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Author Topic: Slow rewind or fast forward  (Read 4120 times)

Offline The reel deal

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Slow rewind or fast forward
« on: August 06, 2015, 10:30:36 PM »
New to all of this. New Otari MX 5050 Bll2. Plays prerecorded vintage tapes well. Plays prerecorded 4track and my experiment 2track recordings well. I bought some large reels that were loaded with tape and they will not rewind or fast forward as it does otherwise. I took the tape and bypassed the transport and went direct reel to reel and it flies!

I get a little sound when I rewind smaller reels off the tape. I suspect the que lifter thing is not fully lifting. I have not cleaned the transport area since getting the deck. I have played several hours of tape no problem without being full 10 inch reels.

Will getting the mod kit help? What can be the issue.
PS. Oh my goodness. I love this whole thing.
Live in Seattle area FYI

Offline docb

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Re: Slow rewind or fast forward
« Reply #1 on: August 07, 2015, 02:04:05 PM »
Those 10" reels probably have sticky tape on them. Do clean the tape path components as the tape probably left gunk on them. I have not adjusted the tape lifters on a 5050 recently enough to remember how, but I imagine it can be done without too much hassle.

Installing the tape path mod kit will not solve the issues you are having. It is not intended to compensate for bad tape or to replace maintenance procedures. It is designed to reduce scrape flutter. I suggest getting the stock deck tuned up first, then adding the tape path mod.
Dan "Doc B." Schmalle
President for Life, Bottlehead Corp.
Managing Director - retired, The Tape Project