[Mateo Sanboval]

@Spun - Heck yes I did.

@Max - I'm impressed, man. That's well above my pay grade. I have to replace the belts on a vintage deck that I bought recently and I've got shaky hands just thinking about it.

[maxlevel]

Cheers guys, but I can’t take the credit just yet! There’s a fantastic repair guide on tapeheads.org I found, and currently my unit has no power so I’ll have to revisit tomorrow... I lost two washers and a spring today so I’ll have to order them from somewhere. Tiny invisible bastards

@mateo what tape deck?

[Mateo Sanboval]

Cheers guys, but I can’t take the credit just yet! There’s a fantastic repair guide on tapeheads.org I found, and currently my unit has no power so I’ll have to revisit tomorrow... I lost two washers and a spring today so I’ll have to order them from somewhere. Tiny invisible bastards

@mateo what tape deck?

[Bezulsqy]

@ Mateo: that's a tape deck! Very nice. Hope you get it to work.

[maxlevel]

@mateo beautiful!

[Mateo Sanboval]

Thanks, dudes. I hope I can get the thing running. The old feller I bought it from said it worked great for years until the drive belt broke. I figure I can always take it somewhere to get it properly serviced, but I'd love to find an online guide and have a crack at it myself.

[maxlevel]

There’s so much that can be done with IPA and q-tips. The amount of carbon build up on contacts which ‘kills’ a deck is unreal. Its just carbon, clean it! And, old oil acts like glue. Get some mobius 8000 watch oil and you’re away! Only use a tiny drop, turn the moving part before replacing.

I had a cursory look for teac belts but they seem generic. Should be easy to find

[Mateo Sanboval]

Thanks, Max. I'll take that advice. I have a set of replacement belts and, you're correct, they are generic.

PS - By IPA, do you meant isopropyl alcohol?

[maxlevel]

Exactly yes! You are primarily aiming for the heads and rubber rollers but I found recently that even some non moving parts need cleaning because the tape itself moves past them. As the tape is constantly leaving metallic residue everywhere, and the grease is always heating and cooling, all these tiny things slow the tape fractionally.

I also found taking photos in order of removal is useful, tiny screws everywhere and it’s not always obvious even with a guide

[Mateo Sanboval]

Exactly yes! You are primarily aiming for the heads and rubber rollers but I found recently that even some non moving parts need cleaning because the tape itself moves past them. As the tape is constantly leaving metallic residue everywhere, and the grease is always heating and cooling, all these tiny things slow the tape fractionally.

I also found taking photos in order of removal is useful, tiny screws everywhere and it’s not always obvious even with a guide

Once I get in there, I'll hose everything down with booze and grease! Good call on the pics. That's exactly the kind of thing I neglect to do once I have a head of steam.

[Spun out of control]

STBC made me do it.... (Part 10)

Picked up from a Discogs seller in Portland, oddly enough (hadn't realised there was a Vol IV when I placed the order. Damn).

Pretty clunky, bare bones, frill free presentation but can't argue with the track selection.

[maxlevel]

Damn it. Been eyeing these for ages.

[Mateo Sanboval]

They're real cool tapes. I've got a set myself.

[maxlevel]

Right that’s it, I’m doing it

[deafmetal]

@Spun @max - Too late for Gavin now, and possibly @max, but fair warning to others, those tapes are lofi-sourced bootleg comps. Bare bones everything, including unprinted blank cassettes, but thankfully with tracklists on the paper cards. It matches the Mississippi Records vibe though, and I always recommend a store visit when in Portland (cash only, yo). They were cranking these out before Death Waltz had launched.

Bit of a contrast with Spun's top-shelf beauties:

[Mateo Sanboval]

Mississippi Records is a really cool spot.

[deafmetal]

...and speaking of, this is just wonderful:


Eclectic textures, and with some excellent ambient techno sounds. Recommended!

[Spun out of control]

@Deaf... it's been too late for me for a while now... well, since about 30 seconds after discovering STBC a few years back. ;)

Spot on with the description of those compilation tapes... my first thought was that someone had bootlegged the bootleg (!), what with the slightly clumsy packaging... but yes, track lists are a blessing and the content is smokin'

By the way, those folks (like Deaf) who are enjoying the Blank Tape release should also check out the tape release of Kiasmos' first album (pictured) on Erased Tapes (until now, a vinyl & digital only label), that they put out for Cassette Store Day.

Similar 'spectral electronica' vibes, and the worriedaboutsatan guys have shared stages with Kiasmos - also a duo, one half of whom is composer Ólafur Arnards - I understand. If you want to dig deeper into Erased Tapes, Rival Consoles & A Winged Victory For The Sullen are further good listens IMHO.

[maxlevel]

Nice one @spun! This is the link https://www.erasedtapes.com/release/era ... os-kiasmos

I also ordered volume iv

[maxlevel]

This arrived today, holy crap what a ride! Incredible! Recommended by @spun, thanks so much!

http://rendezvousla.bigcartel.com/

[Mateo Sanboval]

Mail from the last couple of weeks or so. Still waiting for my big batch.

[deafmetal]

@Mateo - I'm also looking forward to seeing this mythical big batch. How is that NotLD rescore? Looks like a must-have. The cover art is excellent.

[Mateo Sanboval]

@Mateo - I'm also looking forward to seeing this mythical big batch. How is that NotLD rescore? Looks like a must-have. The cover art is excellent.

Ha! It's actually not that much bigger than this, but it'll arrive as a flood and not as a trickle.

I haven't listened to the NotLD tape yet, but I've been spinning the digital for months and it is very good indeed. I'm quite a fan of those two.

[maxlevel]

Had to have that NotLD tape.

I just finished repairing all my Walkmans yesterday! One sounds like its underwater, but the £5 chud wm-fs1 I got from eBay is singing like a dream. Total destruction of the battery terminal, replaced and soldered a new one in, cleaned and scrubbed the heads and board and hey presto! Although annoyingly the radio spectrum only goes to 90mhz, so I can’t even get bbc radio in London

[Mateo Sanboval]

Nice job, Max! Do you have a pic of that bad dad?