WTB: reel to reel recorder, 8+ tracks. Tascam, Fostex, Onkyo......? SORTED

mixolyd

Sorted, thanks to @sweepy. ;

I'm looking for a good quality tape machine that can do at least 8 tracks.  1/4" or 1/2" tape preferred, anything that new or used tape can be sourced for without taking out a mortgage.  

I've been out of the recording game for years because digital gear is incompatible with my TMJ condition, but I got the old Tascam 414 mkII out of storage recently and it's ace!  But so limiting: not even enough tracks to bounce in stereo.  

I'm also desperate enough to buy a semi-working (EDIT: or broken) machine that I can have serviced if it comes to that.  It's time to sort out my recording situation once and for all!

spark240

Mmm...I did have to google TMJ...but cant help wondering how it affects the use of digital gear ?

mixolyd

spark240 said:

Mmm...I did have to google TMJ...but cant help wondering how it affects the use of digital gear ?

How long have you got?

So Temporomandibular Joint Disorder tends to exist as part of a larger syndrome with IBS symptoms and myofascial pain (see Uppgaard).  Then there's the subgroup to which I belong which also has fibromyalgia/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/ME as part of the deal.  Stress can exacerbate TMJ symptoms to an extreme degree and in my case the biggest possible stressor is digital stuff: computers, phones even screenless things like my digital piano to an extent (I need to get round to selling that).

This issue of weird stresses is addressed by the work of Dr Richard Vasquez who has published more than anyone on SIBO (Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth) as the cause of fibromyalgia.  In SIBO, otherwise benign bacteria (or archaea, which are similar microorganisms) migrate from where they should be in the large intestine up into the small intestine.  Here they dine on fermentable carbohydrates (hence the many people who cant eat bread, pasta, garlic, onions etc, celiacs aside) and produce toxic gases and other waste products as a byproduct, causing IBS symptoms.

This stream of toxic waste also triggers a cascade of badness causing inflammation around the spine and the brain, which gives rise to these erroneous reactions to otherwise benign stimuli.  Many sufferers react badly to light or loud noises, I react badly to digital things, newspapers and magazines!  The extreme reaction to computers could be because I was a professional software developer around the time I initially became truly sick and disabled, so maybe the link was forged back then.

There's plenty more I can say about the nitty gritty of it but I figure you've had more than enough for now! 

So yeah - if I'd spent 5 hours at a DAW yesterday instead of my beautifully non-threatening Portastudio I'd have had a night of utter torture last night and would be unable to write this post now.  It's incredibly frustrating to be too disabled to work or do most physical activity but also be blocked off from expressing myself by using technology to record music or write software.  Hence my enthusiasm for an all analogue recording setup.  Maybe one day I can build up a home analogue recording studio and work a few hours a week with my own little business.  These dreams are useful motivators to have even if they never reach fruition.  

sweepy

It's a shame that you are in Scotland, I have a Fostex 8 track reel to reel and thematching mixing desk

mixolyd

sweepy said:

It's a shame that you are in Scotland, I have a Fostex 8 track reel to reel and thematching mixing desk

Ah yes that's the issue with alot of these machines: not easy to package safely to courier.  It is pretty cheap to send a 30-40kg package these days though so it can be done.

I've been eyeing various machines on eBay for years but invariably they are all either local pickup hundreds of miles away, a potential basket case or wildly expensive.  For the right machine I may have to get myself in order and see if a friend will accompany me on a 2 day trip to pick it up in a van, otherwise this may never get done.  

Which Fostex do you have and what condition is it in?

sweepy

I'll pop in the loft and have a look, it's boxed and was given to me, so you are welcome to it, there are some brand new tapes too. I'll take some pics for you, it has the loom from the tape deck to the mixer too

mixolyd

sweepy said:

I'll pop in the loft and have a look, it's boxed and was given to me, so you are welcome to it, there are some brand new tapes too. I'll take some pics for you, it has the loom from the tape deck to the mixer too

  

sweepy

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