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Post by ninworks on May 2, 2022 8:03:54 GMT -5
I still have my old TEAC A-3440, 4 track, reel to reel tape machine. It still works but the heads are severely worn. If I can either get replacements or have them refurbished (lapped) I would consider incorporating this back into my recording setup. I could use it as an insert for some tape nastiness on a digital track if desired. I sent Tascam a support inquiry to see if heads are still available. It would probably be cheaper to replace them than to have them lapped. I'm not really interested in ever using this again for recording purposes again since the audio quality is not great but, for using it as an effect I think it could be quite valuable. If I want a track to sound like dirty analog this machine will certainly do that very well. I still have a SMPTE Time Code interface I can use to sync it to my DAW.
I probably put thousands of hours on that thing in my early years learning how to record. I'm not surprised the heads are worn so badly. The tape guides are also terribly worn but I may be able to loosen them up and rotate them to an unworn surface. Not sure about that. I need to take it apart again and look but I'm not doing that until I can figure out the head issue.
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Post by oldfartbassplayrwalt on May 2, 2022 18:33:04 GMT -5
My A-2340 is hidden away in a closet, exiled when I went digital. I did use it to rip some tracks onto digital, and was pretty
satisfied at how good the originals sounded. Only problem was I had to start the reels turning by hand..
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Post by ninworks on May 2, 2022 21:18:41 GMT -5
This one had a similar problem when I took it out of storage a few years ago. I had to put a new belt in it and adjusted the brakes. I used it to transfer some old 4 track tapes to digital. That's why I got it back up and running. With just a few parts and some TLC this thing could be as good as it ever was. I'm waiting for a reply from Tascam about parts availability. I also sent an email to the head lapping guys I had refurbish the heads on my old Otari 1/2" 8 track machine to see if they can do the TEAC ones as well.
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Post by Riff Twang on May 2, 2022 23:46:12 GMT -5
I still have my 3440 as well. Had it serviced and the heads replaced in the late 90's (also saw a lot of use). It's been in storage for years but I remember it starting to get that stretched belt problem.
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Post by ninworks on May 10, 2022 16:20:07 GMT -5
I got a reply from JRF Magnetics about lapping the heads to refurbish them. About $200 with the shipping. That's reasonable. When I had my Otari 8 track heads done it was about $1200 back in the late 80's - early 90's. I'm searching for a few more parts to see what I can find. The tape tension arms are worn pretty badly as well but that may not be an issue. The tape lifters are very worn as well. Worse than the heads. I sent another email to JRF to see if they could do anything about them to smooth them back out. The tape guides are worn too but I can loosen and turn them to get a new surface. If I can get the mechanical stuff up to snuff then I will consider replacing some of the electronic components such as electrolytic caps in the power supply and such. The single thing that will probably be the most expensive is buying the 2 calibration tapes for the 2 different tape speeds. That will probably be expensive and it will be an absolute must to be able to adjust the heads after getting them lapped.
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Post by reverendrob on May 19, 2022 21:07:17 GMT -5
An obvious question: would it be cheaper to have the heads/installed calibrated (and I know the shipping sucks, having just dealt with UPS on a large tape machine sized item and weight) than buy the tapes?
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