Teac A-3340S
You have a nice piece. I use my Pioneer RT-707 often in my garage system, fun to use, sounds great and looks cool. You might try the links below to for more info: https://www.audionirvana.org/forum/the-audio-vault/all-things-reel-to-reel https://www.audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?forums/tape.157/ |
I had one, here’s it’s manual file:///C:/Users/ellio/Downloads/Teac-A-3340-S-Service-Manual.pdf It is really for a musician to make recordings: 4 separate forward tracks, and professional speeds: 15 ips; 7-1/2 ips; there is no 3-3/4 ips. My Teac X2000R R2R is the best sounding source I have. Even though it has the highest measurable noise, EVERYBODY picks tape over LP, and they all pick LP over CD. AND, Tubes over SS. I no longer record. I listen to pre-recorded tapes, inherited, gifts, bought over 500 on ebay: sold by music labels, and recorded by individuals, and my prior recordings. Recording is fun, but few stick with recording. New tapes can be tricky, do your research first, some shed. I have some, if you want to try recording I’ll send you a few, send me a message. If you do not record, or find that you don’t after the initial fun: I would sell or give it away to a musician who likes analog. That’s what I did with mine. They often have their own 4 forward track tapes, but no machine. IOW, it’s not a listener model. I progressed: all Teacs, all 3 era’s: Vintage Stainless Steel with Wood sides; Beige Plastic Faceplates, plastic rear shell; Aluminum Face Plate (black or silver) plastic rear shell. ’Fake Wood’ cases are available that cover all 4 sides (open plastic back/bottom). I had a 2 track to play my pre-recorded 2 track stereo tapes from 1956 I inherited. (two wide tracks, twice the magnetic material). This 3340S 4 forward tracks, then on to 3 head consumer 4 track: stereo forward, manually flip the tape over, stereo backwards; then to 4 track auto reverse (6 heads needed). Most ’pro-sumer’ 4 track stereo decks (the Teacs) have 7-1/2 ips and 3-3/4 ips (no 15 ips). 7-1/2 pre-recorded tapes are best, those are my best sounding source that beat LP. 3-3/4 ips can be quite satisfactory, especially if you cannot find a title in the better speed. Or, get 3-3/4 until you find the 7-1/2 version, then sell the 3-3/4. .......................... ALL the Teacs are built like tanks. Many, most old belts dissolve and turn to glue. Much original lube turns into glue. Capstan rollers might be ok, hardened (they make rubber restorer), or dented from leaving them against the capstan while off/stored/unused a long time. They are easily obtainable. Happily, ALL the Teacs I have worked on only needed Mechanical work: PATIENCE, clean innards, all switches and pots contact cleaner/lubricant; all rollers off, clean, liquid bearing oil (careful: beware of/verify presence of roller’s small washers); new belts (drive and counter), lube, align reel decks, adjust brakes, only a few needed me to adjust potentiometers to get Play/Stop/Reverse/FF/FR working (if handy, not as hard as it seems, you do it while they are running, see the effects, they are inter-related, go slow, give time for the small adjustment to settle in. I’ve rebuilt motors (apart, clean motor rotors, brushes contact surfaces, new lube, bingo back to near perfect. Get a clock with a second hand, put on a full reel of tape, measure FF/FR times, that tells you about the motors Many have heads in good shape, many lightly used. Worn heads can be expensive to replace, yours would be hard to find. 4 track stereo heads: a whole assembly with ’not too worn’ heads can be changed fairly easily if you are handy, and, I have gotten lucky, no re-alignment needed, the plate with all the pre-aligned heads simply screws on. Modular connections, hit play. Of course, for best use, you would want alignment by a pro. |
