Being Given a Teac Reel to Reel? worth lugging & using?

[alexdingley]

Hey there,

a co-worker who doesn't know much about recording has offered me the chance to come and take off of his hands, an old Teac tape recorder. All he's told me is that it's an open reel deck.

Is there any quick questions I should ask him that will tell me if it's worth using in the home studio? I'd love to print my mixes to tape since I mix through an analog console (Toft ATB) but if it's a really noisy consumer model, I'm not likely to want it in my signal chain.

So, anyone who's versed in Teac decks... can you give me a couple things to look for on first inspection so that I'll know if it's worth carrying out of his basement and lugging up my 4 flights of stairs?

Here's the list from the top of my head of things that I'm gonna look at:

ips: 15ips at minimum and 30ips if I'm lucky... i.e. if it's a 7.5ips, don't bother.
jacks: rca = bad, XlR/trs = Good
1/2-track vs. 1/4 track: I'm thinking that 1/2 track would be best because (am I guessing right here?) 1/4 track is for consumers who want to flip the tape over and get twice as much music on the reel... Which for printing mixes is a no-no...

[donny]

If it works, it's probably worth lugging because they're not very big.

If it's a Teac, it's going to have only RCA jacks (with rare exceptions).

Probably not what you're looking for in a mixdown deck in any case if you're looking for 'professional' results. These kinds of decks have a particular sound and will basically degrade your signal. You might like it though. I like 'em, but then again, I don't record digitally.

[markjazzbassist]

i've got a 3340s and love it. teac made great stuff back in the day, go for it!

[Nick Sevilla]

Free tape deck?

What could possibly go wrong?

[E-money]

Find out if it's a 3 head machine that would allow you to use it as a tape echo.
Nothing quite like a tape echo for certain sounds.

[DokorderFreq]

It's a Teac & it's free. Why do you even ask the question? Even if it's the bottom of the barrel consumer model, take it. Cut your teeth on the reel to reel experience with it. Learn it's strengths & weaknesses and it'll broaden your knwledge of R2Rs in general. Later on if you have caught the R2R bug for good, move up to a more capable machine. There's plenty to learn in regards to tape threading, tape constructions, reel types and overall maintainence (they're not so 'plug n play' as you'd want to believe). Simplky take it home & roll with it! It's all fun

[Smitty]

Was at a yard sale yesterday where an older gentleman had one of these for sale. He was asking $300 for it... presumably in part because he was making a big deal about how he had many reels of tapes with "1000's of songs, really well organized" that came with it.

At that price, at least he'll always know where it is...

[alexdingley]

So I got it! Picked it up today. It's a Teac A2300-SX I downloaded the service manual which was informative. Turns out it does 7.5ips & 3.75ips 1/4Track stereo.

Correct me if I'm wrong: That means it does stereo on half the tape, and then I flip the reel over and have another b-side of stereo?

It'll be fun to play with, but I don't know if I'll ever print a mix to it. Maybe I'll use it to record practices for my band. At least it will be a good transfer deck if people bring in old reels, right?

[alexdingley]

So I now need to find an old two-pronged power cord from the 70's. This unit is sans power cord, and I figure I can buy one online or modify the outlet to have a standard IEC tap on the back.

Anyone know a good/cheap place online to get vintage power cords?

[Justin Foley]

Free tape deck?

What could possibly go wrong?

This post ^ was my favorite thing on the Internet today.

Expect this thing to be a time suck and cost money. But you will learn a lot if you're willing to bear with it.

= Justin

[markjazzbassist]

i got my power cord on ebay. there's a guy who sells cords made for TEAC units.

[Nick Sevilla]

Cool that you did go ahead and get the tape deck.
Enjoy learning all about tape.
First thing is to read the manual all the way through, then messing with it.
And don't be discouraged by the tape speed, the machine is calibrated for those.

Cheers

[themagicmanmdt]

analog at 7.5 will probably sound like a major deterioration to a digital signal, but then again...

if the tape machine ends up being part of the flow, then why not?

it might be the motown step you'd need.

[EasyGo]

I have an old Sony consumer R2R, and I've been enjoying using it as an effect, particularly on drum sounds. I do like the gritty compression it provides when you slam the inputs. And on lower IPS settings, it has a bandwith-limited lo-fi quality that makes the source sound like it was recorded in the past. For a $2 church rummage sale find, it's pretty fun to screw around with.

That said, I wouldn't mix anything to it, unless I wanted that deliberate effect on the entire mix.

[Rob Coates]

There might have been a rare exception, but as a rule, Teac machines had a top speed of 7 1/2. It wasn't until the Tascam line started that prosumer decks were available that ran at 15 ips.