Help Finding a Competent Gear Repairer in Tas?

[Hybrid88]

Hey T'Rockers,

Ok, so I have a fair bit of gear that I have been putting off that will be needing repair in the next year. Basically I want it done well, so hopefully I will be sending the more expensive stuff to Steve Jones, being one of, if not the best synth repairer in Aus.

But, here's the deal. I have a Roland RE-201, that has no delay output (makes a nice paperweight ), I have yet to try it with a new tape, but assuming I can't get it going I'm a bit stuck. Now I could send it to the mainland, but being nearly 10kgs that wouldn't really be cost friendly considering what I paid for it.

So, if anyone has any pointers for a local repairer that is competant in fixing old tape gear (I have found a few myself but "competant" is the key word here if you get my drift...), even if it's some guy you know that knows a guy into tape equipment, and has the skills. I would very much appreciate the help.

Thanks.

[The Tasmanian]

wouldn't mind finding someone myself - I send all valve gear to Andrew Kay in NSW - And Proharmonics in Adelaide for just about everything else.
It is better to pay the postage rather than have someone not experienced touch your gear. Even the tape echo - I have had my 501 echo repaired in Sydney and they have done a shit job - never sounded or worked as well once I got it back (twice!)
Just send it to someone who knows - and you will save money in the long run.
There is no real specialist repairers in Tas - there is not the market for them to exist.
Good luck
Regards

[Ben M]

I'm very interested to see where this goes...
I've got an RE-301 that's in fairly good order but needs the heads lapped and a general once over. Everything works it's just a bit wobbly
I've heard of someone in melbs that does a good job but can't remember names...hmmm....anyone?
I'd be willing to send to melbs for the right stuff.

[waitup]

While we're on the topic of space echo repair... is there anyone in sydney who does them well? Ive got a mate who's needs some attention.

[Hybrid88]

hmm, ok scrap Tas, for the rest of the thread can we get any reccomendations on the best techs for Space Echo's in Australia, good personal experiences etc, say namely Vic/NSW?

One place I did find in my research that seemed to have a very good reputation was this place in NZ;

http://www.creationtapes.co.nz

But, when I got a courier quote it was $100 each way! - And that was on top of whatever the repair cost. Way too much as far as I'm concerned, but still a good source for great replacement tapes.

...Just send it to someone who knows - and you will save money in the long run.
There is no real specialist repairers in Tas - there is not the market for them to exist.
Good luck
Regards

Ha ha, yes, trust me I know the reality of the situation in Tas - was just hoping for one last ditch attempt at finding someone. You're right I'd rather pay a bit more in postage to get it done right.

I've heard of someone in melbs that does a good job but can't remember names...hmmm....anyone?
I'd be willing to send to melbs for the right stuff.

Would be keen to send to Melbourne if you can remember the name?

[The Tasmanian]

Australia post is the cheapest option for shipping anything under 20kilos - registered post is like a courier. Would probably cost $20-$40 each way. I send guitar amps, fx you name it. Never a problem

[rob]

I've repaired quite a few Space Echos over the years and most of my jobs arrive and leave via Australia Post

[Alistair]

I've had a good service performed by Logitronix in Northcote Melbourne on a 201. Not sure if it's up to Rob's standard, but it wasn't working when it went in, and came back working. About a 2 week turnaround. They were recommended to me via Roland Aus

[Hybrid88]

Hi mate, do you mind saying how much that cost? Sounds roughly like what mine's doing (ie. not much )

I've had a good service performed by Logitronix in Northcote Melbourne on a 201. Not sure if it's up to Rob's standard, but it wasn't working when it went in, and came back working. About a 2 week turnaround. They were recommended to me via Roland Aus

[MichaelB]

Hi Mate, before you start packing the RE201 really well, it would be interesting to ascertain the exact nature of the fault and the remedies that you have tried. These units are fairly reliable, I had one years ago which never missed a beat. Have you tried tapping the playback heads carefully with a screwdriver with the unit all hooked up in a play set up ie a guitar and amp connected and volumes at medium levels. If a clacking noise is heard your fault will possibly be in the recording section, if no sound is heard I would think that your playback amplifier has a problem. You should also check if the reverb section is working. If you find someone who needs a copy of the schematic I would be glad to post a photocopy to them. These units are pretty basic, nearly as simple as a Copicat and shoudn't be too difficult to repair provided no propriety items have failed, eg bias oscillator coil. Good luck, Mike

[MichaelB]

I'm very interested to see where this goes...
I've got an RE-301 that's in fairly good order but needs the heads lapped and a general once over. Everything works it's just a bit wobbly
I've heard of someone in melbs that does a good job but can't remember names...hmmm....anyone?
I'd be willing to send to melbs for the right stuff.

