i haave a cheap sony reel to reel 4 track w/one bad head/rewind function also not operational.....so i had this great idea to turn it into a delay unit.
so i attempted it.
in theory:wrap the tape around both reels, taped together/
disconnect the erase head/ or temporarily tape over it
put machine in record mode and GO Go go go go echo...

NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO!!!!!!!!!!!!DAMNIT

THE PROBLEM IS NOT ENOUGH TENTION SO REELS SPIN UNDER TAPE

i got the idea from people using two tape machines for this purpose
and ECHOPLEX......although obvously my machine doesn't have multiple repro heads.
i just thought it would be a fun little project with hopefuly a functional result

any thoughts?..................................

make the left reel sticky

-noah

IF THE REEL IS STICKY:

A) the tape will get sticky and residue will rub off on the heads
B) it will make the seam of the tape become looser each pass
C) does it really matter which reel is sticky
D) i dont like sticky head


have you ever tried this before?
it's a good theory...right?


im thinking about getting some more cheep machines and taking the repro heads off and connecting them to the "psudo echoplex" to have a quicker delay but i dont want to waste time and money if it isn't even going to work



...word

The delay between record and reproduce heads is usually pretty small at high tape speeds like 15 ips. If the machine will do it, then try 3 3/4 ips or slower which might make for more a more pronounced effect. Also, what are you using to mix the dry and feedback signals together?

I'm trying to picture what you're explaining and hopefully I've got it right in my head.

You need to increase tension, right? How about this: add pencils and such to the body of the tape machine so the tape has to go through a couple more "capstans". Just tape a couple rod-like objects and thread the tape loop through those along with the tape mechanism - that should tighten it up a bit.

I've had luck using an old Dictaphone type machine as a loop player by a method that's close to what HHRecorder has tried. I was successful by making a loop of tape that is smaller than it needs to be by ever so slight an amount, and then stretching it to get it set on both reels. You need a good strong splice and you need to be gentle when putting it on the machine, but it does work. I didn't disconnect the erase function, so mine is more of a pure loop playing machine than a delay device.

If that old Sony has seperate record and repro heads you can make a single delay unit from it, and if you take the delay signal and feed it back to the machine input you can generate multiple delays. They won't be as controllable as on a real Echoplex type unit, but you can make some cool sounds happen...

unfortunately the repro/sync is the same head, but it wont matter much to me when the erase head is "out of the loop"your right djembe it will be more of a loop device than an echo. my plan is to sort of hardwire it to one of my aux sends, bring it back on a channel so i can feed it back into itself.


I DONT UNDERSTAND THE PENCIL METHOD THOUGH....i get what you are saying about it acting as another capstan for tention, but where do i put the pencil?

hihat recorders wrote:I DONT UNDERSTAND THE PENCIL METHOD THOUGH....i get what you are saying about it acting as another capstan for tention, but where do i put the pencil?

Keep in mind I may not be picturing it like you have it...

I would tape the pencil to the top or sides of the unit so that it lies perpendicular to the tape path. Whatever end of the pencil sticks out, thereby stretching the bit of tape a little more and thereby creating more tension. Also (and assuming I've explained it enough), you could create any length of tape for your delay, provided there is enough room for the tape to move around. My friend and I made a nice minute and thirty second loop by rigging up capstans all over the room. The tension, as they say, mounted.