TP-027, Jerry Garcia / David Grisman wins a Writer's Choice Award from Myles Astor of Positive Feedback Online

Author Topic: SOLD - Rare opportunity - we have a complete "Plan B" setup for sale  (Read 5982 times)

Offline docb

  • Administrator
  • leader in spreading disinformation
  • *****
  • Posts: 1345
    • View Profile
    • Bottlehead Corp.
NOTE: this machine is sold -

This an an unusual confluence of events. Several months ago someone sent me an RS1506 in dirty but decent shape, to be modded. It turned out that priorities changed for the owner and he decided that he would rather sell that machine than go ahead with the modification. Also in the past few weeks I had Shawn build a tape head Seduction so he could have that design in his skill set.

The RS1506 was pretty funky. It got a very thorough cleaning, really minty side panels replaced the dinged up ones that were on it, and it got the most up to date version of the tape path mod with the new ball bearing setup on the fixed guides, and the heads rewired for direct out. All mechanical adjustments in the service manual have been done - servo sync, brake tension, supply and takeup tension, pinch roller timing and tension, etc. Under the layer of grime it came out very nice, with just a couple of minor nicks on the top front edge and a small scratch below the output level knob. Shawn did his first full alignment on this machine and I gotta say he did an outstanding job. After we wrestled with it for a couple of days, tweaking this and that, the machine pulls and packs tape as well as any machine we have had through here. The heads are about 85%, with the 1/4 track head working very well and the 1/2 track great but with a slight rolloff above 15kHz in the right channel.


The Seduction was an experiment. It is a "stock" Seduction tape head preamp electronically. The chassis plate was the experiment. I tried out a bronze color paint that I though might match the color of an RS1500. It came out a little too light, but not bad, call it a near miss. Unfortunately the paint doesn't lay on too well and it got a bit pimpled and slightly scratched. It's not really something one would notice with the unit sitting on a rack, but you can see it up close and I try to be honest about the cosmetic stuff - it's not perfect. But it sounds sweet. The base was finished with satin Varathane Diamond.



To clarify, this deck does NOT have extended response heads, the IEC power entry mod, nor does it
come with interconnects. The record/erase heads and circuitry have not been altered or adjusted. The TP tape and reels shown in the top picture are not included, but I can throw in a Technics style takeup reel. I will include the stock NAB hub adapters shown and our new turntable spacers for metal reels.

Price for the entire turnkey package is $2800 plus shipping and a $75 deposit for the shipping container. We can ship immediately. Contact me at dan at tapeproject dot com, or call us at 360-697-1936, 10-5 pacific time.
« Last Edit: July 16, 2008, 12:13:56 PM by docb »
Dan "Doc B." Schmalle
President for Life, Bottlehead Corp.
Managing Director - retired, The Tape Project