MCI JH 110 1/4" 2-track

[andy_p]

I've read through all the posts on this site and read other info on other sites so have some perspective on the machine in terms of the maintenance and other issues.

Someone I know has one that he got running, relapped heads, sleeved lifters, repaired power supply, re-soldered many of the red pin sockets.  It comes in one of those enclosed 5 foot rolling racks where the transport part at the top is angled back slightly (there is a door on the back).  It comes with an MRL alignment tape, 2 ATR tapes (one new), an extra transport (missing headblock and other parts), some various extra cards and other parts, piles of old 7" tape reels (no prerecords).  He is asking $450

It is across town and I got a chance to see it in action today.  The brake for rewind wasn't working, the bias light was coming on during playback (should be for record only), the feed reel was clunking a little (the tables and spindles appeared fine and there was play between the reel and the hub adapter which looked pretty worn so I think that was the issue).  I haven't made up my mind yet about it.   I think it will require a ownership committment that I haven't had to make yet (I don't own any real studio decks).

I haven't decided whether to purchase, on one hand it is 10 miles away and he offered tech support as needed (I bought another deck from him a few months back). 

I suppose a lot of people would recommend walking away and fast but on the other hand the extras included make it hard to pass on.  I am waiting and hoping for a more contemporary deck (studer in my dreams, ampex, otari, sony, I just want a real studio deck to play with).  Again, I know people have queried on this site before about this particular model but just looking for comments in terms of the package (and realizing the real maintenance issues and problems that are sure to arise),

Andy

[ironbut]

I guess my advice is the same for lots of things in general. If you were in the market for a JH 110 than this sounds like a great deal.
If not, that it just puts you further away from getting what you really want.
Since I don't really know your financial situation, I'm really applying my own status to you but of course, that's really my MO isn't it?

IMHO unless you have lots of spare time and money, buying something just because it's available isn't very practical.

[andy_p]

Thanks for the comments and perspective Steve, have to admit a sort of rabid madness regarding tape machines, maybe should spend the $450 on having my head lapped!

[andy_p]

Couldn't resist, it's in my kitchen playing right now (have to rearrange the living room to accomodate).  Have to say it sounds excellent, I had recorded an LP on my tascam br-20, playing it back right now and first impression is that it is better on the mci but not a real comparison.  It came with about 4 boxes of 7" reels (there are several with a single song on them recorded at 15ips, but they are big names like hendrix etc, not sure what those are yet).  He also threw in a dozen or more 10.5" metal reels with tape (and a technics turntable in the original box, teac an-80 dolby nr and the other stuff mentioned).  Gosh am I happy right now!

[ironbut]

Holy cow!
I've seen a few of those "everything but the kitchen sink" sales before but they've always been 'local pickup only'.
Sounds like you gotta heck of a deal.
Just try and keep the bacon fat off of it until you make room in the living room!

[andy_p]

Steve, if you could see my kitchen your comment about the bacon fat would make you telepathic. I have it connected to my system with some long cables.  Will have to do some major rearranging to make room, I might move my media collections to another room.  I feel more excited and satisfied than I thought I would, my first studio machine and it sounds great. 

[andy_p]

After my last post I had moved the deck into my listening space, with the onset of hotter weather have taken a traditional break from my system to do landscaping and other various summer activities (in the summer I tend to not be as interested in my listening room), always feel a hiatus can help with overall perspective on the hobby.

Actually had spent the time understanding the machine and troubleshooting a few issues.  Over the weekend I bought 4 more jh-110 machines, I think I have enough parts to have 3 total 1/4" 1/2 track and maybe a mono or maybe a 1/2" 1/2 track (need the heads for that).  I had responded to an ad on cl several weeks ago and finally got ahold of the poster and then several more weeks of nothing (I was thinking he didn't want to sell these), anyway, finally got them all into my house for a very decent price (about what I paid for my original machine).   Various issues I am sure but they are all the later b or c model transports and all in either bridge mci cabs or sony variable profile cabinets. 

I spent sunday clearing out my two extra bedrooms (one for the machines and the other for the tape that piled up, the orignal boxes of tape I got with the mci and 6 boxes of 7" 1/4" reels from a radio station). Hope to condense into one room for machine evaluation and tape sorting/listening.   Happy to have these machines to play around with, these machines are physically very easy to work on, it makes me feel like a kid with a bunch of building blocks

[ironbut]

I like the way you casually mention "bought 4 more jh-110 machines"!
Enjoy the warm weather and tinkering with the machines. I really find learning and fooling around with these things a joy.

[andy_p]

It's nice because these are all the later larger transports with the extra roller on left.  I really resisted buying these because of the space and the difficulty transporting and getting into the house (will have to take off doors to get them out of the back room, just need that extra bit of clearance to get them in!).  Now that they are in my house I'm much more excited about, knowing I can probably have a few good working machines for some time.  Going to be looking at a nagra iv-L (1/4" full track) in a few hours for a good price I think ($300), not something I need but I don't need any of this, I just want it!

[stellavox]

Hey Andy P,

GO FOR IT.  My main (large) machine is a JH-110 with the (Bogen) playback head wired out to my preamp. Also added a Quarter track Nortronics playback head and a Tandberg wireless remote control (for jollies).  SOUNDS JUST GREAT

You enjoy yourself!!!

Charles

[andy_p]

Thanks Charles! It's neat to have so many parts and machines, just have to decide where to start (I will probably start by converting a 1" to 1/4" and see what happens).  Picked up the nagra iv-L today for $275 off of craigslist.  It is functional (I brought the batteries).  Pinch roller needs replacement but was able to test it at various speeds and got audio out of the speaker.  The rubber seal for the top cover is disentegrating at the corners so will probably remove it and hopefully can find a solvent to take off the residue without taking off the finish.  The nice thing is that it came with the AC power supply, the ni-cad charger adapter, an external microphone preamplifier, and some cables. 

[ironbut]

A good solvent for removal of adhesives that's very gentle to stuff like paint is a product called "Goo Gone". I buy it at the grocery or hardware store and it's citrus based. It comes in a small squirt bottle or a "spray gel" (pump not aerosol). I use it all the time for loosening hardened adhesive which is probably what's holding the rest of that seal on. It works best if you can let it sit for a while to do it's thing. Even though it's citrus based, trying it on a bit of out of the way finish is always a good idea.
It's kinda oily but something like 409 can be used to clean it off. If you don't get it all off, forget about any new adhesive sticky to that surface for long.

Really great stuff for any DIYer/collector.

[andy_p]

Thanks Steve, I have goo gone and will give it a try. I emailed Terry's Rubber Rollers to get a quote on fixing the pinch roller.  The rubber seal looks like it will just mostly lift off and from what I can see it looks like the surface underneath has the same finish as the rest of the machine with a rounded edge.

[ironbut]

Not to put down Terry's work but you should be able to source Nagra pinch rollers still. Terry does very nice work. And he's a god send for rollers that can't be found any other place but from my experience, using the rollers that the machine was designed to use can make a clearly audible difference on some machines. I suggest that you find out just how much a Nagra roller is and even if it's twice the cost of one that may be made with a compound that has a different compliance it's worth the extra cost.
You should be able to find one by contacting the Nagra service guys in this thread;

http://www.tapeproject.com/smf/index.php/topic,1270.0.html

[andy_p]

Thanks for the tip Steve, I will see what I can find.  Was looking at the large reel adapter on ebay right now ($6000 asking price, holy cow!).