In retrospect...... had I have known this reel to reel thing was going to be a life long passion, I would have married a women like you ! Great videos ! Best wishes.

I've only just found your vids. I'm LOVING them! You are imformative, entertaining & gorgeous. I love your Amiga Stuff being a user my self it is helpfull seeing what can be done. But your work with the AKAI R2R was hillarius as they don't like being repaired. I've got 2 of em! 1 I dont mess with in my lounge & 1 in the bedroom which smokes after I repaired it LOL! Keep up the good work!

I just found your youtube channel. You are just AMAZING!!. I love vintage audio as well, I've loved this since I was 10 years old. Overall I have a passion in electronics. I'm so glad I found you on youtube. Keep up the amazing videos. Have a great rest of your week, I look forward to more amazing videos. All the best. Alex

MsMadLemon: You did a fantastic job restoring that good old Akai R2R recorder. Most people making things worse when trying to repair or calibrate those old tape machines. But you did it according to the specs in the service manual I guess and that is exactly the way to do it properly. To make the calibrating job a little easier you may get your hands on an used analogue ac milivoltmeter. Using one of these, the calibration process would be much more precise. But this is sort of "big time whining" ;-) As said before you did a really fantastic job here and I really love watching your videos because of your unique way of doing those videos with a lot of positive attitude and a good sense of humor. And to be honest with you: I learned a lot about checking transistors the easy way! :-)))

Very nice. Good job. I too share your "go at it until it makes sense" approach. Books and what not are great to get a sense of what is about to happen but there's simply nothing like getting down and dirty with a piece of equipment. Hope to see more!

I just started watching your videos today, first your personality is very delightful. You make me laugh. The most important take from your video is your ability to work with what you have at hand.

@MsMadLemon

7 жыл бұрын

Thank you for the kind words! I'm glad you're enjoying my videos :o)

Just acquired one of these, I need you in my life now.

Good job, always nice to see a tapedeck up and running again. Cringed a bit at the spray-n-switch part, though :P Nice to see the parts tester came in handy. Oh and great job on finding the problem with the flux! You used your gut instinct, which turned out to be dead on. I've had many repairs were my instinct said: "I think it's this" and I ignore it just to find out after a long struggle that it indeed turned out to be true. I actually never needed flux. When old solder does nog flow very well I just add some new solder, which seems counter-intuitive but actually makes sense. New solder has a flux core, so it adds just enough flux to make the old solder desolder easier. Also works great for transferring heat into larger connections. Enjoy your newly restored tapedeck!

@MsMadLemon

8 жыл бұрын

It actually makes sense to add new solder to old, i've done that a couple of times when de-soldering stubborn joints. I tend to use a little flux on the soldering wick because it makes it more effective. However sometimes leaves a residue which I brush off afterwards.. I have learned well from this! And thank you! I'm already enjoying the tapedeck, i've been doing a lot of recording these past couple of days :o)

@SDsailor7

8 жыл бұрын

Where did you buy that transistor tester? I need something like that.

@SDsailor7

8 жыл бұрын

Its great that you are enjoying your rtr I will be doing the same in the near future. Cheers/Rob

@MsMadLemon

8 жыл бұрын

I hope that you do! The transistor tester: www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2050601.m570.l1313.TR12.TRC2.A0.H0.Xtransistor+tester.TRS0&_nkw=transistor+tester&_sacat=0 But try to get one which is shipped from the US since you're there, the first time I got one, it shipped from china, arrived after almost two months, the packaging had no padding and unsurprisingly the screen was broken!

@SDsailor7

8 жыл бұрын

Thank you! I am going to see if they carry it on amazon. if not it will have to be ebay. Cheers/Rob

Do another reel to reel repair video Maddie. I enjoyed this one so much and learned a lot!Cheers

@MsMadLemon

5 жыл бұрын

Well, I can only do another if it needs a repair lol, I can't justify buying another :o)

We will watch these videos for whenever our GX-260D starts acting up.. Which is all the time :')

Thank you for your excellent tips !

I sure wish you could fix mine I have a Sony TC 730 that I can't figure out why my channels keep cutting out everything else on it works great just wanted some forward the channels cut out at the same time randomly

Hi.Very fun and informative material. I recently acquired a couple of Teac tape decks and would like to restore them the their possible best state. Can you help me with info about where to get capacitors and transistors and tools you use like that transistor meter you showed?. I new to this but looks like a fun project for someone like me with plenty time and retired. Thanks in advance.

