1970's model nakamichi tape deck

98thumpin

i just bought a nakamichi 600 model tape deck from the 70's it still turns on but when i press play the heads wont turn, does anyone know how to fix this, or were i can get it fixed.

mrbigbluelight

Not sure what you mean by the heads won't turn. Do you mean the drive rollers don't turn ?

Got any pics, btw ? The Nakamichi 1000 was THE standard for cassettes decks back then. Curious to see the 600.

98thumpin

heres a pic or two

98thumpin

mrbigbluelight wrote:

Not sure what you mean by the heads won't turn. Do you mean the drive rollers don't turn ?

Got any pics, btw ? The Nakamichi 1000 was THE standard for cassettes decks back then. Curious to see the 600.

yes i mean the drive rollers

heiney9

Good luck!!!! Naks are great sounding decks. I've owned many in the past including The Dragon. However they are expensive to fix and the people who specialize are becoming fewer and fewer. With Naks of that age it's usually nothing too serious but parts are hard to come by and when you do find them they are expensive. There are places that restore these but it ain't cheap.

Try poking around this site

http://naks.com/

Also go to

www.DIYAUDIO.com

do a search and perhaps a post a ? and see if you can get some solid advice. Did you check into resources and options before you bought this deck? Like I said Naks are great vintage pieces, but like any high end vintage piece they aren't cheap to repair correctly.

Good luck

steveinaz

Probably a broken drive belt....

schwarcw

steveinaz wrote:

Probably a broken drive belt....

Yup! Pull the cover and take a look. It could be so loose that it won't turn the capstan.

Jim Shearer

If it's anything like the old Nak deck I had (think it was a 686, dual capstan, logic control, metal alloy tape capability) then the problem may well be that the capstan drive belt has slippped off. The belt ran around the two large (as in weighty) pulley/wheels for the capstans. The belt would get cruddy about once a year & slip off. Just had to clean the belt and pulleys w/ alcohol & carefully re-install. I think I tried to find a new belt one time, but couldn't track one down. Just kept cleaning & re-using the old one.

Good Luck, Jim

98thumpin

id say if its broken that that would be a pain to find one

steveinaz

Usually a belt that old will have dry rot splits in it, etc.

98thumpin

dang ill have to check it out when the chance too

mhardy6647

The 600 is worth restoration; it's an excellent if slightly idiosyncratic two-head deck. Do a search at www.audiokarma.org for "Nakamichi 600" and I think you'll find plenty of info as well as ID a couple of folks who could repair it for you if you dont' want to tackle it yourself.

98thumpin

i bought this player for 85 dollars off of e-bay, i figured it would be neat to have a tape deck this old especially it being a Nakamichi deck. do i own what would be considered a gem and is there anyway to find out what it would be worth if in working order.

mhardy6647

I'd consider it a gem, if a bit finicky of one. Bang for buck-wise, the original Nak 500 two-head, topload deck was actually very fine... but the 600's sexier-looking.

Polkersince85

Check this site out:

http://www.beltsforanything.com/site1.php

I bought a Pioneer CT-F900 last weekend for 15 dollars at a local thrift. Works fine. I like that old silver faced stuff.

98thumpin

i put a tape in it today to see what was going on this is what it is doing. i hit the play button and the tape doesn't spin and i dont hear anything it sounds dead, is it the belt or something else?

hearingimpared

I know your are going to think I'm nuts here but you may find the right sized rubber band that can get you going while you are in search of a drive belt. I've done it with a Nak Dragon and a 300 years ago. Boy do I wish I had that Dragon now. I have hundreds of cassettes.

audiobliss

hearingimpared wrote:

300 years ago

Just how old are you??? :eek:

You had a Dragon...and let it go? It would be nice to have one of those....I enjoy listening to my cassettes!

hearingimpared

audiobliss wrote:

Just how old are you??? :eek:

You had a Dragon...and let it go? It would be nice to have one of those....I enjoy listening to my cassettes!

Dude a Nakamichi 300. . .I'm 51 years young. I can kick myself in the butt everytime I think of letting the 300 and the Dragon go. I know who has the 300 and might be able to weasel it back from him but only the Lord knows what kind of condition it is in.

disneyjoe7

Talk about kicking myself I had an old AKAI tape deck with a "Glass Head", really sweat sounding. I bought it from Tweeter back around 83 or so, I was making recording from records or CD's for car and bought another brand at first. Made a few recordings which sounded flat too me, returned to Tweeter who looked at me like WOW the first one wasn't junk in the first place. He then looks at me and maybe the best one in the store top shelf never touched demo. a very nice sounding deck for sure. Not even sure about the model # but I remember some odd warranty on that head something like 21000 hrs of use.


