Teac 2300S / Technics RS-1500US

[c.cash]

Hi all, new here and looking for you guidance. I have a Teac 2300S, which is a quarter-track / 2-track machine that I used to record bands, up until about 1995 when I suspect the heads wore out. One channel sounds fine, and the other is muddy (lacks High Frequencies) and has a little lower output level. I guess it could be electronic, but I'm not a tech.

A friend, who knows I want to transfer and archive all these recordings, gave me a beautiful Technics RS-1500US. Of course I quickly discovered that this is a half-track machine... I hear tracks from the other side of the tape playing too -- backwards.

My question is, does anyone know if it's a reasonable option to find a 1506 head for the Technics? From what I've been reading, this is a quater-track head (or at least it has that option) and could play my tapes. If this would be too hard to find or ridiculously expensive, I could try buying a 2300S on eBay just for the head. They can be had for under $150, and much cheaper if everything isn't working right, but this Technics is such a beautiful machine I'd love to be able to use it!

Thanks for any insight!
-Curt

Re-recording Mixer
Warner Bros. Pictures
(forum rules stated I had to include my industry affiliationa)

[c.cash]

Looking at the tech specs again, the only difference I can see is that the 1500 RECORDS 2-track but not 4-track, and vice-versa for the 1506. They can both PLAY 4-track... if I'm reading this right. When I switched the 1500 to 4-track mode I expected correct playback of my stereo quarter-track tapes, but it wasn't right. The switching was a little funky, so maybe it needs to be cleaned.

I guess the 4-track head would have to be configured as:

Track 1 = Left Side 1
Track 2 = Right Side 2
Track 3 = Right Side 1
Track 4 = Left Side 2

Anyone know if this is the case, or does it expect to play all 4 tracks simultaneously in one direction?

[ironbut]

Hi Curt, welcome to the forum. Your assessment of the 1/4 track head is correct. And you're probably right on the money as far as the playback head switch. The best way to clean it is to remove the headblock. There are 3 silver hex headed screws (one on the top and two on the bottom) on the face of the headblock. Remove them and then you can pull the headblock straight off the machine. There's a multi-pin connector built into the headblock that holds the block on so as long as you pull straight out, it'll come off. (theres a little black plastic cover with one screw that you can remove on the back to get better access to the switch) I'd use some spray contact cleaner (which is one of the reasons to remove the block) and just give the switch a tiny squirt. Work the switch back a forth a few times and that should do it. While you have the headblock off, do a super good cleaning of all the guides and heads. Pay particular attention to the inside corners of the guides and the front part of the playback heads since these would be almost impossible to see and get at (under the headshields) with the block in place.
Bear in mind that the 1500 will playback 1/4 track stereo and not 4 track. That gets kinda confusing. If you like to get more confused, check out the "Beginners Guide" which is a sticky at the top of the General forum.

[steveidosound]

Looking at the tech specs again, the only difference I can see is that the 1500 RECORDS 2-track but not 4-track, and vice-versa for the 1506. They can both PLAY 4-track... if I'm reading this right. When I switched the 1500 to 4-track mode I expected correct playback of my stereo quarter-track tapes, but it wasn't right. The switching was a little funky, so maybe it needs to be cleaned.

I guess the 4-track head would have to be configured as:

Track 1 = Left Side 1
Track 2 = Right Side 2
Track 3 = Right Side 1
Track 4 = Left Side 2

Anyone know if this is the case, or does it expect to play all 4 tracks simultaneously in one direction?

You are correct. It should work in that position. There is a great deal of confusion about what you call all the configurations between "track" and "channel" and  2 and 1/2 and 4 and  1/4 and stereo, mono or 4 channel, all of which exist on 1/4" wide tape.

My interpretation of your first post is that your Teac was 1/4 track stereo as in the track assignment you just showed above. That is more properly known as 4 track or 1/4 track but NOT 4 channel. It is of course just 2 channel - which typically means stereo.

4 channel typically means 4 tracks in one direction with the capability of providing 4 outputs and 4 inputs as in either a 4 channel / 4 track  project studio machine like the Teac 3340 or a quadraphonic machine for playing 4 channel prerecorded tapes. These heads have 4 gaps for playing 4 tracks of information in one direction through  4 outputs.