Fantastic videos, thank you so much for posting. I have a Akai GX-280D running very slow can you please advise where to look first?

what is the name of the signal generator app you have used in calibration

What brand Cassette tapes with the little reels in the player ? They are really cool looking !

hi know full track mrl kind of tapes cost money i use one all the time i have seen so many tape unit's where of the tape head levels are not right you are doing a ace job with the tools you got if you see used 1/4 inch tape at low cost buy one. very good for the tape decks

I like your videos very much! cheers from Brazil.......

Very good videos! Where did you get your tone generator app?

Do you own an oscilloscope? Is it an essential tool to what you do?

Good day, would you be able to share with me the service manual. While listening to my Akai, one afternoon, it caught fire and later it seemed that one of the solenoid/switches burned out. So my piece works only in reverse now and i wanted to try and sort out the damage and get it working again. Thank you.

@MsMadLemon

3 жыл бұрын

Good day, it's been a long time since I fixed this so I dont really know where the service manual file is, but i've done a quick google search and came across this: www.hifiengine.com/manual_library/akai/gx-260d.shtml Hope this helps.

@omeetavmorris8736

3 жыл бұрын

​@@MsMadLemon Thank you for getting back to me. I did come across that URL and tried to register there but for some reason i kept getting the messages that i was trying to register from a blacklisted IP. After receiving your message i tried once more and it worked, i am registered and i have downloaded the manual. Thank you. Wish me luck :-)

Nice Work !! Greetings from Germany.

Hi there you are very good at fixing that Real to Reel LOL I am reaching out I've got a Sony TC 730 reel to reel and I just got it back from being repaired and I'm having an issue still when playing in forward the sound cuts in and out on both channels at the same time and it does just randomly at any given time but when I have it and reverse it doesn't do it at all so if there's any way of knowledge that you have on this on what it could be I would greatly appreciate it thanks

@MsMadLemon

6 жыл бұрын

Hey, well I'm not sure about being good at it haha but I figured stuff out as I went along and learned, I do highly recommend the Tapeheads forum for issues, i'm not sure what is the issue with your Reel to reel, my guess is possibly not enough power getting to the amp? but a wild guess since i'm merely trying to visualize what it's doing lol. www.tapeheads.net/

@MrJimbos87

6 жыл бұрын

Lol yeah it cuts out only in forward and it's both channels at the same time and I never know when it's going to do it it could do it for just a few seconds are the 20 -30 minutes before it does it again

@MsMadLemon

6 жыл бұрын

Another hunch, has it been recapped? maybe a capacitor has dried out? The first thing I did was replace the capacitors in mine, these systems are freakin old lol

Where did you source your tape with the test tone?

@MsMadLemon

7 жыл бұрын

A friend with a working RTR deck recorded them for me, other than that there was no way to get hold of one.

@btonogbanua5942

7 жыл бұрын

Is the recorded volume of the 200 hz test tone important when used to set the pots to the desired voltage output then zeroing the VUs?

I don't understand how you are able to calibrate the playback without a calibration tape. Can you explain what you did?

@MsMadLemon

7 жыл бұрын

That small reel was sent to me by a friend, who had recorded tones using his already calibrated deck. It's the best I could do without spending a fortune on a calibration tape

After watching your reel to reel restoration series I am tempted to buy a faulty one to repair :-D I never bought any before because those were not part of my childhood memories. In our living room hifi we had only vinyl record player and in my bedroom I had a walkman connected to a pair of self powered little speakers... and at some point a diskman from aiwa. Is the reel to reel really much better than the normal compact cassette? From a good recording in compact cassette I cannot almost hear the difference from the source... except from the hiss.

