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This is a list of our vintage open reel, analog reel to reel tape recording collection for Unusual/Unique Reel Tape Recording Items As time permits we'll be building links to more pictures, a bit of history about our items, catalog listings.  Please note none of these items are in our collection, nor are they for sale on our site!

 

     

    

Studer at Austin City Limits • AES meeting at ACL •  Martin at Abbey Road Studios

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In December 2012, Martin drove to Salinas,CA to pick up the Ampex 200 he'd purchased. It turned out that Nick, the seller, had acquired many of Golden State Recorders recordersbelonging tothe"Baron" Leo de Gar Kulka. Nick's mom knew Leo's widow from church and Nick bought the recorders for $10,000. We bought his Ampex 200A and Ampex 300. Initially Nick wanted a higher price for the 300, however as Martin was preparing to leave, Nick sold him the 300 for the same amount as the 200 saying, " the 2 tape recorders had been together their whole lives and should stay together!"

In the storage building Nick also had Leo's Stephens, a Telefunken/Neumann MT 70S, a 3M and many other classic recorders. Wish we could have brought them all to our museum. Here's a brief video clip take at the storage building. Several photos from the video have been incorporated into the related summaries below.

Many of the photos below have been sent to us from a variety of sources. If any of them are yours and we need to credit you or remove them, please let us know. Thank you!

