What cassette deck ?

vince666

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#61
Vince, you sent me that video and I saw what he is doing with that head but I didn't observed details. OMG that head is really flat and, tell me if I'm wrong, it is amorphous head. Why, oh why?! I'm gonna a finish my dinner, tell goodbye to Mr.Gordon and jump thru the window right after.
yes, my friend, that head might just be amorphous. (but, really, i didn't check. Might do on his video, since he shows it under microscope).

that said, whatever it is, now it's gone, lapped in a wrong way.

it's like when the doctor wants to salvage a guy but then he applies his surgery with a chainsaw.

Edit: yes, it's definitely amorphous! (14 laminas per channel at REC head and 15 laminas per channel at PB head, which is well within the amorphous range of laminas number).
Hey, look at around 3:30in the above video and do notice those LONG grey traces on his lapping film, made by scrubbing the heads in a flat way there on the lapping film, something he could do just because he bent the head guides.
Not a mystery he went and flattened the gaps area by removing most of the material just at the gaps! (which you should avoid as much as possible)
This puts in evidence he might totally ignore how a magnetic head actually works and why, in fact he totally killed that head.

Edit n2: also, give a look at that video at 6:26 to 6:28 where the light reflex helps clearly seeing a totally flattened zone just there in the gaps area of the PB head! Well, that's exactly what you should NEVER achieve while lapping.
Lapping means removing material from the zones outside the wear groove, to make the whole head surface even, and to also try to keep the curved shape of the head... while doing that, you should need to try to remove the least metal at all from the gaps which just need to be polished.
And since geometry, just like maths, isn't an opinion... if you manage to get a flattened area just there at/around the gaps on a previously curved surface where the gaps are at the "peak" of that curved surface, it simply means you removed most of the material just from the gaps and not from anywhere else but the gaps. Or, if you were lucky, you removed metal mostly from the sides of the wear groove but also considerably more than needed from the gaps (shortening the head's residue life) and, anyways, you didn't try (AT ALL) to keep the curved shape of the surface which is important to keep a correct tape/head contact and the correct so-called "wrap"... Also those sharp edges there at the center zone of the head would not be too gentle to the tapes.
I hope this point would be clear for anybody who would try to lap heads... this is a so delicate kind of work where the difference of salvageing or destroying a head is all about the way you perform it... and if in doubt about what to do exactly, it's much better to avoid to try lapping. ;)

Edit n3: here at this post below, you can see an example of a properly lapped head, while keeping its own original curved shape as much as possible.
This head, after being lapped, shows a perfectly "as new" playback response which is exactly the same on both channels and well extended up to 21Khz (quite remarkable for a REC/PB head for a 2 heads deck!).

https://forums.phxaudiotape.com/threads/telefunken-tc-750-a-new-challenge.9849/#post-280152
 
Last edited:
Joined
Dec 31, 2022
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#62
My BX-300 was completely serviced by ESL. It operates and performs better than any Nak I've ever tried or owned. It is my favorite Nak.
Willy Herman and ESL do Naks proper!

All else being equal, the only real beef I have with Naks is their metering. The CR and ZX series are decent but the rest are meh...
As far as the BX-300 goes... it does all the essential things a cassette should do and does it solidly.
No other deck I've owned takes a tape recorded on a Sony and tracks it with ease.

But for both recording & play back on Metal tape ... it has to be Sony ES for me.

View attachment 73058
Nice post, and a nice deck! I have the same deck, I'm on the fence about selling it, I got it from the original owner with the original manual in box a month or so ago. Was supposed to be working but was not, simple fix after cleaning the goo off the pulleys. I actually ordered the belt from ESL, but I got a different one quicker so I put that on and it seems to run fine.

There's a guy that sells the remote on eBay for these, a real wireless remote that plugs into the back and you get a separate remote with it also. So the receiver plugs into the back and you can do can wirelessly. I find that a very handy feature especially for recording, and my turntable is about 7 feet from my cassette deck and it's much easier now. he sells them for a lot of different cassette decks.
 
Joined
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#63
I currently been working on one of my Pioneer Ct-F900 and I also have some Ct-F950's and
a long time ago I had it repaired and the repair shop put in the wrong Motor and I had no glue he did it and it worked but not very good. than CD's came out so I put it away.

last year when Cassettes became popular again. I decided to work on it again. that's when I figured out he installed the wrong motor and he also drilled the pulley shaft hole bigger. I always ask for my used parts back and I luckily found it and I have the motor (that I rebuilt) and a pulley that will not work. but since I bought a spare motor and another transport w 2-motors I have some spare parts and a test fixture.

I was never brave enough to work on it decades ago w no information back than But w YouTube and forums w a lot of information so why not get back into it but its a slow long process ,,,,,, And I'm trying to get the Wow and Flutter down to spec.
They are beautiful decks.
 

e30m3mon

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#74
Have you done any work to your 682ZX? Mine has been sidelined for years and now I'm getting the itch to rebuild it ... caps, belts, hopefully that auto-azimuth gizmo and who knows what.
 

Elite-ist

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#75
I say, "If you got it, flaunt it."

There are many of us who have TOTL cassette decks, that are used for their intended purpose. And there is another group of people who own TOTL cassette decks, which are essentially "trailer queens" - decks that are for show and bragging rights, but rarely used.

Nando.
 

Elite-ist

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#77
"Well, La-Ti-Da" might become your newest fall-back post response. I like it.

Nando.
 

A.N.T.

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Femtoamp- Volt- and Tape- nut.
#80
This 682ZX came to me in a very sad state, with bits missing from the transport and with many faults, most likely it was used for swapping parts. I've restored the transport (including a replacement head mounting plate), replaced one dead Dolby chip, replaced orange caps and did some usual upgrades, now the deck plays back and records just fine, the only faults left are in the auto calibration board.

Cheers

Alex
 
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