@MsMadLemon

7 жыл бұрын

Yes, I understand why you didnt get it, I got it because Iw as curious but seriously glad that I did! the sound quality is way better than compact cassette, it's become my history now :o) The tape runs faster even at the slow speed setting and it's a wider tape also. I have been "backing up" my vinyl records on it, perfect analogue copies and if everything set well with good quality tape (Maxell or TDK Audua in my opinion), you barely hear any loss between the vinyl record and the reel :o)

@AlexdaCunha

7 жыл бұрын

I will keep my eye open for what pops up in the second hand market. For european brands there is a lot for almost no money at all (grundig, telefunken, philips, ...), but the japanese are a bit expensive. And I am a fan of japanese vintage audio. I would rather go for Sony, Akai, Teac (Pioneer and Technics no chance... way too expensive)

@MsMadLemon

7 жыл бұрын

Try looking into Revox, they're supposed to be good from what i've heard. I was recommended a Revox A77 or B77 (not sure on the difference) because I was looking at 10" reels at one point but, I just do not have the space for this. I havent actually seen many Pioneer and Technics to be honest, Sony I have but that is going to be expensive I think, however i've always heard that sony Reel tapes are bad and to avoid them.

@AlexdaCunha

7 жыл бұрын

Thanks for the tips :-) I spotted one Revox B77 in working condition but needing restoration for 50 euros... I believe will be sold quickly. Seems the B77 is more recent model. From the looks looks nicer than the A77. I am only a bit concerned because always I have moved away from japanese second hand equipment in general (mechanics and/or electronics) I end up regretting :o)

@MsMadLemon

7 жыл бұрын

50€ for a Revox B77? i'm crying hahaha, Somebody offered me a Revox A77 which needed restoration for about 150€ and of course I had to turn it down, if I had the money and space I would go for this B77... I can understand why you like Japanese second hand equipment despite being expensive, Sony I really like but, they sometimes do things to irritate us lol. Well, I hope you manage to get a good one whichever you go for :o)

Why did you replace those transistors? Was there a noise problem? Some old 2SC are notorious. Beware to check hfe values. Usually transistors should be paired to prevent uneven amplification.

@MsMadLemon

6 жыл бұрын

I heard those particular transistors are prone to corrosion and degradation, according to a few people who advised me at the time, so i thought it's best to just replace.

@kylesmithiii6150

6 жыл бұрын

I have been watching some of these videos. It is informative and fun. I have a hobby of repairing and restoring vintage sound equipment for "my collection". I have the same JVC cassette deck as you do. It's also in good shape, cleaned and calibrated. I like Super ANRS. I have to recap it when I find time... I was having the same questions as 1959Berre while I was watching this video and saw that the hfe value of the old and new transistors were different. I agree w/ 1959Berre but had no information about the reliability of the old transistors. IMO usually the Darlington transistors that heat up may give trouble. BTW, I congratulate you for doing this job without an oscilloscope, which would make your work much easier/faster.

Great job!Great video great person!I have exactly the same akai.The problem is on playback is playing slower than normal.If a woman speaks sounds like a man.I have tried many tapes and in both speeds but no luck.What can I do?

@nextforbest

6 жыл бұрын

Thank you very much for the answer!The belt is in good condition and the tapes are from different period.Do you think maybe is any capacitor or motor problem?

Good day! You are well versed in the technique! In this we are colleagues. I also gather your collection of old audio equipment. Maybe you know where to download the circuit diagram from PIONEER RT-707 and AKAI GX-65? I already bought them, and now repairing without a diagram. Sincerely, Alexander.

@MsMadLemon

8 жыл бұрын

Good day to you! And thanks! When you are searching for circuit diagrams, in google, be sure to search for the 'Service Manual' instead of searching for circuit diagram, as service manuals always contain circuit diagrams (or at least they should) here is one for the Pioneer RT-707: www.kallhovde.com/pioneer/rt-707sm.pdf and here is for the Akai GX65: elektrotanya.com/akai_gx65.pdf/download.html

@MishinAlexander

7 жыл бұрын

Thank you very much! I found schems and I already restored akai and almost repair pioneer!

Any engineer in mumbai My akai gx 650d problem is pinch roller not pull down while playing My machine is in working condition i change the capacitor moter is going slow down the problems offers when adsule all parts plz help

@milindshinde3567

2 жыл бұрын

The problem occurs when i assemble all parts

Is it just me or did anyone else notice that the gain from the original transistor is twice as much as the new one? I think that I saw a Hfe of around 500 compared to 200 and something....

