Ever have a Reel with a swapped channel?

[Q-Eight]

A couple weeks ago, I won a pair of what I thought were very minty reels. One of which was Bread's "Baby I'm-a Want you".

Well, first off. It's a squeeler.
Secondly, Back Right is virtually inaudible.

But worst of all, the Front Channels are in Both Lefts! Put on both left channels and for many songs there are no backing vocals. Also, for most of the songs, drums in both lefts, bass in both rights.

*sigh*

Oh well, win some lose some I guess.

 

[bigbillquad]

A couple weeks ago, I won a pair of what I thought were very minty reels. One of which was Bread's "Baby I'm-a Want you".

Well, first off. It's a squeeler.
Secondly, Back Right is virtually inaudible.

But worst of all, the Front Channels are in Both Lefts! Put on both left channels and for many songs there are no backing vocals. Also, for most of the songs, drums in both lefts, bass in both rights.

*sigh*

Oh well, win some lose some I guess.

Hi. Q-Eight
I don't now if you have seen my attempt to solve the problem with squealing tape I have found that the worst squealing gets picked up through the erase head were it would go through to your receiver or amp and go through to your speakers, the other squeal would come from the metal parts likes the right hand lever next to the pinch well this one does not get picked up to the speakers but still is annoying but you can copy to another tape the hard one is were it go to your speaker here is my fix ...........goto this link.
( https://www.quadraphonicquad.com/fo...pe-added-to-your-pile-q8-q4.14938/post-378006 )

 

[Q-Eight]

I did a thorough cleaning of my deck tonight. My erase heads were pretty clogged up. I think that was the source of the squeeling as the tape is pretty quiet now.

 

[The Bushmaster]

Was that reel a factory pre-recorded tape or someone's recorded tape?

Yup... You DO have to clean them Reel to Reel decks occasionally. Even the ones with glass heads.

 

[Philip Spinner]

I've had a number of tapes that had the tape upside down. After flipping they sounded great.

 

[Q-Eight]

Was that reel a factory pre-recorded tape or someone's recorded tape?

Factory Pre-Recorded. It is most definitely a channel error as on the songs "Mother Freedom" and "Nobody Like You", lead vocals are in both left channels and backing vocals are in both right channels.

Yup... You DO have to clean them Reel to Reel decks occasionally. Even the ones with glass heads.

I knew that - I just didn't notice any loss in fidelity the last time I played a tape, so it came as a bit of a shock. I tried another known good tape and it exhibited the same issue. I figured OK, I've had issues with this deck before, maybe it's pitching another fit. Cycled the record switch and passed a 4-channel signal through it and all channels showed life! Obviously, it wasn't on the electrical side of things. It had to be on the reproduction end and that's when I looked at the heads. I had to use a toothpick (very carefully) to get the gunk off that was clogging up the track 4 pickup. Alcohol just wasn`t cutting it! But now, everything seems to be hunky-dory and all 4-channels are singing again!

 

[bigbillquad]

Factory Pre-Recorded. It is most definitely a channel error as on the songs "Mother Freedom" and "Nobody Like You", lead vocals are in both left channels and backing vocals are in both right channels.



I knew that - I just didn't notice any loss in fidelity the last time I played a tape, so it came as a bit of a shock. I tried another known good tape and it exhibited the same issue. I figured OK, I've had issues with this deck before, maybe it's pitching another fit. Cycled the record switch and passed a 4-channel signal through it and all channels showed life! Obviously, it wasn't on the electrical side of things. It had to be on the reproduction end and that's when I looked at the heads. I had to use a toothpick (very carefully) to get the gunk off that was clogging up the track 4 pickup. Alcohol just wasn`t cutting it! But now, everything seems to be hunky-dory and all 4-channels are singing again!

Hi. Q-Eight

Yes I am a fanatic on cleaning my heads with a cotton buds every 4 or 5 tapes I play, I have a friend how is into collecting Reel to Reels machines and he said some times cleaning with cotton buds is not enough and he told me to do what you have done with a tooth pick carefully I dip the end of the tooth pick into alcohol then clean. my friend said a brown haze of oxide builds up over time and its like a varnish and cotton buds just does not get ride of that crud.

 

[The Bushmaster]

Never had to use a toothpick to clean the heads on all of the tape decks I've purchased. I have had to use a very fine teflon pad to clean the heads on newly purchased decks. And they wondered why the didn't work or play properly. Q-tips and alcohol is still all I have needed on my decks.

 

[markshan]

I find that baking the tape often ends the squeals. Shedding build up is often the cause.