My friend Tom P. from Holland used to totally rebuild the pioneer ctf series decks. He would take them all apart including the motor and fix everything. He used to be known as the European Master Technician, and had a store on ebay. I knew him later in his life. He also had hi fi shops in Canada and in Arizona, USA previously. He was rebuilding the decks till he passed away several years ago. He was a good man and great techinician.
Love your troubleshooting skills. I try to use the same method fixing cars for a living and the hardest part is getting enough detailed service information to troubleshoot these vehicles. I probably spend more time on the computer reading service info and schematics than actually working on the vehicle.
Well, you learn something new everyday! All I've ever had was 2 head cassette decks, and I never demagnetized them, and I was hellbent on getting a tape head demagnetizer, but I guess I won't be needing that anymore... Thanks for the information!
TH-cam copyright strike in 3...2...1... ass-hats. Thanks. Enjoyed this video. Your videos and a few others are my go-to videos to keep my head from exploding in these weird, dystopian times.
Liking the direct-to-camera audio comparison. When the kids are quiet enough, it's easy to tell the difference between decks. This one is nice and quiet even without Dolby, but not as crisp/clean sounding as the Yamaha. That was pretty impressive for tape if I'm honest. Think I've got a Sharp boat anchor with a flip-down cassette door like this, unless I sold it. Will have to dig through and see if it's here as you've got me in the mood for messing with cassette decks now. (Either that or try and reassemble the plastic crap JVC one that's been in bits for years)
This usually depends by the heads condition and the bias configuration. It should acoustically match the brightness of the source, if it doesn't there might be some problem in the audio path. Of course being a vintage deck there's no control about bias fine thus only one tape formulation per type can be calibrated at any one moment.
Nice to hear that not only do you pronounce solder the correct way, you also measure temperature in the way I understand lol. Strange to see that wire was broken as well as the Zener problem, have to wonder if it touched something else and caused the failure itself since it'd be unusual to have a physical and an electronic fault in the same area coincidentally. (unless someone's been in there poking around when it failed)
Awesome fix and unit my friend !!! I'm actually pretty excited as today I acquired a nakamichi lx-5 , will be a fun video and will be up 4 grabs. Thumbs Up (251st)
Nakamichi decks were ok, buy nothing really to write home about. JVC, Technics and others had decks that could record and play with as good or better results than nakamichi. Other brands put in direct drive capstan motors and nak still used belts. They were good but i wouldn't offer anything for one. Fortunately if you are selling there are many audiophools that will gladly hand you a stack for it 😉😁😁
No very little about fixing electronics but find your videos interesting I collect Technics class as , aaa Amps, , cassette and CD player decks, got a few that need repair, shame I’m in the UK!
Smashing repair :-D And they put the classic series pass stabiliser/regulator in an easy to access place. I love the all metal chassis, strong and earth is everywhere :-D. Nice analog moving coil meters. I think i had that model once, the pull down cassette cover looks familiar.
21:34 Certainly a few drop-outs at the beginning. The drums give it away on this: the attack's ok but they sound a bit muffled; not bad though, for an old deck like this. Not in the same league as the Yamaha KX670.
@@davidgriffin79 Let's see here. Yamaha is 3 head, so one cut with a wide gap to produce a high flux on the tape and another cut with a small gap to recover those high frequencies. The Yamaha also has Dolby C and hx pro, which reduces the bias when there is much high frequency content, like cymbals. Without Hxpro the high frequency content in the music when added with the record bias will actually over bias the tape and reduce the high frequencies. No comparison.
@@12voltvids I thought the comparisons were over time and not specs. Some of the Nakamichis of the '70s and early 80's were also three head machines optimised for gap width; how would the Yamaha have compared to a looked after example of those machines using Type I tape (which I assume you used for recording on both decks). And BTW, listening through my equipment, there wasn't _that_ big a difference between the Yamaha and the Pioneer; also the Yamaha suffered from noticeable flutter (easily audible on piano) which the pioneer didn't. I suspect the differences would have been narrower still had you used decent quality, looked after, tapes. Back in the late 80's I had a Yamaha deck (can't remember the model number) and used neither Dolby C or Hxpro as I didn't like how it messed with the sound; it was good though, but could never approach the dynamic range of vinyl; so when it got nicked I never bothered to replace it.
Maybe my grundig has the same issue no sound of any tape deck i need to check it out and 2 12volts motors are still good thanks in advance. Keep it up...
