Re: [ARSCLIST] Nakamichi Tape Deck Problem

[Scott Phillips <scottp@xxxxxxxxx>]

.."Think 'Dragon' ..... !!" 

-----Original Message-----
From: Association for Recorded Sound Discussion List
[mailto:ARSCLIST@xxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Richard L. Hess
Sent: Thursday, July 07, 2005 7:39 PM
To: ARSCLIST@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Nakamichi Tape Deck Problem

It's hard to diagnose, but the problem you describe could actually be
the tape skewing and possibly damaging the tape. Beware.

It sounds as if you're losing tape-to-head contact.

I'm not familiar with the 480 but http://www.naks.com tells us it was
made 1979-1982. It is a three-motor deck with a belt drive double
capstan and a pressure pad lifter. So, it sounds to me that something is
wrong with the tape path. The two capstans/pressure rollers could be
dirty, or the pressure rollers may need replacing. The belt could also
need replacing.

The pressure pad lifter pushes the cassette's own pressure pad out of
the way, saying "I can handle tape better than you--outta my way you
silly old piece of felt!" <smile>.

So with the pressure pad out of the way, the dual capstans have to
maintain the tension across the heads for proper playback. It sounds as
if you're losing this tension and with no pressure pad to push it back,
you hear the poor results.

The inbound capstan is actually providing tension holdback for the tape
and paying it out, while the outbound capstan is pulling it through.
There is a differential (I'm not sure precisely how it's
introduced) to maintain controlled tension over the heads.

This is a two-head deck, so it is more difficult to align and it doesn't
have playback azimuth adjustment so, unless you're doing that manually,
you're not getting optimum playback. There are two machines on eBay
right now (the joys of Naks.com -- it shows you the related products on
eBay currently on each page) about in the same price range that you
paid.

Good luck!

Cheers,

Richard

At 08:14 PM 7/7/2005, you wrote:
>Hey All...
>
>I'm sort of an amateur archivist, mostly working on underground bands 
>of the last 20 years that may have only recorded demos on cassette.  I 
>haven't had the money for a new deck in many years and about 6 months 
>ago I found a used Nakamichi 480 model from the mid 80's.  It pulled 
>tape and seemed to play and record fine when I turned it up and seemed 
>worth the $30.  I hadn't used it in a while, but when I tried the other

>day I found something rather strange.  The tape will play clearly for 
>20-30 seconds, then will start to lower in volume and have sort of a 
>muddy sound, not unlike a tape left in the sun.  If I hit stop and play

>again it sounds perfect again for a similar amount of time, and it 
>seems I can do this over and over with the same results.  Any idea what

>the problem is?  I cleaned the heads when I got it and there was 
>nothing obviously wrong to my very amateur eyes.  My question would be
is it worth the expense.
>There is a local shop that does work in Nakamichi and I'd bet it would 
>cost $100 or more.  Do older consumer grade Nakamichis hold up over 
>time and would it be possible to get it "tuned up" to make sure the 
>speed it correct, heads OK, etc?  If I were to put $120-150 into it 
>would it likely be as good or better as anything I could buy new in the

>same price range?  I have piles of cassettes that I can't really do 
>much with until I have a deck that works properly, but I'm not in the 
>market for a new high end deck.  Any ideas on what other decks I might 
>consider if this one is beyond hope would be much obliged.  Thanks.  
>Randy

Richard L. Hess                           email: richard@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Vignettes
Media                           web:   http://www.richardhess.com/tape/
Aurora, Ontario, Canada             (905) 713 6733     1-877-TAPE-FIX
Detailed contact information:
http://www.richardhess.com/tape/contact.htm