Just like Open Reel, but miniaturised, complex mechanics and enclosed.
Most cassette decks made by Pioneer, certainly all of the higher end decks, can give Open Reel tape a run for its money in terms of quality thanks to high quality hard heads, dual capstan, and good old Dolby NR!
Unlike an amplifier, where you have simply electronics and cosmetics to look after and restore, you have a third element in the tape transport system – mechanical.
Mechanical Restoration
All cassette decks made in the 80’s and earlier will definitely require some attention now in order to get them to work properly. If you are lucky, it might play, but in some decks you may find that FF and REW don’t work anymore or are sluggish and it might even start chewing tapes and start eating your favourite retro recordings! Most of these problems are caused by deterioration of the tape mechanism. A tape transport (the part that actually plays the cassette and pulls it over the tape heads) has very fine tolerances and many moving parts including rubber wheels, clutches and belts. In time, the lubrication will collect dirt and cause friction which will slow down and glue up parts of the mechanism. The rubber parts will become less flexible and cause playback and transport problems.
All of this can be addressed by stripping down and rebuilding the tape mechanism. All clutches are cleaned and re-lubricated with the right type of oil, new belts and rubber wheels if necessary. In some cases motors may require a service and rebuild. In the worst cases they may need to be replaced, however I will do my best to prevent that from happening.
Some decks will have what is called DD (Direct Drive), in which case less maintenance and servicing is needed but it is still important to check everything is running freely and that the motors are correctly calibrated and the supporting circuitry is healthy.
I only fit the highest quality belts which will retain the original performance of the deck, if not improve upon it.
The final stage of this is to thoroughly clean the heads and the rest of the tape path and carry out any realignment if required.
Electrical Restoration
Due to the mechanical aspect of tape decks, the electrical side of things deals with the usual audio signals but also incorporates large electrical loads such as motors and solenoids which generate some heat and require comparatively high amounts of power to operate, resulting in higher working temperatures. A steady and robust power supply is critical for good and reliable operation of any cassette deck.
In cases where the tape deck has seen a lot of use, the tape heads could be significantly worn and it may be necessary to have them re-lapped to refurbish them, or completely replaced. Any deck requiring work done which incorporates head refurbishment or replacement is handled on a case by case basis as some heads can be found and others will have to be custom made. More often than not however, the heads are in a reasonable to good condition.
In all restorations, I do a full recap and in a lot of important places, the old electrolytics are replaced with a superior quality of capacitor which significantly reduces the likelihood of certain faults to do with transport control and in decks that have it, logic control. Transistors are then tested to ensure they are running within acceptable temperatures and if not, these are then replaced/uprated or the heatsinking is improved.
Finally a full calibration will be carried out to make sure the cassette deck is performing within its factory specifications and then a soak test to ensure there are no lingering faults or operational glitches.
Cosmetic Restoration
Cosmetic restoration offers a deep clean of the fascia, knobs, switches and buttons followed by a polish which will usually really lift the visuals of any deck.
Some do have wooden cases, side panels or surrounds and these can be refurbished to remove dings or scratches, or if the damage is too great or you would simply like another options, I can make a brand new wooden case or even custom cases for a deck that does not have one. This does take time however, and these are always made on a case by case basis.
The internals are also thoroughly cleaned and cleared of dust; the circuit boards are de-fluxed and then protected against corrosion. Flux is a product left over on the board by the manufacturing process and can cause corrosion to the board and the solder joints if left unchecked.