Posted by slbender [ 216.194.21.210 ] on November 08, 2008 at 03:23:42:

In Reply to: line up tape on R2R posted by James on October 28, 2008 at 13:46:57:

YEAH, the RT-909 pinch rollers really do turn to GOO.... especially with sunlight or repeated alcohol exposure or cleaning. Almost unavailable these days... once the pinch rollers go "out-of-round" the tape will wander all over the place. Check that the twin capstans are totally clean of debris!

Actually its very, very easy to make the RT-909 FUBAR!!! Not even mentioning the many "failure modes" that can also mess you up - like really worn heads; someone tweaking the half a dozen internal controls for torque and tension; the main flywheel belt being stretched and basically non-elastic; and wandering, or disassembly where someone lost those little nylon "balls" that the flywheels balance on; gee I could go on and on, but you get the idea...

-Steven L. Bender, Designer of Vintage Audio Equipment

Replies: