re-201 Space Echo very quiet repeats

[DEMOn1n3]

hey there everyone. I registered here a few years ago but i dont think i ever posted.
anyway

I have a friends re-201 in my possession currently with an issue. The volume of the delay repeats has become really quiet. Im not sure how quickly this came about but he got some info from shane at echofix.com which lead us to believe that it needed a recap.
so here is what i have done so far
-replaced all of the electrolytic and tantalum caps as per shanes suggestion.
-checked the internal level adjustment which is maxxed
-tried different tapes, new and old
-polished and aligned the heads
-demagnetized the heads
-bias voltage reads 50v rms so its in range according to the service manual
-there was another point listed in the manual on the echo board looking for less that 2.5v on a resistor and that matches spec too

I heard from a local tech that he experienced one that ended up being a bad record head.
im leading to that as the conclusion to this mystery but im not sure. its also a tricky hunch since they are hard to find and expensive.

any other ideas out there? does the head replacement sound reasonable?

thanks!

[analogika]

really dumb question:

you have checked the H-M-L switch on the front next to the output?

[DEMOn1n3]

fair enough haha but yes
ive been trying to get it louder in high. but doesnt that switch lower the volume of everything?
the issue here is only the repeats, the dry signal is easily heard and still very present even when the echo volume is all the way up

[analogika]

What about the Echo Volume pot?

Does the Reverb come through, or is that equally soft?

[DEMOn1n3]

The reverb is fine, its only the echo thats quiet.

What about the echo pot? I've checked the internal level pot and its cranked already. The external pot seems to function properly.

[Darlington Pair]

First I would clean the notoriously easy to get dirty rotary head select switch.

Then I would clean the eq pots.

Then I would look around Q8 to make sure everything is ok, possibly a bad or bad solder on C70, that would certainly quiet down the effected signal. Recently I actually bumped up the gain on mine so the swell settings had more oomph.

Heads are really the last place I would look.

[analogika]

The reverb is fine, its only the echo thats quiet.

What about the echo pot? I've checked the internal level pot and its cranked already. The external pot seems to function properly.

Sorry to run through the "Is it plugged in?"-variety questions.

I cannot count how many times the solution to a studio problem was so obvious that it resulted in me wanting to curl up under the mixing console and not come out until the phone rang.

[DEMOn1n3]

i will check those things out thanks.

no worries, i know its hard for me to remember and be clear of all of what ive done or checked

[DEMOn1n3]

ok cleaning the pots and the rotary switch seemed to help a lot. the eq is very responsive now. the transistor seemed to check out ok with the voltages across it and the solder joints on the caps are good.
thanks a lot.

also for future reference, how did you go about boosting the gain in your unit?

[Darlington Pair]

ok cleaning the pots and the rotary switch seemed to help a lot. the eq is very responsive now. the transistor seemed to check out ok with the voltages across it and the solder joints on the caps are good.
thanks a lot.

also for future reference, how did you go about boosting the gain in your unit?

Happy to help.

By changing Q8 with something like a 2N5089 (watch the pinout) or replacing R87 with a trim pot and dialing in more gain.