Joe; You're correct in your estimation of the tuner being a R200 vs a FM200b. Consoles came with AM and FM bands in their tuners except for the small GOTHAM 4 consolette OF 1964/65 that had the 400 in it. Rumor has it there was a similar Gotham consolette with an 800c in it but it's an unseen unit. Plus both years show the R200 in the spec's on Fisherconsoles.com. The '63 Regent used a X-202-B as it's power amp. So yours is definately a '64.
Is "RED" still as enthusiastic today as the day you got it? She hasn't tried to "snooker Dad into giving the FISHER to me" yet?? Keep up your guard. I've got a 5year old Grand-Daughter like that!!! And she'll turn six in 6 weeks.
If you plan on getting the 1250 running PM me and I'll get you the info I got for parts when I got my 960. Don't know if they are still in business but it's a shot. The ampex for all it's seemingly overbuilt condition is actually one of the easiest R2R's to rehab, both mechanically, and electrically. Mechanically it should take you more than 2 hours to tear it down to get to the internals in front, clean and lube the front parts, replace the belts(actually large "O" rings), and lube the motor. The one place that really needs teardown and cleaning is the (I forgot the name of the parts so I'll describe) shaft to the right of the heads that the rubber wheel puts pressure on. The sleeve bushings in the frame get dry and start to corrode. Remove the retainers and draw out from the back (use the flywheel to pull). Clean with lacquer thinner, then CRC Electronics cleaner, and a very very very fine emory cloth to get some small oil channels into the shaft. Flush out the sleeve bushings, and oil the shaft with Sewing machine oil or 3 in 1 BLUE LABEL Motor oil. Don't use the Red label 3in1, it's got parrafin in it and will dry up and gum up the works too fast. The Blue Label 3in1 is 20w motor oil. You can use 10w30 or lighter motor oil (some guys swear by synthetics). Do the same for the motor. I spray a little PB BLASTER at the shaft end where it goes thru the housing(just enough to get the motor spinning by hand). Once it's spinning, you have the option of removing the motor and doing a complete teardown or just filling the oil ports with the light motor oil. Once it's full, spin it by hand for a few minutes to get the oil onto the shaft ends and the sleeve bushing/bearings. Put it back together, plug in and turn on the unit to get the motor running. Let it run for 5 minutes. If it's slightly warm, let it run. If it's HOT, shut it down and T.S. the problem (either misaligned motor casing 1/2's or a hi resistance winding, are two possible problems). Once you fix it put the whole thing together and installed, put a tape in it, and have some fun.
Larry
