Message Board

Another bump to this long-running thread! My JH-110b has been mostly trouble-free, but now I'm noticing that near the end of a full-reel rewind, the speed slows a bit. If I stop and restart rewind near the end, the supply side has a good deal of trouble getting up to speed. I have the manual, and al...

I'm doing the same gentle mods to my 111b and I have a question regarding bypassing pins 4 + 8 on the OPA 2134. On my unit (as on all of them?), the 4558 driver chips sit on a little daughter board above the motherboard. It appears that the closest path to ground is on the "bottom" of the 2 meg resi...

Thanks for that, I didn't check the PS electros, other than verifying the solder joints. They're all new and higher capacity than stock, but I suppose there's no reason a new capacitor can't fail just as well as an old one.... Update: C29 (and its bypass) check okay, and swapping in a replacement do...

I modded a pair of these and was very pleased with the results. Until recently that is. After a couple of months of use, one day one of the unit's red leds looked dim, and the unit wouldn't pass signal. I opened the thing up and started probing the test points. Test points 7 + 8, which should show +...

I purchased a pair of pickups from JCC, and a thought occurred to me: Pickups are typically high-impedance devices, no? So will these pickups prefer to e put through a DI before a preamp?

Thanks much Sean! That's a whole 'nother can of worms: HOW does one calibrate the thing once it's put back together?

Best,
Seth

I'm new to the world of ferrite beads and I'm unclear on this question: Does the ferrite bead REPLACE C2 or does it BYPASS C2?

Thanks!

By scanning through all the posts here, I have a fairly good idea of what mods will benefit the 163x. One question that didn't seem to get resolved was the ferrite bead (replacing C2 I believe). Is there a recommended value?

Thanks!

I've gotten a lot of great information on my Otari here, but there's still one nagging question regarding my MX5050 8-track: Everyone seems to agree that changing the relays is a good idea, and most people recommend this Omron part: G5V-2 24V. Alternately, some folks recommend Aromat DS2E-S-DC5V. Bu...

Thanks for all the tips everyone, I am planning on replacing all the relays. Seems like the consensus is that Omron G5V-2 24V relays are the correct replacement, but I note that there are two types of relays on the motherboard: One kind for sel-rep switching and the other kind to engage "record." Do...

Hey, thanks for the info! As it stands now, all tracks have an intermittent static during tape playback. Also, track 8 has a harsh buzz (and no signal) if I monitor from tape. Swapping cards doesn't change a thing. I've talked with a tech, but anyone in town who will even look at decks is slammed. S...

Hi, did anyone ever get a definitive (ish) answer on this topic? "...you could go with standard (old standard) 600-ohm impedence or maybe 1.5-k-ohm, or maybe 10 k-ohms and should be fine." I understand that the value of the resistors is dependent on the source and the load you wish to emulate (all I...

Hi Folks, I own an early-model (two "suitcases") Otari 5050 1/2" 8-track. My understanding is that the machine was used regularly as recently as 10 - 15 years ago, but has been pretty much dormant since then. I cleaned and de-magged, and aligned and calibrated it for +6 (I understand Otari recommend...

Folks: Thanks so much for the tips!

Best,
Seth

If so, please drop me a line:

seth@littlegoldenbookstudio.com