3M Professional Recorder   2 track	3M M23  3 Track	3M 8 track 1971 Phil Spector In John Lennon's studio working on the Imagine Album 3M Cantata 700 background Music
3M 16 Track	3M 24 track '79	3M - belonged to Leo de Gar Kulka - This unit was in the same storage building as our Ampex 200 and Ampex 300 in Salinas, CA in December, 2012 - video
AEG 1934	AEG 1935	AEG 1936-1937
AEG 1937-1938	AEG 1939-1942	AEG B2 Magnetophon
AEG Magnetophon FT4 David Winter - Paris   The FT4 is an improved FT3 machine. It is operated by the remote controls. Manual operation is also possible, but limited to fast forward/rewind and stop. The switch on the right of the transport selects the manual or remote operation. Unlike the FT3, the FT4 does not have a built-in speaker: it is external like the K1/K2 series, but the amplifier is built in the machine. The amplifier uses three tubes: AZ1, AF7 and AL4. The restoration of the amplifier is somewhat difficult because it uses several capacitor blocks which must be removed and emptied to place new capacitors inside. As can be seen on picture 4, the capstan is smaller than the K series. As a matter of fact, the FT machines were used to record long speeches, so the tape duration was increased to a little bit more than one hour by a reduced speed of 25cm/s. Therefore, the motor speed was reduced to 680rpm and the capstan diameter was reduced to 7mm in diameter. The rotary head assembly is same as the K1/K2 machines: either the playback head is selected and touches the tape, or the erase (DC bias) and record heads are selected. This is done by an electromagnet which triggers the assembly. The gauge on the left allows checking the amount of remaining tape. A very light lever touches the left reel with very low pressure to avoid damage, which is almost impossible here considering the low speed. However, a higher speed like 76cm/s would have increased the friction with the tape, and therefore, eventually caused minor damage like microscopic scratches, although the sound would not have been altered by this.	AEG FT4 1939	AEG FT4 1939 - continued
AEG	AES Melbourne display June 2012 click for full pdf photos
Akai 903	Akai M5	Akai 33D & R220S
Akai GX-400D & Akai GX-400D-SS	Akai GX-400 Pro	Akai GX-77 black
Akai GX-635	Akai Pro 1000 view more pics pdf
Ampex 010 Recorder Reproducer 1962          EBay listing - photos used with permission from Thory Monsen. Comment -"We are selling it on ebay for the widow of the collector. He was a retired IBM engineer that procured a lot of equipment through the MARS and ham radio scene. Here is a link to the ebay listing. We had no idea how to price it so we had to go high in the interest of the widow who is on a fixed income. " AMPEX Recorder/Reproducer Model 010 manufactured in September, 1962. This recorder is possibly one of a kind as we were not able to find any kind of information on it. It is the absolute holy grail of its kind and is highly collectible. The lot includes: - Ampex Recorder/Reproducer Model 010 (Serial Nr 912). Measures to 14 x 2 x 8 inches. - Original Ampex Power Supply. Measures to 14 x 3 x 8 inches. - Standard Tape (in the original Ampex box and canister) - VOR Power Cable (in original Ampex box) - Desk Module Remote Control Unit w/cable - Hand Module Remote Control Unit w/cable - 3 Head assemblies (all have areas that are corroded- please refer to the pictures) - WIC Input cable (the cable is slightly corroded and sticky) - Playback output cable (the cable is slightly corroded and sticky) - Small module (not sure what it is used for- please refer to the pictures). Measures to 7 x 2 x 1 inches. - Reel of tape (it is already mounted on the recorder and I dont know either there is anything recorded on it). Overall all items are in good condition with some scratches, scuff marks, sticker residue etc but nothing excessive that would affect the performance. We have not tested this item and it is sold for its collectors value.		Ampex MM1000 2" 16 track
Ampex	Ampex Logger	Ampex UST-4
Ampex custom control on 601		Ampex AG-440 b & c
A.R. VETTER Model D1 INSTRUMENTATION RECORDER	AIWI TP-1006	Awia VM-12
Awia NHK M-17 ribbon mics 1940's Japanese  Broadcast Ribbons (NHK is like BBC or CBC) These are true multipattern, with band pass adjustment on the  bottom, just like the RCA they were modeled after. SONICALLY, they are perfectly matched.	Awia VM 20	Awia TP 1001
	Vintage Bang & Olufsen Dynaco Beocord 2000 in collection
Braun TG-1000/4	Byer 77	Crown 701 see also the Crown 3M in our collection
Concertone 605		Crown CX-744 see also the Crown SS 700 in our collection
Denon GB-707A-GRIFFIN "These were made mostly for the military. Several clues would be that it has Brush heads -- Ampex didn't use Brush heads; it full of Telectro transformers -- Ampex didn't buy their transformers from Telectro; the pushbuttons don't have the plastic skirts used by Ampex. Ampex in this period didn't use that kind of logo plate and most importantly of all -- it looks nothing like an Ampex other than having two reel tables and a head block. It more resembles a Presto than an Ampex." The odd thing about this unit, which you probably noticed in the pictures, is that it has been re-branded as an "Ampex" and also has an Ampex meter. Photos donated by Ethan Brizendine of Ham and HiFi located in Sparks, Nevada	Denon	1957 EMI L2B Portable
	Leevers Rich story Warwick
Magnacord M90	MagnetaphonK8 1 1948 another	Magnasync/Movieola see also the Magnasync Nomad in our collection
	Nagra NTA 3 TCR	Nagra T
Nagra E Full Track	Otari MTR-90	Otari 4 track
Phillips Pro 12   Phillips Pro 36	Pioneer RTU-11 - RT-2044	ReVox C 278
Roberts in Console	Rola	Russian ReVox Olimp MPK-005S
Scully 280
Sony ES-22-T 1967 $10,000 prototype	Sony APR-5000	Sony PT-5A (EM-3)
Sony TC-774 772-4 see also the 772-2 in our collection	Sony TC-880-2	Stephens - belonged to Leo de Gar Kulka - This unit was in the same storage building as our Ampex 200 and Ampex 300 in Salinas, CA in December, 2012
Tapesonic		Tascam ATR-60
Teac R-310
Teac D-15	Teac rack 7030	Technics RS 1500 with case  see also the RS-1700 in our collection
Telefunken	Telefunken/Neumann MT 70S - belonged to Leo de Gar Kulka - This unit was in the same storage building as our Ampex 200 and Ampex 300 in Salinas, CA in December, 2012	Thorens TB124 1961 Prototype never in production
Tonschreiber 2005 UK Vintage Recorders UK Many may know I love to collect reel to reels, hence my user ID, I have always wanted to get early recorders with interesting history, this week I purchased something I thought I would never find, the Tonschreiber Ton S.b1. This recorder started life out in 1939, although the Magnetophon had been demonstrated in 1937, I do not believe they where for sale, this machine could possibly be from the first in the world to be sold. The recorder I brought could have been made between 1939 to 1944, I will not know until I pick it up on Saturday, all I do know is I am one lucky guy, thanks to my friend who spotted it. Below are some pictures of the recorder, when I have the machine I will take some more. On another thread, someone mentions an unusual tape speed, this recorder does not have any standard tape speeds, they are as follows CM - Imches 9 - 3.5 13 - 5.1 18 - 7.1 25 - 9.8 36 - 14.2 52 - 20.5 72 - 28.3 104 - 40.9 120 - 47.2 ------- The story goes, The seller had two of these machines which where going into a close bidder auction, my friend inquired about the recorders (Suppose to be two in one lot!), only to find a Dutch man had already offered a staggering amount just for one machine. I asked my friend to match that figure and see what they said; the seller withdrew them from the auction list (Not an Ebay auction) and allowed us to buy the other machine. The wanted to keep hold of the 10 reels of tapes which came with the recorder, I told my friend to offer a free transfer which is now part of the deal for 5-6 reels of tape (The others are for the Dutch man and the same rules would apply). The tapes run at very peculiar speeds and the recorder is suspected to be faulty (If not dangerous) but I have a Studer A810 which will play tapes from 1.7/8isp to 60ips! That’s completely variable between all the speeds, also the Studer has library wind (Soft spooling) which will be essential for these tapes as the are at least 63 years old and made from what was called type-A tape (Plastic not paper), these tapes where brittle even when new. __________________ Vintage recorder collector www.vintagerecorders.co.uk    Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Paignton Posts: 710  Re: The first tape recorder Tonschreiber 1939 Cheers for the info, this recorder has a very low SN of 484, I have had the machine open but have not seen anything to suggest its date. I know the first K-0 recorder was invented in 1930, that the Magnetophon was sold before this machine, I think it will be a little while longer before I can find anything older than this one though. __________________ Vintage recorder collector www.vintagerecorders.co.uk	Viking 85	Unknown

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