Interesting find

[docb]

I met a person today who is doing some really splendid work cosmetically refurbing Technics tape machines. We are starting discussions about offering a service that might include custom paint jobs and anodizing, custom side panels, custom aluminum feet, and possibly even more adventurous stuff in the future. I will keep you folks posted as we work out the details.

When I walked into his shop he was opening the back of what appeared to be a new RS1506 - which is the model with the 1/4 track record head, plus 1/4 and 1/2 track playback heads. It even had the factory plastic protective coating around the turntables intact. Also has very minty rosewood sidepanels. He said the original owner sold it to him, and that he had been told it had very few hours, like maybe ten.

Anyway, the machine is available. I don't know what the asking price is, or what options are available, but there were lots of stock hub adapters, really nice looking repro Technics reels, one of those wild molded plastic dustcovers for the reels, and even a manual remote in his shop. I imagine some of those things are available as well.

The seller is leaving town for a bit on Thursday. If you are interested, contact me and I'll see if I can hook you up before he leaves.

[AZ_Gary]

Doc,

Is that the one on eBay with a BIN of $4995?

Gary

[docb]

It appears that it is. He asked me to see if I could send someone his way and that is the reason for my post. Apparently it slipped his mind to mention to me that he already listed it on ebay. I will talk to him about that.

[ironbut]

Yikes! $5k,.. And how much will you be asking for your refurb'ed and modded 1500's with the repo amp? Well, I guess you can't blame the guy for going for it on the BIN price. A collector might pay that much for a new one. There's a 1506 for 1500 euros and a 1700 for 2400, I think, over onaudioscope.net right now. Their prices are the highest I've seen but they do have turnover of the decks offered.
The custom cosmetics kind of gets the imagination working in overdrive though. Main front panel in automotive gloss black or maroon with the bottom panel and headblock anodized to match the repo amp. Birds-eye maple side panels with super deep coats of lacquer,.. Hmm, $5k doesn't sound so high after all!

[docb]

I am not a serious collector. I am a hacker so I don't really claim to understand the economics or the mentality of collecting. I feel guilty if I buy two $10 records on ebay in the same week, and I only buy cheap broken watches just so I can have fun fixing them. This fellow was doing $100K restorations on classic cars in years past (showed me a picture of a gorgeous Pontiac), so he probably knows a lot more about the collector market than I do.

At any rate, yeah, what is truly intriguing is the idea that he wants to do a bunch of neat custom work. We were talking about pearlescent white with gold knobs, blue metallic, all sorts of stuff. He had really nice looking solid polished aluminum feet made to replace the cheesy stock plastic ones, and he does a neat thing where he puts a 1/4" polished aluminum plate between the side of the machine and a nice hardwood side panel. His reproduction Technics reels are also very nice looking.

[ironbut]

I replaced those cheap plastic footers on mine with a set of those plastic thingys that you can put under furniture and slide them on hardwood floors easily. I do that on a lot of my "project" gear so it's easy to spin it around on my desktop when it's being worked on. They have lots of different sizes and some shapes and can be screwed on or double stick taped. Cheap ( about $4 for a set of 4 @ Ace Hardware ) and work great. I won't waste any words on how they " sound " but they make my life easier.

[Danny Kaey]

hrmmm... interesting!  although it would mean the logos and all other print on the deck would be gone, unless he has some way to silk screen the stuff back on... (doubt it, but hey, I've seen trickier stuff done)...

I think the side panel stuff would be nice...

[docb]

I suggested he look up a silk screen printer when we first spoke. He went to one but wasn't too impressed with the guy's work. I think it's just a matter of finding the right printer, as I've seen very high quality screen printing on audio gear. For the Technics repro reels he does the print is much larger, and he has a sign cutter make vinyl transfers. They look pretty nice.

[motorbruce]

I've got a pair of reels that this guy has redone. They look really great. I don't have an original reel to compare it to, but who really cares anyway?

The reels look great to me, and they closely match the machines.

Cheers,
Bruce
motorbruce

[docb]

Jeff contacted me today to tell me that his price for the minty RS1506 is now $2800. He will include a pair of his repro Technics reels and he will install an RS1500 headblock with the 1/2 track record head rather than the 1506's 1/4 track record head if the buyer prefers. He also has access to several other RS1500s at the moment. I don't know what his asking price would be, but if you are looking for a machine contact me and I will hook you up with him.