Hi, what makes you think that your heads nead lapping? I've seen to many heads that have supposedly been lapped for one reason or another only to find that the heads have had their life uneccessarily shortened. Sometimes a good clean and demagnetising will improve the output and tone of a head which was deemed faulty. Correct alignment of the record and playback heads will also dramatically improve the tone (frequency response) of the echos.If unsure how to do any of the above let me know and I'll try to walk you through the procedure. Mike

[Ben M]

Hi, what makes you think that your heads nead lapping? I've seen to many heads that have supposedly been lapped for one reason or another only to find that the heads have had their life uneccessarily shortened. Sometimes a good clean and demagnetising will improve the output and tone of a head which was deemed faulty. Correct alignment of the record and playback heads will also dramatically improve the tone (frequency response) of the echos.If unsure how to do any of the above let me know and I'll try to walk you through the procedure. Mike

Hi Michael. Well I've tooled around with the azimuth and zenith (which made some improvement to the sound), bought 3 new tapes, re-rubbered my pinch roller (all have improved things). I still have wow and flutter on the delay output. The motor seems to run smoothly as far as I can see. I'm just trying various things in my free time to get it usable again.
By all means please take me through your procedure. I don't have a demagnitiser but I'm sure that would improve things again. Happy to source one.

Thanks for your interest and kind offer Michael.

BTW you need to pop your signature in for this forum. Located in the user control panel.

Ben
PS Do you service these? Where are you located?

[rob]

replace the felt back tension pad!

[Hybrid88]

Yeah cheers, I'll have to get onto this sometime - first thing is to get a new tape and try it then.

With mine the Reverb works fine (so the signal's getting through ok), but when switched onto the delay mode, nada.

Just too many projects and broken things for me at the moment...

Hi Mate, before you start packing the RE201 really well, it would be interesting to ascertain the exact nature of the fault and the remedies that you have tried. These units are fairly reliable, I had one years ago which never missed a beat. Have you tried tapping the playback heads carefully with a screwdriver with the unit all hooked up in a play set up ie a guitar and amp connected and volumes at medium levels. If a clacking noise is heard your fault will possibly be in the recording section, if no sound is heard I would think that your playback amplifier has a problem. You should also check if the reverb section is working. If you find someone who needs a copy of the schematic I would be glad to post a photocopy to them. These units are pretty basic, nearly as simple as a Copicat and shoudn't be too difficult to repair provided no propriety items have failed, eg bias oscillator coil. Good luck, Mike

[MichaelB]

Hi, what makes you think that your heads nead lapping? I've seen to many heads that have supposedly been lapped for one reason or another only to find that the heads have had their life uneccessarily shortened. Sometimes a good clean and demagnetising will improve the output and tone of a head which was deemed faulty. Correct alignment of the record and playback heads will also dramatically improve the tone (frequency response) of the echos.If unsure how to do any of the above let me know and I'll try to walk you through the procedure. Mike

Hi Michael. Well I've tooled around with the azimuth and zenith (which made some improvement to the sound), bought 3 new tapes, re-rubbered my pinch roller (all have improved things). I still have wow and flutter on the delay output. The motor seems to run smoothly as far as I can see. I'm just trying various things in my free time to get it usable again.
By all means please take me through your procedure. I don't have a demagnitiser but I'm sure that would improve things again. Happy to source one.

Thanks for your interest and kind offer Michael.

BTW you need to pop your signature in for this forum. Located in the user control panel.
Hi Ben M, If you think about the tape's flow path, it is the drive spindle and pinch roller which drags the tape past the heads. If the spindle or the pinch roller aren't performing as they should you will end up with lots of wow and flutter. Your pinch roller could be the main suspect even though you say it was re-rubbered, but don't rule out the motor as I've read somewhere a while ago that they were problematic although I would think that they probably had defective windings rather than faulty bearings.Check to see if you can rock the motor spindle sideways which might indicate worn bearings, be aware that you are looking for just the slightest of wear. Another respondent suggested quite rightly that the felt pressure pads could be the source of the problem, so I would suggest that you check that these aren't placing too much drag on the tape flow. But back to your pinch roller, only a week ago I had a similar issue with a Klemt-Echolette tape echo which had what I initially thought was a useable pinch wheel/roller - not too hard and looked very even - but hey when I substituted a new roller the unit performed like a new (bought) one. Back to your initial diagnosis re heads need lapping, they could cause drag but check to see how smooth the surface which touches the tape is. Also check that the tape isn't binding in its case which could impede its flow. In the old days techs used to align tape heads by listening to the amount of tape hiss produced as the tape travelled past the heads. The heads were adjusted to produce for maximum hiss, turning up the treble and volume made this task a bit easier.
BTW I live on the Sunshine Coast Qld and sorry to say but my repair/service days are over. As much as I enjoy my electronics and my guitars/amps/effects I don't want to set up shop again, just enjoying my early retirement. Mike

Ben
PS Do you service these? Where are you located?

[Ben M]

replace the felt back tension pad!

Thanks Rob
I've just ordered some wool felt swatch samples in 3mm and 5mm thicknesses to replace the tension pads. See how that goes.
Seems whenever you give me advice it turns out to be bang on the money.