth reduce the static generation? I'm looking into analog recording and unfortunately I'm stuck with old tape.
Nice information. I actually have some old but still sealed unused BASF reel tape. Do you think it will have the same problem as your old tapes? Is this your first video since you came back from travel? Welcome Back !
Hello, And thankyou for the information, on cleaning reel to reel tapes. I was wondering if the same principle would appy, to cleaning a tape that has already been recorded, with music selections, that you like. Or if cleaning a tape in this manner, that has already been recorded, would reduce the sound quality of the tape? thankyou
How do you tell how long a blank reel to reel tape is? A lot of the boxes on blank reel to reel tapes say 1800 or 1200. How do you know how long you can record for, and at what speeds?
At 8:18, I noticed the right tension arm is not steady and is jumping up and down. You might want to try cleaning the tape with alcohol. If that doesn't work the tape may have SSS (sticky-shed syndrome) and may require a special procedure called baking. Sticky-shed syndrome is common with many old tapes. By the way, nice presentation.
strange way of making a recording...funny enough i uploaded a video about making a recording too! i hate tapes that pass off a lot of dirt of dust...i know what you mean, old basf tapes usually give powder that gunks up the heads (nasty brown junk). cleaning it the way you did gets the dust of for a bit, but it will soon come back... i use second hand tapes by maxell, scotch, philips or sony. if they are not sticky or having tons of drop-outs those are very fine to work with.
Am also looking for light machine grease. What do you recommend? The book talks about MIL-G-23827AM, Lubriplate or equivalent. Where would I find it? This is also for Robert's reel to reel
Genau so reinige ich meine Bänder auch! Das geht aber leider nur mit Bändern die nicht schmieren.Bei Bändern die Schmieren kann man reinigen bis nur noch die Trägerfolie da ist :-(((. Aber diese ganz alten BASF( meist LGS ) lassen sich ganz gut reinigen und klingen auf 19cm/s und ner ordentlichen Maschine wirklich nicht übel!
I'm curious about what you mean by the auto-stop. I have a sony tc 530 that needs to be put back in the game. Whenever I hit the record button it seems to be frozen. Also, do you know if the tc 530 is good enough to record music or is it mostly for speeches? Thanks for the upload and knowledge.
