Anyone on here in South Lincs area with a Reel to Reel?

[CheapVinyl]

Evening; a friend of mine has had to clear out his late uncle's house and found some reel to reel tapes. His uncle, Art Turner, sang for big bands in the 40s/50s (Kenny Coulson, George Martell, anyone know them?) and we are hoping the tapes will have some performances on them. Is anyone on here in the South Lincs area with a machine we could use to play them? Thanks

[Robert Young]

Sadly I'm in NYC/USA, but they could be wonderful.. What format are they? (1/4", 2-track or 4-track, speed 3 3/4 ips, 7 1/2 ips, 15 ips, etc).

[CheapVinyl]

Thanks Robert; I didn't know there were that many variations, I don't think I've ever seen one other than perhaps than at school in the 70's. Hope the photo has the necessary clues...

[Officerpup]

Well, they’re 1/4” . . .

[Colin_EJJ]

Standard 1/4” tape as said above and they look like 7” reels. Are there any markings on the boxes or labels on the reels? Frequently the subject and format will be marked.

Basically, there arehalf track and quarter track machines. Half track has two recordings on it (one goes one way on the tape, one the other), quarter track has four tracks, two one way and two the other. Either can be used for stereo. Half track can be played on any machine, quarter track needs a quarter track machine.

Then we need speed. If they were live, it’s likely to be 3 3/4 inches per second or ( more likely) 7 1/2 ips. Both are accommodated by most good domestic or semi-pro machines.

There are specialist services but should be plenty of enthusiasts around. There is a strong reel to reel group on Facebook. I only have quarter track otherwise I’d offer to transcribe one for you. If you’re not on FB, I’m happy to ask there for you.

[Bogart]

Just go on other forums ie Wigwam I know quite a few have R to R machines, still. Only thing definite from your photo is , as others have said, 1/4 inch.

[CheapVinyl]

Colin; thanks for the informative reply and kind offer; I'll pass it on. My mate is on Facebook so I'll mention it to him

Bogart; thanks for the reference to Wigwam