Tascam 122 Mk. III Serviced by Sam at Skywave (Thanks Sam!)

[J!m]

Today, I received my 122 Mk. III back from Sam at Skywave.

Well packed, as always, and it's looking good. I hope to get it back in service soon, and see how it compares to number 2.

I just noticed, while unpacking, this one is a Taiwan made one (number 2 is Japan made). Among the other usual service, mechanical & electronic alignments, he changed to the MAX4066 ICs as well in this one. Base cal for D, SA and MA tapes of course!

I have been very happy with Sam's service, and I recommend him without reservation, for any Teac/Tascam repairs.

 

[Elite-ist]

Looking good there, Jim. I found a Tascam 133 in the crawl space of the Administration Building, where I work. The deck had been abandoned, along with an NAD integrated amplifier. I brought the 133 to a technician to get it working again, but an unavailable part was needed to fix it. I ended up donating it to an electronics recycler.

Nando.

 

[J!m]

That’s too bad. Did you check with Sam?

 

[Elite-ist]

Unfortunately, no. Hindsight is 20/20 just like the upcoming year.

Nando.

 

[J!m]

Indeed it is.

 

[stuwee]

Nice! Sam' rep is well known. I have nice A3340 RtR from a local radio station dumpster dive with the owners and service manuels with tech notes on problem areas. I can't even think about packing it and then the cost of shipping to Chi-Town and back to AZ .

 

[J!m]

Well, based on your initial investment I’d say you’d still be ahead on that one.

My first open reel was a Teac A3340-S.

 

[Bob Boyer]

Had a 133 for several years when I had an A/V business back in my days as a photographer. Made great recordings at 3 3/4 ips.

 

[Skywavebe]

Some peoples way of not being able to fix a unit is that they can not get parts. You get it to a good Technician and the results would be different.
Many local shops only want the fast money and in that they don't even do a good job fixing the unit like they should. Many of them just put a new belt on and that is it. The owner could do that.

 

[Gepetto]

Some peoples way of not being able to fix a unit is that they can not get parts. You get it to a good Technician and the results would be different.
Many local shops only want the fast money and in that they don't even do a good job fixing the unit like they should. Many of them just put a new belt on and that is it. The owner could do that.

Very true Sam...

 

[Skywavebe]

I am training new guys that do the same as I do quality wise as training is not only how you do something but the correct extent of the job- instead of just putting a new belt on and calling it a day, my guys are told to pull that flywheel out then clean the shaft and then apply a good amount of AMS oil into the capstan bearing and on the capstan shaft plus to distribute the oil by sliding the shaft in and out. The change becomes evident as the capstan shaft when it come out has lots of resistance but after cleaning and AMS the shaft slides in and has the silky feel to it. This in fact is what gives you the right and better wow and flutter figures. Also like Gerhard my guy in FL says, take that vacuum cleaner belt out of there. How can a person be so stupid to put a vacuum cleaner belt in a tape deck? I guess it is the same level of stupidity that uses the push on roller rubbers. As soon as I see those on a roller off to Terry they go.
I have also corrected some well known technicians work that looked like a high school kid did it- don't worry I have decks worked on by 15 year olds so I know what kind of work they do. They need to go to Technicians school first or at very least train under a person like me. I fear these young kids do not have the willingness that it takes to get through the course. Everything has to be handed to them from the new silver spoon known as the I phone. $1500 for a phone is preposterous. I would rather have a high end desktop that those things.

 

[nakdoc]

Sam just isn't happy with anything new....
Darn right about parts though. It is amazing the shift in our repair approaches in 1984 and today. I think 1984 was the year certain companies began to run out of parts for '70s units. The first I remember were Infinity 1/2 line diaphrams. I had a technician who worked with me who drove me nuts! If he couldn't get the factory part, he bailed on the repair - no transistor subs, no improv. I think our #1 job is to get units running using our best judgement and practices.

 

[Skywavebe]

It has been proven many times that parts we have made to high standards work just as well as the factory parts which they did not think to stock enough of. I sell a lot of gears, Kurt sells a good number of S301's and then there are belts that can be used and supplied from those other than Teac.
We fix the item if it is possible sometimes it is not so easy to do so. Today I installed my first new Pulley for the motor that was at 2974Hz after oiling.
The deck is now at 3009Hz and it took a +.015" pulley to reach this speed. We have a lot of good parts makers right there in Tennessee. He has made me a lot of parts that work great all these years.

 

[J!m]

“When the world is running down, you make the best of what’s still around.”

 

[Gepetto]

Extending legacy and tradition, one unit at a time...

 

[Skywavebe]

Nice! Sam' rep is well known. I have nice A3340 RtR from a local radio station dumpster dive with the owners and service manuels with tech notes on problem areas. I can't even think about packing it and then the cost of shipping to Chi-Town and back to AZ .

I know shipping is not cheap and a deck I sent to CA was $84 this last time when it used to be around $66. The problem is finding a person who can do the right and thorough job. I have a trainee in CO but I am not sure his bench is set up yet- he is a retired Dentist.

 

[jbeckva]

I know shipping is not cheap and a deck I sent to CA was $84 this last time when it used to be around $66. The problem is finding a person who can do the right and thorough job. I have a trainee in CO but I am not sure his bench is set up yet- he is a retired Dentist.

Is training like "pulling teeth" yet with him?

(couldn't resist.. I'll be here all night.)

 

[Skywavebe]

I told him that when he entered tape deck repair that he would no longer be working in caves. He has fixed with direction and manuals and the right test equipment a X1000R and a X2000R deck so with this you need to be pretty detailed to do that and if you success then you can not be bad.

 

[Skywavebe]

Ken is one of the best people to work with in training but that might be because he is highly intelligent from being a retired dentist. He has taken instruction by E mails and followed all the good practices and in the end he comes out on top of the deck he has worked on. I have never met him but I suspect that if he sticks with it he can help a lot of people with their machines in that CO area. When he is ready I will add him to my good Technician list so that people can find him. Gerhard in FL is doing very well still doing units part time but I think he figures things out and has a natural ability to do this- a good technician is one that is not easily discouraged but keeps at the problem until he fixes it. Both Dean in Canada and Gerhard have this charateristic. Nakmandan for those who know him from another forum is also a person who goes the extra mile. I recommend him for cassette deck work as well.

 

[nakdoc]

Hey, I work in caves all the time! I've been a member of cave-research.org all my life. We map and support science in cave studies around the world. Mammoth Cave in KY is the world's longest cave at 413 miles. I've probably seen half of it. Working in caves is tremendous help on my workbench too.