Space Echo gurus...
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- alignin' 24-trk
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- Location: Upstate, NY
Space Echo gurus...
My beloved RE-301 is just back from the shop with a new pinch roller, lubed up motor, tape path/tension adjusted and so forth.
But the same problem that brought me to take it in has occurred after only 4 hours of use. The tape sticks to one specific head, so much so that it stops the roller from rolling and threatens to burn out the motor if I don't notice it and pull out the damn tape.
My first thought was that the tape path adjustment (heads, roller tension, etc) was off so that's why I brought it in to my guy in the first place. I've always cleaned the heads and path every couple of uses, and demagged every week or so.
Now, my wild guess is that it is the tape itself, however, why would it always stick to the same one head? I've been making loops with RMGI SM911 tape.
Anybody with a lot of knowledge of the space echo see anything obvious that I'm missing? If it's as simple as "use different tape" that's great, but why is it always sticking to the same one head, and so damn tightly?
I can easily pull out some other type of used reel of tape to try if that really is the issue, I just have a bunch of the RMGI tape on hand so I use it.
Any help is appreciated. I love the thing and won't abandon it. I've had it since 1990 for pete's sake. When it works it's like chocolate ice cream...
But the same problem that brought me to take it in has occurred after only 4 hours of use. The tape sticks to one specific head, so much so that it stops the roller from rolling and threatens to burn out the motor if I don't notice it and pull out the damn tape.
My first thought was that the tape path adjustment (heads, roller tension, etc) was off so that's why I brought it in to my guy in the first place. I've always cleaned the heads and path every couple of uses, and demagged every week or so.
Now, my wild guess is that it is the tape itself, however, why would it always stick to the same one head? I've been making loops with RMGI SM911 tape.
Anybody with a lot of knowledge of the space echo see anything obvious that I'm missing? If it's as simple as "use different tape" that's great, but why is it always sticking to the same one head, and so damn tightly?
I can easily pull out some other type of used reel of tape to try if that really is the issue, I just have a bunch of the RMGI tape on hand so I use it.
Any help is appreciated. I love the thing and won't abandon it. I've had it since 1990 for pete's sake. When it works it's like chocolate ice cream...
"Sounds to me like you're just a little bit cranky"
- Nick Sevilla
- on a wing and a prayer
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Hi,
Just a note about demagnetizing the tape path :
Do it only if you need to do it.
Do you have a magnetometer? This measures if there is any magteic field.
magteic= magnetic. Darn iPad and my bad eyesight!
If there is NO magnetic field, you may be creating one with your cnstant demagnteizing.
Cheers
Just a note about demagnetizing the tape path :
Do it only if you need to do it.
Do you have a magnetometer? This measures if there is any magteic field.
magteic= magnetic. Darn iPad and my bad eyesight!
If there is NO magnetic field, you may be creating one with your cnstant demagnteizing.
Cheers
Howling at the neighbors. Hoping they have more mic cables.
- Darlington Pair
- takin' a dinner break
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When you take the lid off, there is a box that butts up against the front face, remove the two screws and the bulb is right there. I added a current limiting resistor and replaced it with an LED, no more burnt bulb worries.Neil Weir wrote:I realize this is slightly off-topic but does anyone know how to replace the VU meter lamp in a Space Echo?
I have an RE-150 and the lamp has been burnt out for a few years...
Answer to the original poster, +1 on lubricated tape for carts or 8 tracks, I loaded up on the stuff a few years back and store it in vacuum bags (the kind that you can remove the air, not clean your floor)
Who knows if somebody is going to wise up and realize there is a market for new production lubed tape considering tape manufacturing is for a niche market now anyways, why not fill all the niches?
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- TapeOp Admin
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I learned the hard way: You will never "improve" the Space Echo with studio quality tape! It always jams up and the splice is screwier. I use tape from NOS blank 8-track cartridges from thrift stores. Really.
Larry Crane, Editor/Founder Tape Op Magazine
please visit www.tapeop.com for contact information
(do not send private messages via this board!)
www.larry-crane.com
please visit www.tapeop.com for contact information
(do not send private messages via this board!)
www.larry-crane.com
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- alignin' 24-trk
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- Joined: Thu Jul 03, 2008 8:53 am
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You guys are freakin' awesome. This was exactly the type of answer I was hoping to tease out of the TOMB. I can't wait to smash an 8-track cassette and pull out it's juicy innards and feed them to my hungry space echo.
Lubricated tape seems to be the clear answer to the problem I'm having.
Thanks everybody!
Lubricated tape seems to be the clear answer to the problem I'm having.
Thanks everybody!
"Sounds to me like you're just a little bit cranky"
- Marc Alan Goodman
- george martin
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They nailed it. Lubricated tape. NOS blank 8 track cassettes are getting harder to find but you can still get reels of the stuff here:http://www.joaonline.com/catalog/index. ... 0bbdedfc37
- Gregg Juke
- cryogenically thawing
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- alignin' 24-trk
- Posts: 71
- Joined: Thu Jul 03, 2008 8:53 am
- Location: Upstate, NY
Hey there, I took my space echo to a dead Hi-Fi shop in Syracuse, NY (Clark Music) where a guitar player that I have known for a very long time does their repair work on stereo equipment and such. But I know him as the only guy who has MRL tape and still remembers how to maintain all this old shit that I love.
But to be honest, he told me he doesn't want to see any more tape machines again, including my space echo. Tube amps are still OK, he says. I think I can sweet talk him into keeping all my shit to spec, but we're friends.... for a stranger, probably not so much luck. Sorry.
But to be honest, he told me he doesn't want to see any more tape machines again, including my space echo. Tube amps are still OK, he says. I think I can sweet talk him into keeping all my shit to spec, but we're friends.... for a stranger, probably not so much luck. Sorry.
"Sounds to me like you're just a little bit cranky"
- Darlington Pair
- takin' a dinner break
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Years ago I got tired of paying people to put non lubricated tape in my machine and not actually fix it and blow up my amps. I learned electronics so nobody would ever touch my stuff again. Spent a bit of time as a pro audio repair tech, now I'm a senior technician at a radio observatory. That broke ass space echo started a career for me.
- Gregg Juke
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