Advice Regarding Reel-to-Reel


I went to a neighbor’s home to look at some records they were selling.  While I was there, the husband tried to interest me in buying his Teac a-6300 deck.  He said he bought it new in the 1970’s while stationed in Europe, as his music options were limited.  He doesn’t use it anymore and they are trying to reduce clutter.  He asked for $300.

I said I would get back with him.  Looking on-line, I see much higher prices for those decks.  They are described as semi-professional decks with good capabilities. I also read that such an old deck should be gone over by a qualified tech to be lubricated, have belts replaced and have the electronics checked for possible replacement.  This work could easily come to $500 or more, and that is if I can locate a person with the knowledge and equipment to do a quality job while hopefully avoiding shipping it.

I told the people I would pass on their deck, but I keep reading and thinking about it.  The price is good, but the expense and hassle of restoration, and not knowing how much I might use it (playing mostly records, CD’s and radio now), give me pause.  It does look really cool though with those 10.5 inch reels!  And if I needed to sell it on for a profit, that might not be too difficult?   And thoughts?
bob540

Showing 1 response by steelhead

Sounds like a good deal

I would advise getting ahold of Skywave deck repair.  Worth the wait as Sam Palmero (sp?) was the lead tech for Teac and can make it sing like new.

I would NOT send it to Teac for repair and would use Skywave exclusively unless you have a tech you trust implicitly.

New 10.5 reels are produced in the US and I buy blank 10.5 pancakes as I have plenty of metal reels and they are very cost effective.  You can buy brand new unused blank tape with a 10.5 metal reel for 50-70 dollars from ATR.

Fun to play with and I still enjoy taping and playing around with it.  A definite blast from the past.