Stephens Tape Decks

[newmedia]

Folks:

Probably the most legendary of the rare decks out there, they are also quite difficult/expensive to repair since they are based on unique potted plugins -- which are have not gone back into production and, after John Stephens death, may never again be available.  So existing machines are now being consumed as donors.

I owned an early 3M M23-based 8-track 1", which is now being offered by the fellow who bought it from me on eBay as a spare set of mechanicals.  Auction # 120462863794.  $5000 OTO, located in Portland.

I had some contact with John in the last few years and he told me that he planned to get back into production with a 2T 1/2" portable, which I don't believe ever happened.

The Stephens electronics shared this "discrete plugin" approach with Stellavox and Cello, two other marques I have also collected.

Stephens was an eccentric, by most accounts, who primarily catered to the the film community -- leading to the construction of 32T and 40T 2" machines.  Seems there are never enough tracks for some jobs.

There is a very informative video of a lecture he gave in the AES Historical series, for those who would like to hear him in action.

Mark Stahlman
New York City

[ironbut]

Great info Mark!
It sounds like you have quite a collection there.

It's too bad about the potted modules. We need to find someone that works at an airport and see if one of their X-Ray machines can glean any details of what's in some of those things. I think the first time I saw any was with Mark Levinson Labs gear in the '70's. I think ARC and a couple of other audio companies took to making those and it carried over to Cello (all solid state designs of course).

Have you ever seen a listing of studios (audio and film) who still employ John's machines? I think I saw a partial listing a while back but I didn't bookmark it (duh).
I keep meaning to order the "History of Tape Recorders" video from AES and I'll look for John Stephens lecture too. Thanks for the heads up on that.

[docb]

Here's a 16 track 2" that was parked at the studio a few years ago.

[newmedia]

Hello:

Sorry but I doubt there is a current list of Stephens studio users.  Leon Russell famously has a pair but I suspect these are too old to be used for serious studio work anymore.  When he was still in business (before jail, etc.), they had a reference list which was pretty extensive.

I have a good amount of Stephens lit, including brochures and schematics, which it might make sense to scan for the greater good some day.

I sold my non-working deck to the fellow in Portland for $500 (i.e. what I paid for it), in the hope that it would make some music.  It looks like he's stripped out the modules and is now unloading the rest.  At $150/module (which was the last quoted price I got from John), that unit was "worth" thousands.  Oh well.

There is one place that seems to do a fair amount of work on these machines, based on the owner's experience using them for concert recordings.  It's Analog Domain in Tempe AZ and is run by Andy Barrett.  He had a small Stephens mixer from me for a while and I found him helpful -- when he answered the phone.  I believe that Andy knows what is inside the modules and has considered making a fresh batch.

Yes, that mixer also went to the fellow in Portland (without modules) and is now on eBay.

Mark Stahlman
New York City

[ofajen]

Folks:

Probably the most legendary of the rare decks out there, they are also quite difficult/expensive to repair since they are based on unique potted plugins -- which are have not gone back into production and, after John Stephens death, may never again be available.  So existing machines are now being consumed as donors.

Mark:

Next time I talk to Brian Roth, I'll see if there are other machines he's aware of.  I think Brian mentioned recently that the folks in Calgary who are big into the Stephens machines are now making more of the plug-in modules.  That would be good news, eh?

Cheers,

Otto

[emil]

I've got a Stephens 24/2" 821B in my studio, and it's still working great after 30 years.
I'm located in Norway and I bought the machine brand new in 1980.
I was fortuned enough to have Mr.Stephens coming on my door in person to hand over the machine and to give a brief lesson.
He took the opportunity on this trip to show the machine to NRK (Norwegian Broadcasting)

[ironbut]

Hi Emil,

Welcome to the forum.

Wow, that is one beautiful machine! It looks like it's new.
What other tape machines do you have in your studio?

BTW, I think it would be fine if you'd like to post a link to your studio.

[c1ferrari]

Fabulous pictures!

[emil]

Yes, the machine still looks amazingly well, like new.
But it's been treated like a baby since I got it, more than 30 years ago.
And it's been located safe in its corner for all these years.
The pics are taken quite recently, a couple of years ago.

With the machine, I received a box with spare parts, including some of the potted plugs.

I've also got a 2 track machine from Enertech-Schlumberger, french nationality.
A heavy beast, but a fantastic 2 track master machine.

Concerning Stephens machines and service. A few years ago I got in touch with David Kean
at the Audities Foundation.They have several Stephens machines there, and I understood that
they actually took over all the patents, schemas and spare parts from Stephens.
An agreement that took place just before Mr. Stephens past away.
www.audities.org

I've been thinking of selling my machine, but it is a difficult choice to separate with this unique piece of handcraft.
There is also another Stephens 24 track in Norway.
But that's an older version I believe, with the 3M based transport.This one is not in good shape, but
could serve as a spare parts machine.

I have no website, but the studio is,
Cross Studio as
Kristiansand
Norway

Constructed in 1979

I'm the owner and engineer

Alf Emil Eik

[[email protected]]

Hello,

I'm a new member to this forum, and my name is Rod Stephens, and I'm the brother of John Stephens.  I've got a Flickr account set up in tribute to John, and here is the link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/savecal/sets/72157601891062292/
Please feel free to visit and contribute if you wish.  Some of John's other clients/friends are working on a dedicated web site.   I'll post that once it's up.  Rod

[ironbut]

Hey Rod,

Welcome to the forum.

Checked out your flickr page. Lots of great stuff there.
Thanks!
I look forward to seeing your site once it's up.