Who has Decks and What Kind

BlazeES

Veteran and General Yakker
Joined
Aug 17, 2011
Messages
6,951
Tagline
---
Very Cool! :p

Thanks George. I haven't had a Nakamichi 600 deck, but I did have the matching Nakamichi 620 wedge amplifier for a short time. I traded it in towards a Pioneer Elite MiniDisc deck. I never tried the amplifier, as I donated it to Innovative Audio after we found out that the power transformer had been removed (before I had it given to me).

This deck has many great features like pitch control, and portability when you load the 9 batteries into the battery compartment. I like the way the tape loads and physically latches into the cassette tray before pressing down the tray. It has a nice soft eject of the cassette from the tray when the eject button is depressed. And today I tried another pre-recorded tape - Peter Gabriel's "Security" from 1982 on the WEA label. I had the tape set to play the second song on Side A "San Jacinto." You can see this deck in action as I load the tape, play the song, try out the pitch control, engage and disengage the Dolby NR, and rewind and fast forward the tape. This deck is from August 1976. How would I know that? I have the warranty card with the owner's information printed on it.



Click image to play video:



Yes, I am very happy to have this one. It will look even better once I've had a chance to detail the exterior.

Derek: Thanks. For field recording, how can you go wrong with a Sony Walkman MD recorder. This Yamaha is unusual enough for me to keep it for awhile.

Nando.
 

Miracle Mile

Veteran and General Yakker
Joined
May 29, 2013
Messages
3,068
This one is still in my collection:



The 510; a "simple" two header, build in 1989 (complete with original remote and in absolute state of new!)
I made a few mixtapes on this (Nando has some..) nice looking deck that is build like a tank. Very heavy for a deck like this, no plastic crap on it and still a very reliable performer.

I still don't understand why it's previous owner gave it away for free so easily......
 
Last edited:

VintageShadow

Chief Journeyman
Joined
May 16, 2013
Messages
1,155
Location
Transylvania
Nothing is better than mid-late 80's Miles, decks are like music and everything after that period turned out to be crap, well there are exceptions anyway. :)

Great deck BTW :thumbright:
 

Miracle Mile

Veteran and General Yakker
Joined
May 29, 2013
Messages
3,068
Well, In a certain kind of way Sep is right...

There are some decks by Sony that I will stay far away from: The TC-K 370, 390, 570, 590 and even the 850 and the 870es are not the best decks, and all of em I've seen had a lot of problems:
Noisy capstan motors, defective play and record functions, tape selectors etc....

All those decks were produced in the early nineties.
 

BlazeES

Veteran and General Yakker
Joined
Aug 17, 2011
Messages
6,951
Tagline
---
People generalize throughout life and tape decks are no exception.
Sad really.
No arguing with it though, especially on the interwebs.
Goes nowhere fast...
 

VintageShadow

Chief Journeyman
Joined
May 16, 2013
Messages
1,155
Location
Transylvania
Well, In a certain kind of way Sep is right...
You bet, i didn't figured it out yet how to dismantle the supply hub on my Technics RS-BX404 made early 90's and it looks quite fragile so i let it as is for the moment but i still need to relube that thing so i'm going to risk. Not the same with my B305 which i dismantled it piece by piece with no efforts and it was very easy to restore it completely, yes it was made in 1986 and still rocks :thumbright:
 

Elite-ist

Administrator, (and straight-up pimp stick!)
Staff member
Joined
Jun 12, 2010
Messages
9,922
As I become exposed to more mix tape exchanges with members, I try to keep a mental note of whose deck made each recording. What I find satisfying is knowing a properly functioning, entry-level or slightly-up-the-model-scale deck working as well as it can for its age, can outperform some of the big boys under the right conditions. You will find many of us with modest cassette decks have adapted quite well and we push our decks. What I can't stand to see are some people, not members here, who flaunt the virtues of their high-priced ESL-maintained decks, yet rarely participate in a Traveling Tape project, or a tape swap, but are happy enough to record tapes of their own music for themselves. I don't get that part. I want to experience new music that I don't have, and it's rare that I record a mix tape for myself anymore, unless it's within a run of tapes I am doing for members.

I believe there are at least 15 members here and at TH that I have had the pleasure of regularly exchanging mix tapes with. I put a lot more credibility into what those members have to say than someone who chooses to sit on the sidelines and say how good their deck is.

Nando.
 

Miracle Mile

Veteran and General Yakker
Joined
May 29, 2013
Messages
3,068
Well said Nando!

It isn't the gear, it's the creativity......

From the moment I picked up the taping thing again in april 2012 (my last taping was in the late eighties I guess) it all felt like tremendous fun! The most exciting thing however is sharing this music on an "old fashioned" cassette tape worldwide.....



Still working on several new things, and it depends on my moods and available time on which one I will work on.
 
Last edited:

VintageShadow

Chief Journeyman
Joined
May 16, 2013
Messages
1,155
Location
Transylvania
Still working on several new things, and it depends on my moods and available time on which one I will work on.
Miles, i'm still curious if you think of that classical remix project, i do love classical and i can wait as needed for that, just wanted to remind this to you 'cause it was extremely interesting :p
 

Miracle Mile

Veteran and General Yakker
Joined
May 29, 2013
Messages
3,068
Sep,

I'm half way with that classical project, choosing the right music for it needs a lot of listening and time...

Don't worry, it will be finished soon.
 

Elite-ist

Administrator, (and straight-up pimp stick!)
Staff member
Joined
Jun 12, 2010
Messages
9,922
Miles: What a great collection, so far, of the mix tapes you have worked on. You seem to up the ante with each new tape you record.

Nando.
 

pennysdad

Veteran and General Yakker
Joined
Feb 27, 2013
Messages
3,728
Location
In witness protection.
Tagline
I've totally lost the plot....
Well, I'll have a Nakamichi 550 hopefully by the end of next week to muck around with.
I've waited a long time for an affordable one of these to pop up locally, and here it is.


http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=261257209415

To my surprise, my offer was accepted. Yee Haaaaa!
Needs some work, but still a goer.

:)
 

derek92994

Veteran and General Yakker
Joined
May 1, 2013
Messages
7,361
Location
Australia
Tagline
Those who enter the man cave will get WOPLed
Well, I'll have a Nakamichi 550 hopefully by the end of next week to muck around with.
I've waited a long time for an affordable one of these to pop up locally, and here it is.


http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=261257209415

To my surprise, my offer was accepted. Yee Haaaaa!
Needs some work, but still a goer.

:)
Congratulations george, will have to look up the specs on it and see if I can find some photos of the head section on google :).
 
Top