Roland RE-201

[buildafriend]

Hey,

I have a Roland RE-201 that a friend is saying "does not really sound lush anymore" so I'm left with a little bit of technical term hunt but sure it doesn't sound the same to his ears anymore.

I can replace the tape loop, maybe find new heads, recap it where it counts..

The motor kit has been installed. It has a new pinch roller, motor driver transistors look factory..

What do people generally do to breath life back into these machines beyond what I'm seeing? Obviously I could troubleshoot my way through reviving this unit but I figure someone in here might have worked many more of them than me.

All the best,

 

[Tubetec]

Definately de-Gauss the heads and other tape transport components , first job , even a tiny bit of residual magnetism can totally eat out your highs off tape .

Yes ,replace the tape

Clean all of the transport components meticulasly with isopropyl and lint free cotton

Theres very little else you should need to do. 

 

[Bo Deadly]

Not sure if I would describe an RSE as "lush". It's a low-fi device really. I think that's kind of the appeal. At least it overdrives nicely.

Although it could just be my RE-101 isn't that great. It's missing some significant low frequencies but I haven't really dug into why exactly yet. Maybe the heads are just not in tip-top shape.

Are you using lubricated tape?

There is a bias adjust but it has almost no measurable effect in my machine.

Or maybe the issue is psycho-acoustic? When I first played around with mine I thought it sounded fantastic. Now it never seems quite as enthralling as it first did.

 

[Winetree]

I agree with the tape change and cleaning, it is a tape recorder but,
You have to figure the unit is probably 45 years old and needs to be  recapped
I bought a complete rebuild kit for my 201. All audio ( Caps, transistors, etc) and mechanical parts. 
Cost and time, now it sounds like new.

 

[andow]

What do people generally do to breath life back into these machines beyond what I'm seeing? Obviously I could troubleshoot my way through reviving this unit but I figure someone in here might have worked many more of them than me.

How would you troubleshoot something if you don't know what the problem is?

Sometimes this "it doesn't sound like it used to" just means something like like "the beer just tasted better in the 70s"...

I'm pretty sure if you return a clean, fully working and well calibrated unit, he will be happy with it.

 

[buildafriend]

Definately de-Gauss the heads and other tape transport components , first job , even a tiny bit of residual magnetism can totally eat out your highs off tape .

Yes ,replace the tape

Clean all of the transport components meticulasly with isopropyl and lint free cotton

Theres very little else you should need to do.

already cleaned it. solid advice on some 101

 

[buildafriend]

Not sure if I would describe an RSE as "lush". It's a low-fi device really. I think that's kind of the appeal. At least it overdrives nicely.

Although it could just be my RE-101 isn't that great. It's missing some significant low frequencies but I haven't really dug into why exactly yet. Maybe the heads are just not in tip-top shape.

Are you using lubricated tape?

There is a bias adjust but it has almost no measurable effect in my machine.

Or maybe the issue is psycho-acoustic? When I first played around with mine I thought it sounded fantastic. Now it never seems quite as enthralling as it first did.

yeah i mean my expectations of an ever looping tape passing over several heads is limited. it's just tape.. I thought about seeing what an A/B does between some fresh heads. I contacted JRF Magnetics to ask if they had any.

I took the old reel off, I have some more in the mail. just went this while I'm noodling around with finding better performance.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/174041492754

interesting to hear about how the bias adjust worked for you

I don't think it would be psycho-acoustic. the mixer is pretty experienced

 

[buildafriend]

I agree with the tape change and cleaning, it is a tape recorder but,
You have to figure the unit is probably 45 years old and needs to be  recapped
I bought a complete rebuild kit for my 201. All audio ( Caps, transistors, etc) and mechanical parts. 
Cost and time, now it sounds like new.

I was thinking of seeing how far I wanted to take this. which kit did you end up going with? 

 

[buildafriend]

How would you troubleshoot something if you don't know what the problem is?

Sometimes this "it doesn't sound like it used to" just means something like like "the beer just tasted better in the 70s"...

I'm pretty sure if you return a clean, fully working and well calibrated unit, he will be happy with it.

Id start by listening and measuring

 

[abbey road d enfer]

I bought a complete rebuild kit for my 201. All audio ( Caps, transistors, etc) and mechanical parts. 

Changing transistors, really? Like they wear out with age?

 

[Khron]

"Of course" - how else are they gonna sell you overpriced transistors as well? :

Changing transistors, really? Like they wear out with age?

 

[Winetree]

Changing transistors, really? Like they wear out with age?

I don't know about wearing out,
They were newer, upgraded spec transistors, for better performance.
 

 

[Winetree]

I was thinking of seeing how far I wanted to take this. which kit did you end up going with?

ECHOFIX.COM

 

[abbey road d enfer]

I don't know about wearing out,

Semi-conductors do not wear out in a human time scale, maybe in a geologic time scale.

They were newer, upgraded spec transistors, for better performance.

The performance of a SS circuit is 95% in the schematic, not in the devices, except for noise, but in an tape echo chamber, it is swamped by tape noise..

 

[Bo Deadly]

Semi-conductors do not wear out in a human time scale, maybe in a geologic time scale.

At the risk of being pedantic (and I know you know this) this statement is not perfectly accurate. If they get hot enough semiconductors can loose their switching properties and won't turn off completely or become slow to turn off / on particularly when they're hot. They literally get burned up inside and become brittle to the point where they can fall apart and crumble when handled / removed. This is really common with bridge rectifiers and triacs and such.

Otherwise yes, transistors that are not handling enough power to get hot, like those in the signal chain of an RSE, do not wear out.

 

[Whoops]

What do people generally do to breath life back into these machines beyond what I'm seeing?

1) De-Magnetize / De Gauss

2) Re-Cap all electrolytic caps

3) I would polish the Heads, not go as deep as Relapping, but polish them so the surface become smooth and clean, I use a Dremel an Polish compound (I don't file them)

4) Lubricate motor

5) test all power supply voltages

6) See if there's anything in electronic circuit that might need to be calibrated

7) Clean/rub all tape touching parts with Q-Tip and Iso Alchool

8 Install New Tape

 

[abbey road d enfer]

At the risk of being pedantic (and I know you know this) this statement is not perfectly accurate. If they get hot enough semiconductors can loose their switching properties and won't turn off completely or become slow to turn off / on particularly when they're hot. They literally get burned up inside and become brittle to the point where they can fall apart and crumble when handled / removed. This is really common with bridge rectifiers and triacs and such.

Otherwise yes, transistors that are not handling enough power to get hot, like those in the signal chain of an RSE, do not wear out.

You'recorrect, I should have excluded power devices.