Goodmans SCD-100 cassette deck

[Phil G4SPZ]

Having been busy rebuilding my workshop since the end of June, I am now back 'up and running' and the first job I decided to tackle was my trusty old stereo cassette deck. I have owned this from new since I was a student in the mid-70s. The auto-stop function stopped functioning some time ago, but the last time I tried the machine out on playback, it erased part of a precious tape - so into the 'to do' pile it went, with a mental note that I might offer to give it away to someone on the Forum...

Anyway, the faults turned out to be wholly mechanical. The auto-stop function relies on a solenoid to pull the latching bar, and release the active key on the tape transport. On dismantling the machine I found a loose short piece of stiff, bent wire, which turned out to be the broken end off the solenoid pull-rod. A replacement was fashioned from a paperclip and secured to the remains of the pull-rod with the brass insert from a 5-amp choc-bloc connector.

Close inspection also revealed a small tension spring dangling loosely from the record/playback switch. The spring normally engages in a small plastic lug on the switch mechanism, and pulls the switch back to the 'playback' position when the record key is released. The plastic lug had broken away, leaving the spring hanging loose... and the switch permanently in record mode! I found a tiny nut and bolt small enough to pass through the remaining part of the hole in the lug. Tightened securely, the spring could now loop round the bolt and pull the switch back to 'playback'.

I took the opportunity to thoroughly wash the case clean of dust, reassembled the machine, gave the heads, capstan and pinch roller a quick clean and hey presto! Good as new. The Goodmans is now acting as a transcription machine, enabling me to copy some nice recordings! Its multi-slider mixer panel was always very useful, and it has variable output controlled by the right-hand slider. A nice feature in these days of automatic level control.

[Nickthedentist]

Well done Phil, it's nice to see "old friends" like this restored to full working order.

My cello teacher had one of these in the late 1970s, which was regularly used for recording performances. It was used with a Goodmans receiver, a Pioneer PL12 turntable plus some weird (ITT?) cylindrical speakers.

ISTR these use a Nakamichi mechanism, by the way and had very good reviews at the time.

Nick.

[Phil G4SPZ]

Originally Posted by Nickthedentist

Well done Phil, it's nice to see "old friends" like this restored to full working order. My cello teacher had one of these... it was used with a Pioneer PL12 turntable...

Thanks, Nick. Oddly enough, I also had a PL12D. They were probably the best belt-driven budget-priced deck around at the time.

Originally Posted by Nickthedentist

ISTR these use a Nakamichi mechanism, by the way and had very good reviews at the time...

Yes, I treated myself to the Goodmans from my first salary cheque after graduating. I also recall reading good write-ups in the hi-fi press, which mentioned the only down side being slow forward wind and rewind. For me, that was a good feature - it didn't stress the tapes!

[Phil G4SPZ]

Aagh! Sod's Law has caught up with me, the motor speed has suddenly started fluctuating! I've got to post a help request. Serves me right for posting a Success Story...

[Nickthedentist]

The Goodmans is a badge-engineered version of this original Nakamichi: http://mb.abovenet.de/forum2/bildupl...kamichi500.jpg

Virtually identical.

Sadly, Goodmans and Nakamichi are not names you'd associate with one another nowadays.

Nick.

[Phil G4SPZ]

Nick, that's fascinating, thank you. The Nakamichi and Goodmans units appear identical apart from cosmetic variations. I'm sure they're the same inside.

Actually, I should have reported back long ago. After lightly lubricating the upper and lower capstan bearings, performance has been perfect and the machine is back in daily use.