OLDSCHOOL tape recorder
Home > Home Recording Forum > Gear Gab > OLDSCHOOL tape recorder
Posted on Oct 19, 2005 04:34 am
crux
Typo Szar
Member Since: Jul 04, 2002
I just inherited an old Akai reel-to-reel tape recorder from my grandfather, i think its from teh 60;s or 70's. Well i dont know anything about them, but i have the haunting suspiciion this is a find of some sort. I dont even know how to reserach it, since it doesnt have model tags or serial numbers. Does anyone know about these things? And if they stil have any use in the new realm of digital recording at all?
I got teh idea that maybe... i could use them as a kind of manual tape delay.
[ Back to Top ]
zekthedeadcowEat Spam before it eats YOU!!!Member
Since: May 11, 2002
Oct 19, 2005 08:47 am I have a half wroking Roberts (which i basically the same as Akai) reel to reel... the one thing that is useful about them is that they come with two tube preamps (in my case one :) ) and can be had for next to nothing. I'm sure the preamps are very colored but you can get 2 for around $50 and I like them for things I want gritty.
I'm still testing my nonworking preamp which is more of an overdrive... but last time I checked it was a very nice sounding overdrive :)
Oct 19, 2005 08:54 am thats cool zek, using the old reel to reel preamps...very cool.
Oct 19, 2005 11:07 am track drums or bass to it then slow the tape speed down just enough to make 'em "sag" before converting....OR i'd ebay it.
jmailjimmie neutronMember
Since: Feb 14, 2005
Oct 19, 2005 01:18 pm You must check out
www.tubesandmore.com/
and especially
www.angelfire.com/electro...etx/index2.html
of which I've probably got you started in the wrong area, but, it works...
Tape decks are great for "temporary" pre-amps AND soft compression... Seriously, everyone tries for that "tape" sound... Record to tape and then send it to the PC for conversion... You do have to have a machine in good working order, clean heads and transport, and good, clean tape...
cruxTypo SzarMember
Since: Jul 04, 2002
Oct 20, 2005 03:58 am Can i bypass the tape all togehter? It doesnt have any tape left..can i just hook up the speaker outs to my mixer and record them like preamps?
zekthedeadcowEat Spam before it eats YOU!!!Member
Since: May 11, 2002
Oct 20, 2005 10:22 am not the speaker outs... I think thats amplified... there should be an output on the front.
Oct 20, 2005 11:33 am hook your tape players "line out" which will be either RCA, or 1/4" outs (perhaps XLR but i'm not sure) into your computers "line input"....although if you just use it as a front end to your computer, it'll prolly be more noizy than it's worth....hook a drum machine up to it and crank the peamps....sometimes when things are abused (carefully) they can yeald interesting and unique textures.
jmailjimmie neutronMember
Since: Feb 14, 2005
Oct 21, 2005 02:05 pm You'll most likely have RCA jacks on that baby. Perhaps an output gain control, also. If you don't have tape, you might have a time of it getting the machine to engage in the record mode. You should find a little wire thingey or two, that hangs in the tape path that will need to be held up, like a tape was going by... Regular 1/4" tape is still only about $10 US for an 1800 ft reel. Finding it is the hard part...
