Tascam 42 Tape Deck

[musicmanbob]

Good evening all,
May I ask how many if any own or are very familiar with the Tascam 42 or 52 Series tape recorders? Would love to hear what your experiences were/are? Thank you so much all.

musicmanbob

 

[jblmar]

I've never used one, but I know they're great decks.

 

[vinyldavid]

I have a 44OB and 48. Love 'em. IMO the Tascam 40 series is the best set of compromises that any prosumer deck can have. Excellent transports, build quality, and audio electronics. 80ips archival spooling mode is a perennial favorite. HIGHLY recommended.

 

[KentTeffeteller]

The Tascam 40 was one of their better efforts machine wise. VinylDavid's recommendation is a great one.

 

[goldear]

These are great machines. The only downside to them is that they were never configured for IEC EQ, so if you want to play tape project tapes on them, they are not a good choice.

 

[vincei]

I had a 42, best deck I have owned yet, great sound, silky smooth transport, powerful direct drive motors, ceramic capstan, tank build quality, a truly pro product IMO. Sorry I sold it!!

 

[wkrbee]

I have one,but probably don't use it like most here would.It's used as a mixdown deck,biased for ATR tape,and gets the meters "buried"for a wonderful slightly compressed sound-beautiful machine,has never let me down.It can be set up for IEC,you have to do it on the R/P cards.

 

[skywavebe]

I own the 42, 52 and 62 machines at my location and of course all these machine only work as well as they are calibrated. I have used and worked on them from the mid 80's so I have a very good knowledge of their capabilities.
I had a Tascam 42B in my shop do a sweep of 25Hz to 50KHz inside of plus or minus 2 dB at 0 VU with a speed of 15 IPS and using SM900 tape. I know that does not make any difference but just goes to show what you can do with these and the right tape. These heads were not new either.

As far as Tape Project tapes. The deck can work with IEC or NAB depending on what alignment tape you set it up with. Between the two the difference is at most 3 dB so I would not worry about that as most tone controls are more than sufficient for the correction were you to even detect it. There are jumpers or switches on the cards for you to make the change.

If there are persons out there that do not like theirs then that is no problem as I get requests for these units almost once a week. Sell it to me. for those who do not know me, I worked for Teac at Chicago Factory Service that was located in Arlington Heights.
I still service decks all the time.

 

[kahnydon]

I have a 44OB and 48. Love 'em. IMO the Tascam 40 series is the best set of compromises that any prosumer deck can have. Excellent transports, build quality, and audio electronics. 80ips archival spooling mode is a perennial favorite. HIGHLY recommended.

Just acquired a 44OB in very good condition. I would like to find someone who can walk me thru the audio calibration process. It seems that the people knowledgeable about servicing these decks are too busy to "tutor" & finding a tech that doesn't have a 3 month backlog is difficult as well. I am in the Indianapolis area if anyone has some spare time.

Donald

 

[mcgjohn]

I have two of each. Both the 42 and 52 are nice decks, except for their weight are pretty easy to work on. All the cards slide out on tracks so are pretty straight forward to work on / upgrade. They are old enough now, that some of the rubber parts are starting to go, so be sure you have Terry re-tire the pinch roller and timer wheel. he does a great job.

either deck will also bias up for just about any tape. I have one set up for 996, and a second set up for 206.

both the 42 and 52 also benefit greatly from going through the power supply board with metal film or better yet vishay foil resistors. you will actually drop the noise level in the B+ by a few db.....

and while the power supply boards are pulled out, may as well re cap with some fresh nichicon PW types. the reel tables and capstans are all direct drive, so no rubber belts or idlers to worry about.

The transports are also very smooth running and are gentle with the good tape handling qualities.

 

[kahnydon]

Thanks for your reply. I need to obtain an alignment tape so that I can begin the calibration process. I have another question. In the calibration section, it says "Connect the A/F level meter ,Oscilloscope and a 10 K ohm load to the OUTPUT RCA jack on the rear panel. I am not sure what a 10 K ohm load is.
Any help or explanation is appreciated.

Thanks, again

 

[kahnydon]

I own the 42, 52 and 62 machines at my location and of course all these machine only work as well as they are calibrated. I have used and worked on them from the mid 80's so I have a very good knowledge of their capabilities.
I had a Tascam 42B in my shop do a sweep of 25Hz to 50KHz inside of plus or minus 2 dB at 0 VU with a speed of 15 IPS and using SM900 tape. I know that does not make any difference but just goes to show what you can do with these and the right tape. These heads were not new either.

As far as Tape Project tapes. The deck can work with IEC or NAB depending on what alignment tape you set it up with. Between the two the difference is at most 3 dB so I would not worry about that as most tone controls are more than sufficient for the correction were you to even detect it. There are jumpers or switches on the cards for you to make the change.

If there are persons out there that do not like theirs then that is no problem as I get requests for these units almost once a week. Sell it to me. for those who do not know me, I worked for Teac at Chicago Factory Service that was located in Arlington Heights.
I still service decks all the time.

Hi Sam, I just obtained a 42OB & I am seeking an alignment tape so that I can begin checking ( and correcting - if needed ) the alignment & calibration. Can you recommend a source ?

Thanks for your time & advice.

 

[sean sweeney]

These are great machines. The only downside to them is that they were never configured for IEC EQ, so if you want to play tape project tapes on them, they are not a good choice.

The 42b that i have has an IEC setting on the main record/monitor board. Isn't that what that entails?