Hello Mr. Volts, Congrats on that Vintage tape deck, they do not make em like that anymore. I am intrigued by your vintage volt/ohm meter, what is the power source of the instrument? Thks. MJ. In B'dos
I believe that was the westcom 840. The power source is 120 volts. It is plugged in. Those nixie tubes run on high voltage. I should drag it out more often. Just that it is big and my bench isn't. I did a service on it awhile back as some of the bulbs were out. As to the tape deck you are right they don't make them like that anymore. In fact they don't make any. There were much better tape decks then that. My jvc and technics will run circles around this I've any day of the week and twice on Sunday.
I enjoy watching your cassette player repair videos. I have a Sony CF-350 with a similar problem. The mechanics work fine, but there’s no sound from the tape, and the FM radio faded out. What do you charge for repairs?
I have the same issue with a Pioneer CTF500 Tape Deck. I have the schematic, but how do I zero in and trst the right portion of the circuit to try and fix this issue. No sound, no Dolby/Record lights, meter powers up. Any suggestions?
@@costin761 working late. Huge 8mm movie film digitizing order to process. Wanted to get another reel on the scanner and get one rendering before heading to bed. 400 foot reels take 4 hours to digitize and another couple to process (crop speed and color correct) so I usually leave the machine running overnight.
Hi. I'm not sure if you saw my comment on the Sony spare part motor video? I have 2 cassette deck motors I'd like to donate to you as I have them spare, "mmi - 6A2LKPA"
My friend Tom P. from Holland used to totally rebuild the pioneer ctf series decks. He would take them all apart including the motor and fix everything. He used to be known as the European Master Technician, and had a store on ebay. I knew him later in his life. He also had hi fi shops in Canada and in Arizona, USA previously. He was rebuilding the decks till he passed away several years ago. He was a good man and great techinician.
Love your troubleshooting skills. I try to use the same method fixing cars for a living and the hardest part is getting enough detailed service information to troubleshoot these vehicles. I probably spend more time on the computer reading service info and schematics than actually working on the vehicle.
I got one exactly like this. All I've ever done is put belts on it. Still works and sounds great.
Good to see you helping this one out. Cheers! 🍻 -AC
Well, you learn something new everyday!
All I've ever had was 2 head cassette decks, and I never demagnetized them, and I was hellbent on getting a tape head demagnetizer, but I guess I won't be needing that anymore...
Thanks for the information!
Excellent tip about demagnetising. Never knew that!
me too!
You made that look easy. Nice classic machine. No plastic!
Always great to see your videos great learning experience..
TH-cam copyright strike in 3...2...1... ass-hats. Thanks. Enjoyed this video. Your videos and a few others are my go-to videos to keep my head from exploding in these weird, dystopian times.
When you accidentally shorted the regulator transistor I thought that it would be done. But fortunately it survived 😅
Won't hurt these old beasts.
Liking the direct-to-camera audio comparison. When the kids are quiet enough, it's easy to tell the difference between decks. This one is nice and quiet even without Dolby, but not as crisp/clean sounding as the Yamaha. That was pretty impressive for tape if I'm honest.
Think I've got a Sharp boat anchor with a flip-down cassette door like this, unless I sold it. Will have to dig through and see if it's here as you've got me in the mood for messing with cassette decks now. (Either that or try and reassemble the plastic crap JVC one that's been in bits for years)
This usually depends by the heads condition and the bias configuration. It should acoustically match the brightness of the source, if it doesn't there might be some problem in the audio path. Of course being a vintage deck there's no control about bias fine thus only one tape formulation per type can be calibrated at any one moment.
No more pie in ear. The sound came right back again, another one saved
Nice to hear that not only do you pronounce solder the correct way, you also measure temperature in the way I understand lol. Strange to see that wire was broken as well as the Zener problem, have to wonder if it touched something else and caused the failure itself since it'd be unusual to have a physical and an electronic fault in the same area coincidentally. (unless someone's been in there poking around when it failed)
Well it is a pretty old machine I'm sure it's been serviced many times before
Awesome fix and unit my friend !!! I'm actually pretty excited as today I acquired a nakamichi lx-5 , will be a fun video and will be up 4 grabs. Thumbs Up (251st)
Nakamichi decks were ok, buy nothing really to write home about. JVC, Technics and others had decks that could record and play with as good or better results than nakamichi. Other brands put in direct drive capstan motors and nak still used belts. They were good but i wouldn't offer anything for one. Fortunately if you are selling there are many audiophools that will gladly hand you a stack for it 😉😁😁
@@12voltvids LOL =)
@@12voltvids Interesting. What are some of the really good Technics and JVC models?
@@rjonzun5828 JVC tdv1010 is the best one they made. Technics rsm275 and 375 are up there.
