My new addition to my Ampex family,a AG440C with DC servo and 4 position headstack. This deck will be a 1/2 inch 2 track that will play all speeds up to 30ips and use my 2.1 cards. They are a amazing value for what they can sound like for very little invested.
Just a word on restoring some of these machines. These machines like my MR70 and C37 have reel motors,a capstan motor and a Idler motor if designed that way. All these motors use precision aircraft ABEC 5 or 7 bearings and some will tell you that these are not needed,because of wear,that is false. Just because these bearings can be expensive many specialised shops will use a non precision bearing. A non precision bearing will effect wow and flutter measurements and when I do a restoration I want the machine to be in spec.
Another problem is specialised shops will over charge you....so be careful. I'm a lot more savy these days. When shops like MDI precision quotes me $3600 to rebuild a set of MR70 motors I just laugh.
John at JRF sent me back my MR70 1/2 inch 2 track Paravincini today and as usual he did a bang up job. There was 85pct head life which made me grin big time. John also machined a new mounting plate as the mechanical setup was sorely lacking. John was impressed by the heads and thought the sound should approach ME quality. Now waiting on the motors and electronics to be finished. I have a extra console,so when finished the Jack Mullin Special will be a fine machine.
I was going through some old LP'S I have and found a Joanie Sommers Album from Warner Brothers It has great sound.Looking at the back , I found this in the liner notes. An amazing console and the album recorded in 1959 was on a Ampex 300-3 three track.The console is what caused me to look closely it was custom. Does anybody recognize it? Know about Warner at that time?
I noticed there was a MR70 1/2 inch 3 track 7.5-15 ips on Ebay yesterday and I'm guessing B/O was 3,000 accepted. Did anybody here grab it? I offerred but then pulled the offer,I have more of these than any man could ever want. Who ever owns it now has one of the best sounding decks ever made period. By how the listing was written it sounded like it blew one of the fuses,but you never know. Make sure when the transport is shipped that it is very secure in the crate or foamed as the magnesium deck can crack. I think Ki was interested in one,Ki if you bought it,they are an experience.
Well Roger, I told my wife I would not buy any more old tape machines...I lied. I wasn't sure what a MR70 is worth so I offered $3K. You and a friend in Japan (who found 6 MR70 electronic modules in a barn like place) are the only people to have the MR70 machine/electronics or multiple machines in your case. U47, Rich, has two of the MR70 modules from Japan.
I have too many tape machine rebuild projects still to be tackled but couldn't pass on the MR70. It would fit nicely with the herd when it is rebuilt. If a two track 1/4" change parts were available I would get it but most likely I will keep the transport in its original configuration and use the electronics after rebuild for repro only use from direct head wired Studer A820/A80. Rich had the head interface work done in Portland OR, and I plan to repeat what he had done.
Well Roger, I told my wife I would not buy any more old tape machines...I lied. I wasn't sure what a MR70 is worth so I offered $3K. You and a friend in Japan (who found 6 MR70 electronic modules in a barn like place) are the only people to have the MR70 machine/electronics or multiple machines in your case. U47, Rich, has two of the MR70 modules from Japan.
I have too many tape machine rebuild projects still to be tackled but couldn't pass on the MR70. It would fit nicely with the herd when it is rebuilt. If a two track 1/4" change parts were available I would get it but most likely I will keep the transport in its original configuration and use the electronics after rebuild for repro only use from direct head wired Studer A820/A80. Rich had the head interface work done in Portland OR, and I plan to repeat what he had done.
If a two track 1/4" change parts were available I would get it but most likely I will keep the transport in its original configuration and use the electronics after rebuild for repro only use from direct head wired Studer A820/A80.
Conversion from native 1/2" (which I believe that machine is) to 1/4" is easier than the reverse scenario. You'll need the obvious mechanical parts...1/4" idler, tape-break arm, etc, but you won't have to swap out your 1/2" reel motors. The 1/2" motors can work fine with 1/4" tape if you rewire their respective taps on the power supply transformer T501....page 120 in the manual and section 4.2.3
Unlike other Ampex machines that use adjustable resistors to vary tape tension, the MR70 relies on multiple transformer taps to set the motor run voltage (hence torque). The manual describes the necessary connections for running 1/2" motors with 1/4" tape, which works fine. I've converted one machine in such fashion.
