Re: [ARSCLIST] Nakamichi BX 1 Tape Deck

[Robert Hodge <rjhodge@xxxxxxx>]

Dear Randy ,

Remember, caveat emptor !!!

Syracuse University ( not this department ) had a couple  of Nakamitchi cassette decks ( model unknown -  scrapped ) that were purchased around 1980 or so , that when needing service, parts were found to be unavailable .. 
These were also semi professional ( unbalanced output - RCA plugged ) machines .
They weren't Dragons- I suspect parts are still available for those  (Hopefully)  

Good Luck - I wish I could give you more info.

Sincerely ,

Bob Hodge
Belfer Audio Archive 
Syracuse University


>>> sirnailheadjr@xxxxxxxx 06/18/04 10:22PM >>>
Hey...I found a Nakamichi BX-1 Cassette Deck in a resale shop the other day at the nice price of $25 and have been looking for an upgrade of my Fischer Double Deck before I pull out a huge box of old Cassettes of various live bands I recorded/played with years ago.  I'm looking to do digital transfers and know that some of the finest decks around are made by Nakamichi.

The casing is black, but it has no manual or other documentation as to how old it is.  The deck looks to be in very good shape.  It's clean, very little wear or dirt from handling, almost no dings or scratches.  I looked into the cassette well and it was very clean, with almost none of the dust you would expect to flake out over the years.  The Play and Record heads looked clean with no gunk and very light wear.  The rubber rollers looked a bit faded or dry.  The RCA plugs also looked pretty nice with none of the wear you would find had the plugs been scraping from repeated removals.

I can't do much more to check it out unless I buy it.  I'll put a tape in to see that it moves and hopefully be able to hook it to another stereo in the shop to see how it sounds.  Any advice on how well this model was built, when it was in production, how much I might have to expect in repair costs or other "Cheap & Dirty" diagnostic tricks I can use to see if the pitch is correct, etc.  Thanks.  Randy