It's good to see that others have the same huge pile of diodes - and no idea what they are...
Great job Dave 👍
Gran trabajo maestro!
No very little about fixing electronics but find your videos interesting
I collect Technics class as , aaa Amps, , cassette and CD player decks, got a few that need repair, shame I’m in the UK!
Smashing repair :-D
And they put the classic series pass stabiliser/regulator in an easy to access place.
I love the all metal chassis, strong and earth is everywhere :-D.
Nice analog moving coil meters.
I think i had that model once, the pull down cassette cover looks familiar.
It must not be connected to earth. Still you can usually zap yourself nicely on the spades.
Wirewound connections... oh yes, what a sweet delight !
21:34 Certainly a few drop-outs at the beginning. The drums give it away on this: the attack's ok but they sound a bit muffled; not bad though, for an old deck like this. Not in the same league as the Yamaha KX670.
Look at the age difference. The Yamaha is a modern deck the pioneer a vintage.
@@12voltvids Same format though.
@@davidgriffin79
Let's see here. Yamaha is 3 head, so one cut with a wide gap to produce a high flux on the tape and another cut with a small gap to recover those high frequencies. The Yamaha also has Dolby C and hx pro, which reduces the bias when there is much high frequency content, like cymbals. Without Hxpro the high frequency content in the music when added with the record bias will actually over bias the tape and reduce the high frequencies.
No comparison.
@@12voltvids I thought the comparisons were over time and not specs. Some of the Nakamichis of the '70s and early 80's were also three head machines optimised for gap width; how would the Yamaha have compared to a looked after example of those machines using Type I tape (which I assume you used for recording on both decks). And BTW, listening through my equipment, there wasn't _that_ big a difference between the Yamaha and the Pioneer; also the Yamaha suffered from noticeable flutter (easily audible on piano) which the pioneer didn't. I suspect the differences would have been narrower still had you used decent quality, looked after, tapes. Back in the late 80's I had a Yamaha deck (can't remember the model number) and used neither Dolby C or Hxpro as I didn't like how it messed with the sound; it was good though, but could never approach the dynamic range of vinyl; so when it got nicked I never bothered to replace it.
@@davidgriffin79 both matter, specs and age.
Maybe my grundig has the same issue no sound of any tape deck i need to check it out and 2 12volts motors are still good thanks in advance. Keep it up...
Hello Mr. Volts, Congrats on that Vintage tape deck, they do not make em like that anymore. I am intrigued by your vintage volt/ohm meter, what is the power source of the instrument? Thks. MJ. In B'dos
I believe that was the westcom 840. The power source is 120 volts. It is plugged in. Those nixie tubes run on high voltage. I should drag it out more often. Just that it is big and my bench isn't.
I did a service on it awhile back as some of the bulbs were out.
As to the tape deck you are right they don't make them like that anymore. In fact they don't make any. There were much better tape decks then that. My jvc and technics will run circles around this I've any day of the week and twice on Sunday.
What's best method you use for testing transistors in circuit ?
Very hard work. From India.
I enjoy watching your cassette player repair videos. I have a Sony CF-350 with a similar problem. The mechanics work fine, but there’s no sound from the tape, and the FM radio faded out. What do you charge for repairs?
I have the same issue with a Pioneer CTF500 Tape Deck. I have the schematic, but how do I zero in and trst the right portion of the circuit to try and fix this issue. No sound, no Dolby/Record lights, meter powers up. Any suggestions?
Very good job sir🤘🏼
Great job like always! Everything looks so easy when you are fixing it! Can you please tell me what Camera do you use?
One of 2. Either a Sony FDRAX33 or FDRAX53. They are both 4k cameras but i shoot only in 1080p60
thank you so much! I didn't expect for such a fast reply! YOU ARE AWESOME! :)
@@costin761 working late. Huge 8mm movie film digitizing order to process. Wanted to get another reel on the scanner and get one rendering before heading to bed. 400 foot reels take 4 hours to digitize and another couple to process (crop speed and color correct) so I usually leave the machine running overnight.
i have a sa and tx 6500 ii and im looking for a tape deck this size to put with them so they match, 14 inches or something weird
Nice job.
صديقي العزيز : كيف نستطيع الحصول على المخطط الالكتروني لاي جهاز
👍👍
Hi. I'm not sure if you saw my comment on the Sony spare part motor video? I have 2 cassette deck motors I'd like to donate to you as I have them spare, "mmi - 6A2LKPA"
i've never seen a vid on computer repair
I have done a couple but typically dont work on computers.
👍👍😏👍👍
Don’t sound that bad