Restoring an Ampex 960

I remember a while back that I was talking to someone here (either in PMs or on the messageboard) about old Ampex 960 1/4" tube decks. Who was it? I ask because I'm seriously pondering dragging one of my broken 960s out of storage and having a go at getting it working again. One thing I remember, from when I was looking into this a couple of years ago, is that the correct belts were not available at that time. The "closest" belt was the wrong thickness and caused the deck to run off-speed. I was wondering if the situation's changed.

I restored one to playback condition for a friend about 3 years ago and the belts supplied by the replacements vendor (can't remember who) were good, but the speed certainly wasn't spot on. For those of us lacking perfect pitch it was OK, though. :wink: The deck sounded really nice as a playback machine, but it's fundamentally an iffy mechanical mess. A ReVox G36 also sounds really nice and is much more robust, but then you probably don't have any of those on the shelf.

Yeah, I've been warned that the 960 is a mechanical disaster, but since I happen to own them anyway...

Out of the three or so that I have, I recall that at least one of them was in very good condition when I bought it. The seller included a tape of Sinatra's September of My Years. When I got it home, I hooked the deck up to my hi-fi and threaded up the tape... the sound was indescribably gorgeous, until the belt broke