@SDsailor7

5 жыл бұрын

Is high hfe better or worse? I would like to know.Thank you

Hi, where is part 1 please? I just got the same model and want to restore mine and liked your videos! Thanks

@matambale

4 жыл бұрын

Click *SHOW MORE* below the video

On the power amp for the amplifier borad yes i am pertty sure on the that but on the rest of the boards like the playback ,record, and the BIOS are original which the people that I had work on it I don't understand why they didn't recap everything

@MsMadLemon

6 жыл бұрын

BIOS? ...We're alking about a reel to reel recorder right? lol That is a bit odd that they didnt recap the whole thing, It's the first thing i'd do when getting any old system, whether computer or vintage audio. at least to rule it out.

@MrJimbos87

6 жыл бұрын

Yes i know i don't understand it I called the guy today that worked on it and he's convinced that it's dirty switches for me just to keep moving them I don't see that solving anything it's just weird because it didn't do it the first two days that I had it back

@MsMadLemon

6 жыл бұрын

It could possibly be, though just moving the switches wont do as much as getting a good contact cleaner like Dioxit, Come to think of it, my Sanyo Boombox (señor sanyo) is having a similar issue, but not at a set time, just the left channel cuts out, then I have to stop, play, stop play or mess with it to get it back on again, its infuriating but this is just one channel unlike yours. One thing i've learned from experience is do the simplest thing first, get some good contact cleaner (Never ever WD40) and spray all the switches and pots, then move them around, same with the record/play switches on the circuitboard like how I did in this series.. if that doesnt solve them, well you got good clean contacts at least now, and you can move on to the next stage.

Now you can go through mine.

Your videos are great. What is your tech background? You seem to know quite a lot.. but then not always enough to solve things alone. So why do you own all the great tools and know so much? Did you study to be an engineer or what? What is your life or job? Also me and other ppl the www.antiqueradios.com forum were wondering where you are from? What is your accent? I have a friend from the Czech Rep. that sounds very similar.

@MsMadLemon

8 жыл бұрын

Thank you Peter. Haha lotsa questions :o)) I've been tinkering with electronics and computers since childhood, just out of fascination. Academically, I just did a year of engineering, but only enjoyed the electronics and the following year the computer hardware part.I didn't learn too much there to be honest, my basic knowledge comes with tinkering with stuff. I didn't pursue engineering. I finally went into photography as i'm more art orientated. I don't repair much but i've built a few projects as a hobby. Way back I have repaired amps etc but just basic stuff like replaced fuses and sprayed potentiometers. The reason why I ask for help sometimes is that my previous Marantz and this reel to reel repair, i'm diving into the unknown and learning as I go along. My accent is a bit of a mix I guess, i'm Arabic originally but also speak some Spanish and currently living in Europe.

@peterbalazsy8263

8 жыл бұрын

MsMad Well that background does help explain things. I must say that you are a pleasure to watch and listen to because you are so positive and always willing to find the answer whatever it takes. I guess that is similar to my own positive attitude too so maybe that's why I like it. Your videos are pleasant, well lit and well thought out.. and your humor helps keep it interesting. My background was mostly electronics bench tech then computer field service on big old hardware starting in the 70s...lol At age 50 I too fell into photography as a curious hobby which quickly was recognized by others as artistic talent. (Surprise to me.) I found that I loved shooting 35mm slides.. then copying them with a Daylab enlarger to Polaroid type 669 instant peel-apart film. Then partially develop the Polaroid and press the negative goo onto watercolor paper. (Polaroid image transfer) My work soon became well known and in 1995 I wrote the html code for my website: www.pbpix.com That exposure to the world brought many invitations for me to teach my techniques and lighting around the world. (Australia, Germany, Netherlands, Chech Rep.) When Fuji made a similar instant peel-apart film, I was the 1st in the world to develop a method to make a "transfer" to watercolor paper. Now I've passed that method on to other artists around the world. I'm mostly retired so now I restore antique radios from the 30-50s and also building tube audio amps. The first one was using tiny sub-miniture tubes 5902. This was a wonderful experience and so then I developed the next version using the 6V6 and 6AQ5 tube. Here's a link to that build thread. antiqueradios.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=268832 and here's a picture of the 5902 push-pull stereo amp. antiqueradios.com/forums/download/file.php?id=100245 and here's a pict of the 6V6 version: pbpix.com/radio/6v6%20amp%20done.png I would think that you Maddie would love it ! Yes ...and I'm sure you'd make the most wonderful videos along the way. Thank you for replying to me Peter

