Then, all of a sudden it made a loud screeching noise and one of the meters stopped working, it sounded completely muffled, you could just about hear the left channel only.
I did the usual, cleaned heads, tape path, de-mag, but it didn’t do anything.
I noticed that there was a lot of oxide on the table below the first tape guide, and whoever owned this machine in the past did a bizarre thing, they replaced the metal guide roller with a wooden one!
It’s the rotating wheel in between the roller guides and it makes an awful squeaking sound.
Its not worth spending too much time on, I’ll take it apart to if I can see anything obvious, but that’s about it.
I might get another tape machine, something in better condition, maybe a Studer, or a proper studio job, if I can keep up the enthusiasm.
Tape is a pain, and I'd forgotten exactly how much of a pain it is, and tape is so expensive, I’m not sure I even want to continue with this just for one or two effects, they aren’t the same on the computer, it is a unique sound, but the returns for the effort involved aren’t worth it.
