The work in this thread provoked me to pull my headless RT-909 from my main rig, where it has been occupying an otherwise big empty space. I had pulled the heads from this machine, which was part of my "awaiting repair & restoration" inventory, so I could send the heads in for re-lapping, to put into a machine I was restoring for a client, at the time. I wanted to continue working on the client machine while I waited for the re-lapped heads. When I installed the newly re-lapped heads in the client machine, I took the heads from that one and sent them in for re-lapping, to put back into my machine.
As it turned out, the heads from the client machine were too far gone for successful re-lapping, so I had to buy new. I took the new heads and stashed them in my RT-909 parts & caps kit, and, since I already had a sweet, completely restored RT-909 in my main rig, I postponed the installation for, as it turned out, several years.
I was left behind by my engineering job (moved away and invited me to go, but I did not wish to move). Instead, I went back to school to learn something new: the law. Meanwhile, I did little in the way of audio restoration, but I did obtain a paralegal degree (graduated with a 4.0 average).
Some time back, a fellow AKr besought me for a restored RT-909, and successfully talked me out of the restored one that was in my main rig at the time. It left a big hole, which I filled with the headless one. There it has sat, for years, looking at me with those big puppy-dog eyes. I had forgotten what was wrong with her, other than her heads were missing. The process in this thread provoked me to take her out, to do some comparative resistance measurements. When snailman's machine started singing again, I picked up my headless RT-909 and started to put her back into my main rig, and she got very agitated, and started grabbing onto the bench, and doorways, and whatnot, trying to keep me from putting her back in there, in her own non-functional state.
Needless to say, since she was already on the bench and open, I might as well put her new heads in, and see if I couldn't get her to sing. She is doing just that, as I write this. You would not believe the look in her vintage blue fluoroscan eyes, as she sings to some Jean Luc Ponte, "A Taste for Passion."
I did not adjust the heads. I just put them in as her old ones had been set (you can do that with this head-block). Her transport has been completely disassembled, cleaned, lubed, reassembled, and adjusted. Someone had replaced her belt with a substandard one, and had lost the capstan thrust bearings (nylon), and replaced them with over-sized metal ones (bad mojo). She now has a supple OEM belt, and new nylon thrust bearings, to go with her front-side work. She also would not erase during record. That turned out to be a dirty pair of "Record Mode" switches. She also had gummy pinch rollers, an apparent genetic disorder in her family. She now has brand new OEM ones that I had bulk-purchased while Pioneer still had them (some things I do are somewhat wise).
She is now fully functional, but she is not done yet, not by a long shot. She is going to get the full treatment at Rich's Restoration Spa (AZ Silvemine). I even bought her a full complement of Elna Silmic-II and Nichicon Muse caps (121 of them, on 8 circuit boards). I must say, if she sounds this good now, she will bring tears to my eyes, to match hers, when she is done. Cosmetically, she is a real looker. I intend to turn her into a full-up time machine.
How was I able to go so long without those big silver reels spinning before my eyes and without the sweet sound of my special mix tapes? I don't know, but those days are already beginning to fade into memory...
Enjoy,
Rich P
PS, yes, I am going to adjust her new heads, and the record/play circuitry to match. I am going to wait until the recap is done first. The alignment is really quite reasonable already.
It feels good to get the restoration bench up and running again. I have ripped up my lab, and laid it back down, in proper form for doing good work, no longer cramped for space. In the last couple of months, a Pioneer SPEC-1, a SPEC-2, two PL-630s, a Nikko Alpha-II, and a Technics SL-1100A have all seen the light of a new day. I will say this, however, "I will no longer accumulate 18-month+ backlogs, that make me feel like I'm chained to this bench." Now that I'm a freelance paralegal, and otherwise semi-retired, this work is for fun and enjoyment...PERIOD.
