Pioneer CT-F950 Vintage Three-Head Cassette Deck
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 28 พ.ค. 2023
- This is a Pioneer CT-F950 Vintage Three-Head Cassette Deck that has been refurbished.
S/N: ZG9301214
This unit is for sale on eBay: www.ebay.com/itm/275876391335
Here's a rundown of the work performed on this unit.
Service Repair Record for CT-F950 (ZG9301214) (7/22; Updated 5/23)
Work we performed:
-- Left pinch roller remanufactured; right pinch roller aftermarket
-- Left pinch roller alignment nut/washer replaced
-- Idler tire replaced; Idler spring re-attached
-- New belts (4)
-- Optical trip counter correctly installed
-- Rewind motor rebuild
-- Re-capped Power Supply, Control Board, Motherboard, Risers
-- Refinished case top
-- Replaced logic buttons
General:
-- DeoxIT (D5) control pots (not board pots)
-- Restored all control faces/knobs/buttons
Adjustments/Testing:
-- Evened PB/REC/EQ and meters
-- Bias tuned
-- Recorded on Metal/STD/Cr02 and FeCR
-- 24 hours replay on 110m (thin) tape
QA Checklist
☑ 3KHz Speed Adjustment (oscilloscope verified)
☑ WLA lab azimuth calibration (oscilloscope verified)
☑ Mono input record (center calibrate)
☑ Rec/PB Level and EQ settings
☑ Tone tests (50, 100, 250, 1KHz, 3KHz, 10KHz)
☑ Visual left pinch roller height adjust
☑ Timer Play/Rec
☑ Rewind/stop/autoplay/end sense less than 3s
☑ Internal bias set STD/C/M (per voltages in manual)
☑ Warped tape rewind test
☑ Multiple record/play on reference deck
☑ Mic input
☑ 24-hour play/rewind
NOTE: As this unit is now over 40 years old!
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a very large part of the fascination for old hi-fi is their imperfection tho !
Yes indeed, no matter how much work you put in, one cannot guarantee the machine will work flawlessly for 6/12 months etc. It's the one thing that puts me off doing your kind of work - buy, repair, align, and sell. Pioneer in the day had masses of resources, and we unfortunately do not, even with the best intentions we have to let the customer know our limitations.
Beautiful deck.
Took a chance and purchased a non working one of eBay in excellent cosmetic conditions a month ago for $289.00 plus $30.00 shipping, got lucky with the reel motor, (even though I was mentally ready to rebuild the motor), all it needed was belts, bought the belt kit with the idle tire, I took it apart, cleaned, lubed, demagnetized the heads, it works flawlessly.
Nice video.
That happens for me as well. I get a deck that needs not much more than the mechanism serviced.
The belts/pinch rollers/mechanism cleanup is always required. Idler tire and spring adjustment a must. However, since you're keeping this for your very own, when the take-up reel motor starts to give you problems, you can haul it to your bench, take it apart and fix it. For me, because I sell these refurbished on eBay, I want to do my best to make this deck last. So, rebuilding the motor and recapping at least the power supply and control board is part of my process.
One other thing, though. Do recap the power supply and the control board. One cap had gone bad in a unit I received, and it took out a couple of transistors and a diode, overdrove the FL display and burned out the PD4004 chip that drives the display. That was an eBay parts-or-repair deal that wasn't such a great deal. Fun challenge, though. Costly repair.
Super vidéo
Lovely clear video, the Pioneer design is very modular.
Many thanks!
Lovely, I have a series of Pioneer silver era kit which I am slowly getting serviced here in the UK. My models include: CTF750/ 850/900. Back in the 70's Pioneer equipped a train stuffed full of all the highest kit much of which was never imported to the UK and ran this up and down the UK as part of their 'trade shows'. Happy days.....
Very cool! Where in the UK?
Класс!👍
Dual capstan machines can be a wee bit tricky to align, and if the supply pinch roller becomes suspect, then tape creasing follows.
That's exactly right. It's actually managed by three things: the feed capstan, the pinch roller (must be factory-spec, flat and not curved), and the pinch roller height adjustment. That last bit will lead to creased tapes. I have a special cassette with a cutout that I use to adjust the height and then paint-lock the new nylon nut I put on it. Never fails. Never creases. I've had these bench testing (while I work on the electronics) after fixing the transport mechanism for months. On all kinds of crappy and good tapes.
@@codyshive Well done! Dual capstan alignment is critical. I made a cut out cassette too, and watch carefully the tape flow - without a tape pad! I even go as far as to check - tape flow when only one pinch roller (left or right) is engaged. Also check that back tension/take up tension is constant. Old machines 'stiffen up' with dirt, moisture, and salts - 40/50 years worth of varying atmospherics! ;o)
Thanks for your video, I love to compare with a fellow engineer! :o)
@@codyshive wow! This comment is very insightful for me. I recently purchased a "fully serviced" Aiwa F-660 cassette deck, and it's eating tape like a delinquent puppy! Now I just need to find a local tech that can make the necessary adjustments... Thanks for the video ❤
Piekny chciałbym takiego mieć
I just started buying broken ones on eBay and fixing them. Then, I had so many I had to start selling them.
Thank you for the detailed presentation, this looks like a very clean deck. I have one like this and I also have the CT-F1250. Do you know if they use the same PLY/REC heads? The reason I am asking is that the CT-F1250 is known for losing high frequencies above 10K even if they were not used excessively, something about the head deteriorating over time, any thoughts?
Hi. Thanks for the note! So, I've had CT-F900s, 950s, and right now I'm working on my 1250 that's lost those crisp highs. What I can tell you is the heads on the 950 and the 1250 look the same -- both have the record head that's necessary for Metal tapes. I haven't pulled them off their mounts to see what the model numbers are, but I'm pretty sure they're the same in the 1250 as the 950.
I don't know if it's a head issue or an electronic issue (like bad caps or problematic transistors) just yet. It plays-back very crisp highs; just has them dulled on record. That leads me to believe it's an electronic issue, not a physical head issue. Most likely in the bias circuit somewhere. Caps/transistors are the first to check and replace.
FWIW: I haven't had any heads go bad on any of the decks I've serviced. I have had, however, some bad caps on the motherboard and the occasional transistor (pair) that I've replaced. When I'm done recapping the 1250, if the highs haven't returned, I'll swap-out the heads with a backup set I have from a 950 -- see if there's a difference. Those Sendust heads are pretty tough. If you have any intel on why folks think the culprit is the head, I'd like to know more.
Nice machine and awesome job mate!! Well, done!! I'm restoring two Dual C-844 and I'm desperately looking for Pinch Roller, so I have bought something via web but unfortunately the size it's really particolare and its not fit well so, do you know where could i find something? Thanks
That's a tough one. Lots of pinch rollers on eBay, so you might need to test a few. If you have the originals, you could see if Terry's Rollers will re-roll them for you.
@@codyshive Thanks for answer! I have the original in both of the machines.!
I didn't know someone like Terry Rollers existed till now so thanks a lot mate!