Otari MX7300 1" 8 track - Am I crazy to buy this?

[Knights Who Say Neve]

I wasn't planning this at all, but I just got an old Otari 1" 8 track for $300.00. In appearance it looks like an old Scully or Ampex, with the electronics in a rack above the deck itself. Unfortunately I did not receive a manual and I can find out next to nothing about it on the net. The seller (who is a tech in Hollywood) assures me that the electronics and motors work and the head stack has some life left in it. (I'm not sure why I trust him, except that I met him at his house and he's a total off-the-wall eccentric. Picture the Orchid collector guy in Adaptation, with the guts of a Lexicon 224 sitting on his kitchen table) It's pretty clean, aside from a few cobwebs. The pinch roller needs to be replaced, though. I'm getting that taken care of. Anyway, aside from expressing my terrible excitement to you guys, a few questions:

1. Am I crazy to buy this?

2. Anyone have documentation on this beast? I'll pay for copies, etc.

3. Personal anecdotes?

I bought this with the same mentality as buying an old muscle car to fix up so anything you guys can tell me, great...when I get into it I'll start a website and post my adventures...stay tuned...

[I'm Painting Again]

i dunno the machine but 1" 8 is a good format..and its 15ips/30ips..and the time it was built and the looks of it lead me to believe its a kick ass machine..

try this place to get a roller

www.terrysrubberrollers.com

[Knights Who Say Neve]

(post deleted)

[Knights Who Say Neve]

One more bump- someone must know something, or at least give me a lead on a schematic-

[xonlocust]

good luck with it. to me - it looks like it'll be a big old pain in the ass, but im sure you'll learn a ton and that's awesome. i have an mx70 and had to do a lot of work on it, i learned a lot but also learned i will never buy another machine w/o a much better knowledge of it and its seller.

that said you can try dana hathaway at otari. he may be able to track down an original manual with schematics, cuz im sure you'll need them. it'll definitely be a labor of love - more power to you.

http://www.otarius.com/products/company.html

i dunno much about it - except i saw one here in town once. looks to be circa late 70s? im totally guessing.

good luck w/it and keep us posted!

nick

[tactics]

I traded mine two years ago because i wanted more tracks.

It had come from a studio who were the original owners and had only used it
for radio jingles/voiceovers etc.
So the condition was pretty good.It still had factory test sheets
in the manual from 1976 if i remember correctly.

Try this guy http://www.insta-fame.com/

He's got one not sure how current the site is though.

[Knights Who Say Neve]

Thanks for the links people.

And yeah, I expect it to be a "labor of love". It's not going to
be my main recorder for a whille, if ever. I bought it to learn
stuff. Put it this way- 20 years from now, if you want to record analog,
you'd better know how to fix the deck yourself. A deck like the
mx7300, a Scully 280, an Ampex 1200, doesn't depend on
custom microprocessors, so in theory, I could keep it running
forever. Kinda like the car in the song "Red Barchetta"- "A
brillant analog tape deck from a better, vanished time".

Ya know?

[xonlocust]

Kinda like the car in the song "Red Barchetta"- "A
brillant analog tape deck from a better, vanished time".

Ya know?

brilliant!

[the brill bedroom]

For $300, it's worth giving it a shot. If you get it restored (and, of course, that will cost a lot of money), you'll have a killer machine- and one that you'll be very personally invested in. Plus, you'll learn a lot in the process.