Tips and advice for the Reel-to-Reel buying newbie

Buy a reel-to-reel machine for your house and it's guaranteed to draw more attention than any piece of art you could have picked up for the same money...(CLICK SHOW MORE)...

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[headinsouth]

In the late 60's my brother shipped over a whole stereo set-up like most G.I.s did, from Vietnam. I had his Akai reel to reel machine all to myself for quite a while as he finished his tour. This Akai deck would run at 1 7/8 ips as well as 3 3/4 and 7 1/5 ips. Living in So. Calif. I'd record 7" reels at 1 7/8 ips with nothing but Wolfman Jack night time radio and music, then mail those to him. I was quite the hero as they'd play those on the camp P.A. system over and over. Reel to reel is fun stuff!!

[Dwall]

Awesome video! I doubt anybody will see this but I’m 16 years old and got a Sony 262 tape recorder, circa 1962, about three years ago and just now got it working. Turns out it needed one of the tubes replaced and after somebody locally did it for me it now works flawlessly. Just got a Silvertown microphone to use with it and I have to say hearing my voice come out of such a big machine with such big spools of tape on it is probably the coolest thing I’ve ever experienced.

[Royalbigness]

I actually have an Akai GX-625 in my living room. Beautiful machine. I have the alloy hub adapters on two mint condition Akai metal reels.
I too, like you, have an appreciation of vintage gear and Pioneer is my first favourite.
Akai made some very nice stuff too.

[paulmetcalfe]

This is the 1st youtube video I have seen that shows you exactly how to actually use it. I could never figure out where the tape should go. Thanks for a very informative video.

[youbecha]

Because of the perverted pleasures you introduce to impressionable minds...I now own a Teac X-1000R and am enjoying the heck out of it!

[GothiicAngels]

After watching your channel for a few years now, I finally took the plunge and bought a reel to reel player. It's only the Akai 4000Ds MKII but it's my first one. So far you have cost me quite a bit in getting my sound system to how I want it. I am not complaining, thank you for an excellent and informative channel.

[ronnieboggs]

Recently purchased the exact machine you have for around $500 USD. The hard part was getting the 10 inch reels and the caps to hold them..but man oh man does it sound great on some Infinity speakers. Thanks guy for all you do for the audio community!! Love from the USA!!!

[BigBroBoxer]

I absolutely love reel to reel machines. I'm now 60yo and have had them all my life, along with a powerful amp and big speakers etc. When I noticed that reel to reel machines were starting to be discontinued, I decided to buy three new ones - Akai, OTARI and PIONEER, all with the latest tech. Direct drive, EE tape, dolby, auto reverse, digtal counters etc etc. I also kept my TEAC 3440 (Like the one shown on your video). BTW, you can play 2track/2channel recordings on those, as long as the configuration is 1-3, 2-4. Recording a brand new vinyl or even a CD onto that TEAC using all four channels enables a totally lossless playback - wonderful sound. I keep my machines well maintained and here is a tip.... only use pure alcohol to clean the heads. In Sydney, I get a small bottle of PURE alcohol from my local pharmacy. Don't use methylated spirits - especially on GX glass crystal heads.. Cheers.

[zoomboy]

Having owned reel to reels since 1966 I have never thought of the 20 seconds it takes to load a tape a major inconvenience. I've spent hours trying to get a CD player to work.

[VWeooo]

Regards from Spain.

We used to have a Pioneer RT909 my father bought it to play music in the PUB. When he closed it he "gave" it to my mother's father who did not care for it much and kept it in a beach house... where its inside and heads sort of... rusted... Then I used the typical "If I fix it, Can I keep it?" my father said yes and I kept it... I managed to fix everything just by undoing some screws, screwing them again, cleaning and lubricating, stuf... no need for new pieces.

Loved to listen to Jean Michele Jarre's, "Oxygene", Mike Oldfield's "Tubular Bells" and that sort of music without interruptions... turning sides, etc...

But it seems like this machine was doomed. Some robbers broke into the country house we had it and stole it with some other stuff.

[DoRC]

3 mins in "man i want one!" 11 mins in "nevermind"

[VictoriaNakaraKizer]

We use to have one of these back in the day. Dad was in the military. It was from Heidelberg, Germany. Late 60’s early 70’s we use to listen to it ALL day. I always talk about that reel to reel. People nowadays look at you like, “Reel to what?”. I was just explaining it to my 12 year old, and pulled up this vid. He thinks it is cool. Glad you posted this. Memories....

[hayleyscomet]

I may only be 21 years old and never had this in my life but i would love to start collecting for these along with other music formats.

[RCAvhstape]

Thumbs up for the Six Million Dollar Man reference! That show also had a lot old school computers with reel-to-reel tape drives. Steve Austin was always knocking them down in the bad guys' hideouts.

[digitalblasphemy]

I watched this video like a week ago and saw an Akai GX-620 on Craigslist right here in my city. I went and bought it today. It looks just like yours except it has an analogue time counter. It has the big 10 inch reels that match it and it came with 10 brand new 7" tapes never opened! She only wanted 10 dollars for everything.

[IMRROcom]

My Dad Has an AKAI reel to reel from the late 60s.  We would play it on his Pioneer Tube Amplifier. (Sons of the Pioners and Oklahoma)  Both made with all metal parts and knobs and were heavy and solid.  Just turning the knobs or moving th buttons felt like quality.  No plastic or clunky stuff that we have out today.

[teacfan]

I've got very deep pockets, unfortunately, they're full of lint!

[stevenstair]

About 5 years I bought 2 Teac 4300's restored them and brought them back to life, I have now 15 miles of recorded music, it's a great hobby love it...

[joachimdeelen]

New RMGI Tapes are still manufactured by Pyral in France. The RMG tapes are almost like the old BASF/EMTEC tapes but with a lot of improvements. I'm using RMG LPR 35 on my Philips N4520 Reel-To-Reel recorder. It's of very high quality, high-bias, high-level and low noise. It sounds great. Here in Germany you can get it from a retailer called "spot4". You can get brand-new 26cm Reels with 1100 meters for about 40€.

[ryandowning]

Sir, I really enjoy your videos. I, myself, am a reel to reel enthusiast and analog recording lover. I have three machines, a TEAC A3340S (basically an older version of your A-3440, ) an Akai 1720L, and a TEAC A1200U. I really love my TEAC A3340S, my dad bought it brand new in 1976, when he was 17, and kept it in the box for 42 years. On my 14th birthday this year, he gave it to me. The machine was absolutely mint, and it works absolutely amazing. Thankfully, my machine is a direct drive machine, but I did replace the capstan belt, as it was probably old and worn. I lubed the capstan and drive motors, and the machine is quiet as a mouse. I use 10.5" reels, and record @ 15 IPS, your standard professional recording speed. I also do multitracking for my music on it, and mix it down to another deck, then put it into my DAW, Logic Pro X. My Akai 1720L is just a consumer grade 7.5 IPS reel to reel with internal speakers, and my TEAC A1200U is a high quality home stereo 7.5 IPS deck.I also use DBX 224 type II noise reduction, I like it a lot better than Dolby, it doesn't affect the audio quality as much as Dolby does. Anyway, that about sums it up. Very nice video, again! Thanks, Ryan