Reel to Reel decks

I took the Akai beast to Fred at Classic Audio Repair in San Diego. He confirmed what several have said (parts, etc.). He recommended I ditch it and get Teac, unless I wanted to make it a personal project. I may Craigslist for a low amount as "parts or repair." The take-up reel alone is pretty cool.

Well, it works. A local record shop had a box of free reel tapes (home recorded). Turns out, many of them were actually sealed blank tapes. Nice windfall. I'm looking forward to checking this guy's Ink Spots recording against my cd. Unfortunately, the left channel is practically inaudible. I may take it into the shop for that. The right channel sounded fine. I can hear the record scratches from the home recording, but they were free, so . . .

Thanks again for the helpful responses.

I'll check that stuff out, Atma. :)

M.

I thought about starting a new thread, but I don't think there's enough interest to warrant it. Anyway, my dad showed up at Easter with a reel-to-reel for me. I'd asked him awhile back if he still had any around. We ran a community theater in the 80's and 90's, and we used reel-to-reel to run sound before switching to digital. I told him I wasn't picky--I just wanted one if he was looking to get rid of them anyway. I assumed he would unload plastic Teac that they bought somewhere around 1990. Turns out he gave that one and others away to community theaters over the years.

There was one left, apparently. He showed up with this massive box that weighs a ton. It's old and rather messy, but way cooler than anything I recall. Which is to say, I don't remember this thing at all. It's an Akai Cross-Field X-355D. He said they bought it used rather expensively when they first opened the theater and then replaced it fairly quickly--I doubt it's seen action since 1985 (much like his 1978 Peugot 103 moped, which is in similar condition and currently decorating my front porch). The sealed Maxell 35-90 recording tape is a nice bonus, only one reel though.

How should I proceed? It turns on, but I hear stuff turning inside. Should I open this thing up and give it a going over with Deoxit? Should cease all further action and have it properly serviced? I caught the link at the beginning of this thread for the Project, so I'll check it out. I'm just accustomed to coming here for audio advice first, since I already know I like the environment. :) Curious how this thing will do with my passive pre . . .

Thanks for the responses, guys. I'll be chewing my lip for awhile on this one. I don't have anything to test it with yet. I guess that's step two. We'll see how it goes.

Thanks for the tip. I typically use Pro-Shot 1 Step Gun Cleaner and Lubricant as a general household oil-based lubricant. Any reason I should use something else?

That's pretty much where I'm at with it, Marchameslice. I'll post my results on this thread when I get to the project, since this thread is truly one of the few sources for kind of info. Many thanks again.

Michael