The Technics you have, as you said, should play and record 2 track 2 channel stereo and play back 1/4 track stereo as well. The switch changes between the 2 playback heads. Both heads have only 2 gaps and play back 2 tracks at once.
 The problem is that when you play  a 1/4 track stereo tape with the  2 track head you hear a combination of the left  channel from side one forwards and the right channel from side 2 backwards through the left output and the right channel forwards and the left channel from side 2 backwards through the right output because they interlaced the two sides as your chart shows, and  each head gap is covering 2 tracks of the tape.
The 1/4 track head has 2 gaps which are centered on what you are calling tracks one and three, each covering 1/4 of the tape width and should play those tapes properly.
 It is amazing how much of this gets forgotten in the past! Just like turning over the needle to play 78s - stuff I grew up with   :)

[c.cash]

Thank you both for the excellent replies. Steve K -- I appreciate the cleaning tips, I'll be sure to do that.

And Steve W., appreciate the clarification on all the variations! It kinda throws me off because in my world 4-track, 8-track etc. usually refers to multitrack tape, going in one direction.

I imagine 20 years from now some kid will aquire some "vintage gear", and he'll be scratching his head wondering why they made HDMI, component, DVI. etc. etc. -- all to accomplish the same thing.

[Ben]

I am wondering that now ... Every year a new standard and more $$$$ cables.
PS. In  my world 8 track was the player in the car with the same Country & Western
tape in it.

[steveidosound]

That's right Ben !
8 tracks on 1/4" tape existed in 2  cartridge formats as well. The conventional 8 track with 4ea. 2 channel stereo programs and also the Q8 tape with 2ea. 4 channel or quadraphonic programs.
Oh yes, Fostex also had 8 tracks in one direction on 1/4" open reel tape as a project studio format in the 80s I think.

I am now wondering if I should create a topic on the forum somewhere devoted to what happens if you play tapes in the "wrong format" for the machine. It might help people figure stuff out... or it might just confuse everyone more :)

[c.cash]

Steve K - I removed the heads and cleaned the 2-track/4-track switch w/ DeoxIt... worked great and now the tracks play as they should. Thanks. Now if I could get these tapes to stop shedding...

I used "cotton rounds" -- which are thick cotton pads mainly used for cleaning your face -- to clean the tape while I ran it in FF and REWIND, going directly from reel to reel bypassing the head path. Seems to have worked.

When I used to do mag transfers (35mm "film"), if we had a tape that was shedding, we would spray Silicone onto a cloth and run the tape through it. The Silicone would help bond the emulsion. I haven't read a lot of posts yet on this board, so this may be old news.

P.S. The articles you guys wrote in the Beginners Guide are excellent.

[ironbut]

Thanks Curt. Writing those articles really helped me put all the little things I've picked up together into something that makes sense (hopefully).
Regarding tape shedding,.. for the most part, old tapes will shed for a while if they haven't been played in a while. It usually slows down after the loose oxide comes off. I use a cleaning tissue that's made for tape called Pelon. It reminds me of the lens cleaning tissue they make for optics. Pelon has a bit of lubricant built into it that should help with the shedding too. You use it the same way you're using the facial pads ( it figures that you film guys would use something that makeup artists would have lots of). You can pick some up at US Recording Media;
http://usrecordingmedia-store.stores.yahoo.net/
 It comes in 2" rolls that'll last forever and is cheap to boot. For old tapes that sound really great and I want to keep them in top shape, I use, Last tape preservative. I've done some tests with different types of tape (the guys at Last submitted papers to the AES on the testing that they did too) and it's safe on every tape I've tried it on. It's an aerospace, dry lubricant in a medium that drys instantly and I apply it the same as using Pelon. I like it but like I said, it makes an 18 year old single malt scotch seem cheap.
http://www.lastfactory.com/tape_care.html
Hey, if you get the time, I'd love to see a post from you about 35mm mag film. Most of the members probably don't know much about it except that some of the records that they have  were mastered in that format. I subscribe to the ARSC list so I know a little and I love it when the subject shifts to lesser known tape formats.