Concord Automatic 350 (National RQ-158S) Reel-to-Reel

xXSHADoW93Xx

Active Member
Picked this up earlier today. My second reel-to-reel deck, and my first portable reel-to-reel.

Concord Automatic 350, reversible tape deck.

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For the auto-reverse to function, the tape itself needs a metal strip near the end of the reel, similar to what 8-track cartridges use, so that the auto-reverse function is triggered. It can be reversed manually via the white "REVERSE" button.

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The auto-reverse compensates for the tape reels being "fixed" in place by a center screw, as it's not meant to be user-removable (although I'm pretty sure people did it anyway)

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Insides:

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pre-1966 Panasonic logo:
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Pre-1966 logo for reference:
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Turns out it was also sold as a National RQ-158S.

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The only issue I currently have is, no audio output during recording/playback.
 
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Neat, I remember those. The reels should pop right off, there's a little spring finger that gently holds them in place. Chances are they're just stuck to the reel tables from sitting on them for 40 years. The center screw only holds the reel table to the drive mechanism.
 
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This was my first "good" tape recorder, given as a present when I was about seven or eight in the very early 1970's. What a workhorse that thing was!! I have nothing but fond memories of that machine. The auto-reverse was so cool and so unusual for any kind of recorder back then, more-so on a mono portable recorder. It made me feel like I was "right there" in the middle of all the tech advancements happening in the early 1970's.

I remember that built-in speaker had some kick to it, and it even sounded pretty decent when connected to a receiver. It took me a while to figure out how the speed change worked though, even with the instructions. :p

It lasted until my mid-20's and I had to finally dispose of it right before I got married because all the metalwork started to corrode and rust (heads included.) It broke my heart to do that, even though it had been years since I actively used it. (I had long upgraded to stereo tape machines by then.) I unashamedly admit I kept it as long as I did for sentimental reasons.
 
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...The reels should pop right off, there's a little spring finger that gently holds them in place. Chances are they're just stuck to the reel tables from sitting on them for 40 years. The center screw only holds the reel table to the drive mechanism.

Seconded. The reels should come off like on any other reel tape recorder. You didn't have to use it as an auto-reverse recorder.
 
Cool. Did you ever get sound out of it? That’s a neat little machine but I’d imagine it may need some new capacitors by now. Of course cleaning all of the controls and switches (especially the record slider switch) is the essential first step.
 
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