@MsMadLemon

8 жыл бұрын

Thank you for your kind words Peter :o) And you seem to have lead many interesting years with your background! Your film photography work reminds me of university days where we’d be in the dark room developing 35mm film, someitmes using E6 film like yourself with slides, we did some medium format work and I loved the mamiya camera we used. I can understand your love for slide film. I just took a look at your website and what I saw of your work is excellent, I like the image transfer idea and the effect it gives. You have done some pioneering work it seems. Sometimes we don’t realise gifts and talents that are hidden, it must have been amazing uncovering that jewel :o)

I do not understand why you changed those transistors when every thing worked fine

@PeterMilanovski

5 жыл бұрын

I agree with you on that. Transistors are very reliable and the only time that they fail is usually by way of a bad capacitor... Same thing is true of vacuum tubes believe it or not...

@SDsailor7

5 жыл бұрын

So if you remove them how can you test them to be sure they are working? what would you use to test them?Cheers

Hmm...this was confusing. I was really hoping to see how to calibrate, but your video was a bit all over the place. You first loaded a small tape with test tones, but later that vanished and suddenly a larger reel was there. It would have really helped (me at least!) if you had really walked us through this step by step with detailed explanations - like what tone you generate, and how the connections are done. This really wasn't clear in the video, especially for playback. Where did the black wire go to? What was the software used on your phone so a person can perhaps download it? Occasionally, when you did give crucial information, like a frequency, your laughing "swallowed" it so I couldn't understand what you said. Then, when it came to calibrating recording, you pointed in a vague direction of where the variable resistors are, but you didn't show them like you did for playback. So due to a lack of information in both cases, I couldn't really use your walktrough to calibrate either playback or recording. In the former case, the connections were not clear, in the latter the position of the resistors. The confusion between the small tape, with no details of what kind of tone you were using, and the larger tape, didn't help either. Which is a shame, because with just a little clearer information I could have seen and understood both. Nevertheless, thank you for showing all this, and I am only saying this because I think your video could have been so much better. This "walk through" I am sorry to say does not really help a "newbie" like me who really needs to be given detailed, clear, step-by-step info. I am sure a "profi" will have appreciated it though...

@MsMadLemon

5 жыл бұрын

This wasnt really meant to be a "walk through" tutorial video but more of a vlog style where I was just showing what had happened and what I did. I am not sure where you got the idea that this was supposed to be a walkthrough video.

NM, I found it, sorry bout that. It was mixed from all the other vids! My bad!

I am trying to calibrate my Sony TC-755

I liked this, how much do you understand?

@MsMadLemon

5 жыл бұрын

Everything I did, I understood what and why..What do you mean though?

@layrtoncayres3574

5 жыл бұрын

Because you are a professional technique I greatly adore God bless

Bi practice you learn much more than reading and reading...here in Romania we say .....theory is theory but the practice kill's you :)

@MsMadLemon

7 жыл бұрын

It's very true, nothing beats learning from practice and experience :o)

Fantastic women🥰

I first saw the reading on the component tester as "No unknown or damaged fart!"

hi this is kevin um I'm not sure if you'll get this comment that I might send you there is a company in Australia in Brisbane it's on the northside of Brisbane they do sell reel to reel tape spring you for about $40 for 10 inch real what I do I just buy the blank tapes comes in a pancake type a manner and I just spill I'm off onto 27 inch tapes about 35-40 dollars um a tape so that might be interesting for you to chase up I think it's called audio something it's a shop on the northside of Brisbane at Bowen Hills just type in Bowen Hills audio Electronics they do sell reel to reel tape Sphere if you are interested I've got to Akai machines at the moment I've got to go shopping tomorrow and I trying to get some little nuts little bolt sorry little bolts for the heads fact that somebody has chewed out the top bolts of the head stack there's about 8 of them and I can't get the mouth I got for them out but not all of them so I might go to the nuts and bolts place tomorrow and see if there is a similar bolt that will fit it so I can realign the heads properly I've got to a guy machines p I can't send you a link to your Channel 2 um show what type of machines I do have anyway please get back to me kevin thank you

speak arab :)

I like Akai recorders...and....will you marry me 😄😄

Your "baby" actually goes to school of course, isn´t it?