10" Reel to Reel required. Help. Newbie

[theveeman]

Hi

Sorry for me being a noob.
My father has loads of tapes. I am after a player that plays up to 10" tapes/speed I believe

Can anyone recommend anything? Seem to only find 7 1/2" on ebay

Can anyone advise. Does the above make sense?

Thank you

[paulsherwin]

These are not standard sizes. Domestic recorders generally accept spools up to 7". Pro and semipro recorders accept 10.5" spools known as 'NAB reels'.

7.5ips (inches per second) is a tape speed. Other common speeds are 3.75ips (commonly used by domestic recorders) and 15ips (used in professional recording).

Tapes can have 1, 2 or 4 tracks. Most domestic recorders are 2 track mono or 4 track mono or stereo.

[Half a Mullard]

Quick look on ebay for tape recorders with NAB reels brings up some results. I think you might wince a little at the prices - as Paul mentions these are professional and semi professional machines. i would imagine they will give excellent results.

[DMcMahon]

Yes some machines have/command high prices, not just 10.5" NAB machines, although typically the 10.5" machines are more expensive.

Be advised that high prices does not necessarily guarantee excellent results , if the machines are in poor condition/not well maintained/worn out etc they can take a lot of work/time/money to get them up to scratch.

David

[ben]

It helps to know what speed and track system your 10.5" tapes were recorded on. Post photos of the boxes if unsure. This is important as it will dictate what type of machine you need to get. The wrong one won't play back your tapes properly.

As has been said, these were mostly used professionally so my guess would be half/two track stereo and 15 i.p.s., a common configuration.

[dave walsh]

Hi Vman. What you say does make sense but can you tell us a little more about your intention and motivation? As our very knowledgeable Moderator plus members Howard and Ben have indicated, you may be in a difficult position. Your father may have have recorded on to a professional [or semi] machine that would have been used in a Studio with 10" reels. Inevitably they eventually went out of favour to some extent but these days, now attract a premium price for a variety of reasons. What Recorder did he use I wonder?

Domestic tape machines often used cheap and cheerful but ingenious designs with 5" reels running at a 3.5 inches per second speed. Limited but very much useable in the domestic setting! Recording at 7.5 ips on to to 7" reels was definitely superior but then you needed to be able to afford more tape for the higher quality, as it got used up more quickly. This was the home recording limit. There are only four "stickies" on this thread and the third one illustrates my point about not going above 7".

Large Reels and 15" per second was common in a Professional setting. The purchase of these machines was prohibitively expensive then and is now. In fact the cost of paying for restoration/maintenance can outweigh it's value [unless one is a real enthusiast]. Doing it yourself is, of course, a solution. It's the route generally taken here and on other Audio sites.

If there is simply content within your fathers recordings that you may wish to access [for whatever reason ] it may suit you to seek out someone who can transfer the material to a different medium but it's difficult to comment further at present. I could recommend a source of restored and guaranteed Tape Machines but it would not be cheap. On the other hand buying something without a good knowledge base could be a big mistake if it turns out to need a great deal of work! I hope that helps you. Even if it's not that positive a view-it is realistic.

Dave W

[DMcMahon]

10.5" machines/tape spools are sometimes referred to as 10", evidently there were a few machines that did actually use 10" spools/reels but I would guess in this case the OP definitely means 10.5"

David

[Restoration73]

In addition some Ferrograph recorder models used a deck that could handle 8.25" spools
so a machine with 10.5" is useful for these tapes.

[SteveCG]

Earlier Revox machines used 10" spools (and will not take 10.5").

[barrymagrec]

Yes, 10 inch cine spools, not NAB centres, from the pictures.

[derekheeps]

Originally Posted by SteveCG

Earlier Revox machines used 10" spools (and will not take 10.5").

Interesting : even my G36 took 10-1/2" reels , must have been earlier than that ?

I regret selling it as it was a half track , high speed machine and better than the A77 and B77 I have ( B77 is same configuration ) . G36 was handy in that it had onboard amplifier and speakers , not just a deck .

[DMcMahon]

The Operating instructions for the Revox C36 states 10" plastic reels (and shows cine spools), possibly the same for the A36 - F36 range.

[vidjoman]

The Revox range upto the F can only take 10” reels. The G36 or sometimes known as the 736 with the grey cabinet changed to 10.5” reels. The tape length was the same but the 10” cine type reels had a small centre and the tape wound closer to the centre. The Nab hub was a more professional type and the tape was on a larger diameter centre which resulted in less stress to the tape.

[Welsh Anorak]

To help the OP, tape spools were measured in inches diameter. Common sizes were 3", 5", 5 3/4", 7" and 10.5". Rather rarer are 3.5", 4", 8.25" and 10".Of course, a machine that uses 10.5" spools will take 10", or anything smaller (within reason).
The other stumbling block is that most 10.5" reels use NAB hubs. There have a big central hole as opposed to the smaller 3-spoke triangle used on domestic machines. For these you'll need an adaptor - possibly two, one for each reel.
Then the fun really starts. There are a number of speeds to choose from. For semi-pro machines that will be 3.75, 7.5 or (more rare) 15 ips (inches per second). Then we have track format - stereo, half track or quarter-track. Hopefully your father was concientious and wrote this info on the boxes.
So what you need is a machine that takes up to 10.5" spools, possibly quarter track stereo, two or three speed. The Revox A77/B77 springs to mind of course, or maybe a high-end Sony or Akai. However as said earlier these come with a price tag.
What appears a nice simple question turns out to be anything but! Of course if you've still got the machine they were recorded on then bringing this back to life might be the most obvious answer.

[Edward Huggins]

Search out a Philips N7300. That should well meet your needs. Any reel-to-reel machine will be many years old by now and likley to need new belts.

[g8jzyian]

HI
There is always the possiblity that a teac 3440a was used to make the original recordings. This is a 4 track recording 4 simultaneous tracks.
Ian

[dave walsh]

I'm very surprised by the variation in speeds, reel size and hubs at the more professional level but I suppose I shouldn't be really This perhaps makes info from the OP even more important. Not everyone comes back of course but starting from scratch with a half or quarter track semi-pro recorder will be a bit daunting. If that's what he wants to do that is I'm assuming his dad may not be in a position to advise perhaps?

Dave W

[ben]

I think we need to halt and wait for more input (pardon the pun) from the OP. All this speculation isn't really going to be of use until we know more about the tapes in question.

[dave walsh]

You're right Ben, especially if it's too specialised but on the other hand, I notice it's never a problem when [if] enquirers return and/or tell us more in the first place. I think it can be no coincidence that the retro boom has boosted [at least initial] interest in the Forum over recent years.

Dave

[GeoffB17]

I take it that OP never saw the tapes being recorded, or saw the machine used to record them?

As has been suggested, some pictures would be a help.

If OP cannot determine the recording format (this OUGHT to be marked on the boxes) it would help to find someone near (or nearish) who can play the tapes and determine the details. This would help in finding a suitable playback machine.

As referred to, a machine that can take the 10" spools can probably use smaller spools as well, but not vice versa. Different machines may be capable of using some ONLY of the 4 possible speeds (I'm not counting 30ips here).

I for example have a TEAC A3340 here which can play 10.5" spools at 7.5 and 15ips, but things would get complicated if the tapes are 4 track stereo (i.e. can be run in either direction). The machine will play 1/2 track stereo, but not ideal.

Many machines for sale might need a LOT of work. Machines serviced up to spec could be pretty expensive, and you need the right configuration for the tapes.

Geoff