i'm an ass (new to 8 track r-to-r recording).

[lobstman]

yeah, i'm still an ass.
'cause what the girls-from-hell does "armed" mean?

Does the track indicator have a picture of a gun or a knife next to it?

Sorry. "Armed" means "selected to record"- there's usually a button for each track, and when you press it, a red light blinks next to that track's LED/VU meter. That means the track is ready to record. You have to "disarm" the track in order to hear it play back.

[bigtoe]

arm= engaging your track for recording which usually puts the machine in input mode. this means yer monitoring what's going into your machine...not what's coming out of it - this makes a big difference on the narrow format jobs like what yer using - it will sound great until you play it back. i mean...never mind.

but arming is not an analog thing - it's a recording thing. even the computer programs i've seen you have to "arm the tracK"

regardless of the machine....there should be some sort of button to arm the track. this usually corresponds to a blinking light below the track's meter...when it's blinking - it's armed. when it's on solid...not blinking...yer recording. hopefully you want to be at that point... or pray the dude yer recording isn't armed.

that was pretty good 'standard' witty wrap up yeah? i should write for usa today. someone edit me as needed.

Mike
edit: whups - sorry lobstman - we cross posted...but damn i like that armed joke at the beginning of yers...that way beat my armed joke! haha.. later!

[lobstman]

Time to apply the rules of signal flow. Think about the path your signal is taking from the time it leaves your guitar to the time it reaches your ears on playback. It runs through a lot of different stages, at least one of which is not working correctly. Think of yourself as Sherlock (not John) Holmes- follow the trail logically, and eliminate every variable you can.

The VU on the tape deck shows good input signal, so you know your signal is entering the tape deck. Did you arm track 1 for record, and press the appropriate record/play button(s)? Is your tape threaded correctly so that it passes over the heads?

Is the VU meter also low on playback, or does the meter show good signal? If the meter shows good on the way in but low on playback, you may have a miscalibrated deck. Time to break out the manual.

Have you tried all 8 tracks?

It's hard to trobleshoot over the net (I hope what I've said here makes sense), do you have any friends who have tape machines who can take a look at it?

[lobstman]

i heard the system working perfectly out where i bought it. it sounded lovely!

- ced

I missed this part- did you hear it record and play back, or just play back?

Can you call the person you bought it from and ask them for advice?

Soon, I promise to post something that isn't all questions?

[joeysimms]

Are the heads clean? Does this machine have a separate repro (playback only) head? Is that one dirty? The heads need to be cleaned with 99% isopropyl alcohol (or equivalent) until there's no dirt on the q-tip. Clean the heads from side-to-side (not up and down).