How often do you have to service your Studer or Otari deck ? Home not pro environment.


I guess, there are still places where you can be confident that they know what they do.
inna
Inna
re the Studer,
Once it is setup it is pretty dependable (knock on wood); keep the heads clean. Use good tape.
I will say from all my time with my Studer the following questions need to be answered when looking for one. A Studer is really no different than buying an older Porsche.  
Serious questions need to be asked.

Do you know the person you are buying it from and its history ?
If it was not maintained by an authorized Studer tech I would not look at it further.
If buying from an unknown source you will need to pay to get it calibrated and set up properly.

**The tech needs to be within driving distance - forget about shipping it. It can get bumped and parts put out of alignment. I experienced this when mine was shipped to me initially. That is how I was introduced to Roger Ginsley - Studer Tech Rep for Canada. 40 minute drive from me. Talking with other tape guys in the past they all say the same thing - you are so lucky to have a Studer tech close by. Picture 5 in my virtual system shows a pic of Roger working on my deck.

***************************************

Let me tell you a story that happened many years ago.
I went to play a tails out tape. It powered up like normal.
I wound the tape up and hit rewind to bring it to the beginning.
Nothing - just a click.
Talked to my Studer tech Roger who assumed the power supply capacitors needed changing.
This was at a point in time, when I really needed that deck for audio fixes. It was my reference. It had to be repaired.  

So I drove it to him. He pulled the two main coke can size Made in West Germany silver capacitors.

Guess what ? they tested like new. In impeccable condition he said.
I then asked him.

Are you going to change them out anyway due to how old they are ?

I forget the brand name of the capacitors he had sitting on the table waiting. They would have been the best of what was available then.

He said no. They don't make them like that anymore. He refused to change them out.

That repair cost me from what I recall about $300. All labor. It took him a few hours to trace the problem to a faulty resistor. The manuals he was using to find the problem were 5 inches thick.
Have you seen the way the circuits are built and laid out in the Studer ?

captain_winters and ct0517, appreciate your posts.
I have been thinking about Studer and Otari half track only, not about Crown or Ampex or top Revox. Maybe I am wrong, not sure.
Yeah, 7.5 and 15 ips speed, I don't think I will need 30 ips. I asked about Maxell tape because it is sometimes available NOS, though you have to trust the seller and you don't know in what conditions the tape had been stored. I use Maxell Vertex cassette tape with my Nakamichi 682ZX, it is back coated tape and the very best available in a cassette, by far.
Living with the driving distance of your technician may be problematic. I ship my Nak to California across the country for service every few years and it doesn't come back with the alignment off, as far as I can tell. But perhaps shipping open reel deck is different situation.
I only saw pictures of Studer's inside. Appears to be a very complicated machine.
Because of the cost Otari is more realistic for me, I think, unless I decide to save up on Studer for a few more years. Would it be worth the wait ? What do you think ?
I had my Otari MX55N serviced some 4+ years ago and biased for current tape formulations.  Still going strong and measures fine.  It is in an audio (non-pro environment).
i had a couple of revox B77 i use in a mobile recording rack, proved so reliable that i sold spare to a very high end shop in San Diego..they use it with a protection copy Jacintha tape for demo...it sounds excellent 
ATR tape high speed big reels iec EQ
good techs abound on West Coast seattle to san diego because of the studio demand...

what are you seeking to do ?