To bad it's on loan and I haven't talked to him in 25 years. Hmmm..... Gone Gone Gone.


Heck maybe 5 years after that he became a drug'ie which sold it for $10 for a fix.

98thumpin

98thumpin wrote:

i put a tape in it today to see what was going on this is what it is doing. i hit the play button and the tape doesn't spin and i dont hear anything it sounds dead, is it the belt or something else?

anyone know what the problem could be

Jim Shearer

Have you fixed the issue w/ capstans not turning? Did you open up the deck & check out the belt, etc.?

Next question: can you fast forward & rewind?

Can't tell you much w/o more info.

Cheers, Jim

hearingimpared

disneyjoe7 wrote:

I bought it from Tweeter back around 83 or so, I was making recording from records or CD's for car and bought another brand at first.

Wow I didn't know Tweeter existed that far back. There used to be a mid-fi/high end dealer called Bryn Mawr Stereo back in that time. As a matter of fact they are who I purchased the first generation SDA/SRSs from. Anywho, I remember them selling out to Tweeter in either the late 80 or early 90s. I couldn't believe what happened to the store after Tweeter took over, needless to say high end was out and midfi and lower is what they were selling then they just went right to mass marketed junk. I just looked tweeter up and it looks like they've been around since the 70s.

heiney9

Again having owned several Naks including a Dragon these have become dinosaurs so to speak. Parts are very hard to find as well as a qualified Nak techician. I understand you got it on the cheap and probably want to keep it that way, but beyond looking for the obvious as already stated in this thread it needs a good servicing. mhardy has good advice about www.AudioKarma.org. There are people over there who are very familar w/ Naks that might be able to help. Dr. Nak comes to mind.

Nak won't even give you the time of day if you are looking for service or parts for anything this old, their inventory has been depleted/raided many many years ago. If it's just a belt you could probably source an aftermarket piece that would work very well. Any specific parts, like motors or drive gears or mechanisms or logic controls or pinch rollers are going to be hard to find and expensive. Plus there maybe specific alignment procedures that only a qualified Nak-head would know about. I'm not that familar with the 600 series as I haven't seen one in probably 15 years.

Good luck

98thumpin

Jim Shearer wrote:

Have you fixed the issue w/ capstans not turning? Did you open up the deck & check out the belt, etc.?

Next question: can you fast forward & rewind?

Can't tell you much w/o more info.

Cheers, Jim

well i cant fast forward or rewind. you know how when a tape is over the player kicks off and disengages, it automaticlly disengages when i press play ff or rew after about three seconds. secondly i cant figure out how to open it up and get the cover off there are no screws on the top of the cover, where are the screws at. and the capstans are not frozen i can spin them with my fingers, they just wont spin under power.

98thumpin

when you guys say expensive just how expensive do you mean

heiney9

98thumpin wrote:

when you guys say expensive just how expensive do you mean

I have no idea. You first have to find someone qualified to work on it properly. Since it's somewhat of a specialty these days maybe $50 an hour plus parts and shipping both ways; could run you up to $200. I really have no idea but it's not going to be a $20-30 fix at a qualified tech unless it's just the belt.

Seriously to get a better idea check out www.audiokarma.com and speak to Dr. Nak or others, they can give you a much better idea.

98thumpin

thank you ill do that and ill keep you all informed of the progress thanks

SKsolutions

If the old belt is still bouncing around in there, take it out and match it up as best you can at your local dude's fix-it shop. If it burns the motor out a year from now because it was too tight, big deal.

disneyjoe7

hearingimpared wrote:

Wow I didn't know Tweeter existed that far back. I just looked tweeter up and it looks like they've been around since the 70s.

Where did Tweeter start? This was back in Rhode Island, and knew of them before 1983. I liked them a lot, but I not ever found of their sister store Sound Design which are around me now.

hearingimpared

disneyjoe7 wrote:

Where did Tweeter start? This was back in Rhode Island, and knew of them before 1983. I liked them a lot, but I not ever found of their sister store Sound Design which are around me now.

Canton Mass, 1972 according to their home page. They bought out all of their perceived competition then changed the name of the game to mass marketed A/V.