TEAC recorder

[Fender1165]

Hey. The other day my dad brought down a TEAC A-7300 4 track recorder from '76. It records onto the huge reels... ya know? I was just wondering if anyone knows anything about this equipment. I still haven't used it to record anything. And does anyone know if you can overdub tracks or if it just records all 4 inputs at the same time???

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-ejd

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[Fender1165]

grrr.... someone has to have an idea of what I'm talking about! anybody??

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-ejd

email:
Fender1165@aol.com
Guitarbiz@hotmail.com

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[Jon68]

I don't know anything about that model, but my old band used to use a 4-track Teac A3340 (also sold under the brand name Roberts) in the late 60's and early 70's. The A3340 used 12-inch tape reals and was considered "Pro" equipment. It could record "Sound-on-Sound" and "Sound-with-Sound".
The A3340 had multiple record heads, so you could play back what you had recorded and mix that in with new material on the same track (Sound-on-Sound). Or, you could record on a different track (Sound-with-Sound). The 12-inch reels and wide, thick tape allowed for a high signal to noise ratio and high tape saturation value so that you could record with much less noise and a much hotter signal than with cassette recorders (which were pretty new at the time).
Over the years, cassette tape coatings got better and better, so that the audio values were closer to that of the open-reel recorder. However, the open-reel machines also benefited from the new tape formulations.
In the end, I think that it was just economics that made the open-reel recorders so rare today. The machines and tapes were very expensive.
I suspect that your A7300 is a more-expensive model than the A3340 that I used, and that it would have more features. I would suggest that you get the recorder checked for tape speed and drag and head alignment. Open-reel tape systems required a lot of maintenance to keep them running - if you record now without ensuring that the tape transport is in good condition, you might come back later and find that your old tapes no longer sound right.

[ksisson]

Good advice about the calibration. You might also see if TEAC has a thing like Casio in that they'll send you a manual on anything they make - for free! They must have a website just a few clicks away.

[Fender1165]

Thanx for the advice you guys. All I need now is a take up reel.... but I know where to go for that. I have a few blank reels of my dads that he's saying I can use but I was wondering how much a reel would cost if I bought any more. any idea?

------------------
-ejd

email:
Fender1165@aol.com
Guitarbiz@hotmail.com

Site: http://www.hometown.aol.com/Fender1165/index.html
(Sign the guestbook if u go :) )

[Jon68]

Check out this link: http://community-2.webtv.net/cnagorka/OpenReelForever/index.html
There are several pages of information about various open-reel recorders and links to suppliers of parts and media.