Hi all,
Being a freelance engineer and not having a large digital setup of my own, I've recently been vibing on the concept of setting up my own space with a 3 or 4 track Ampex machine (300,350,351 etc) from the 1950s and doing it the old-old-fashioned way. I could go on for hours about records like Kind of Blue, the Beatles stuff etc but I wont.

The things i'm wondering are;
- am i crazy to set myself up for all the potential maintenance/expense attached to such a machine? I've only worked on larger and relatively newer Studer and Otari machines before, and I know how hard it is to even source tape for them, let alone an Ampex from the '50s.
- being in Australia, what are my chances of finding one such machine in this country? (obviously a question for any Australian slutz out there)

I'd probably be bouncing tracks to a DAW and mixing in there.

Anyone with similar experience/setups to this idea?
Thanks in advance.

It's a nice nostalgic concept but I really don't think it has a ghost of a chance from a commercial stand point.
I've done it many years ago and even then it didn't work. I'd say 16 track analog is the minimum "nostalgic" format viable today and even that needs to be transferred to a DAW for completion of a project. There are always exceptions but they are just that....exceptions.

Oh granted it'd be complete commercial suicide, but how did you find the maintenance etc, from a purely 'enthusiast' background? Or perhaps more importantly, how did you find the sound?

both atr magnetics and rmgi tape is available in australia. i think there is also a place in melbourne that relaps heads.

i recently bought a lower end ampex machine to use in a project studio and had it fully serviced by a local tech. he was telling me that there are only a few models that he bothers to service these days.

i keep checking around on ebay for another "bargain machine" but don't really think they exist. finding anything with 30ips seems to be fairly rare or really really expensive.

i do see a few revox g36 machines from time to time which at least had tube amps if that's what you are chasing.

other than that i have no real experinece as i haven't hooked mine up yet. (it is getting closer though)

plan is to track through it and into the daw. not being a commercial studio though i can muck around with things like this and no-one loses their house.

your best bet is to get in contact with one of the local respected techs that support the pro level studios. they will have their ear to the ground and know the ins and outs.

*edit, thought i'd add. my machine (15ips) cost me $140 delivered. tech cost $350, manual cost $70 but i got one for free, 1 reel of atr cost $120 delivered. need to solder up some cables $20 and need a rack $100. so my "cheap" machine would cost around $800 but i'll do it for just over $700. i was lucky the heads were in good condtion so probably saved another $350 or so dollars there.

once you're talking more expensive machines and more expensive multi track tape i can't help but feel something like burl converters would be less hassle. but i can't compare either sonically.

Maintenance will vary dramatically with the type of machine and its condition. If you are lucky a machine can be a lot of fun for casual use. If you are not lucky it becomes a boat anchor in a hurry. I'm aware of a lot of boat anchors in my area that get very little (if any) use. My machines only get the occasional playback duty anymore but they are in excellent shape!
As to the sound.....I always enjoyed the sound of a good machine especially compared to early digital. I didn't enjoy the flutter, noise, bias rocks, dropouts, bad batches of tape, etc.

The tip from gouge to talk to a tech about what machines are lurking in your area is a good one.
btw as to Ampexes from the early era be aware that they generally are a lot cruder than modern decks especially when it comes to the transports. No motion sensing, no counters many didn't even have automatic tape lifters. Owning one is sorta like owning a vintage car.
I've owned Ampex 300-3, 300-8, 350-2, 400-1, 440-1, f44-2, atr 102 and mm1200-16.

How do the sounds of the different Ampex machines compare?

listen to recordings of the eras.

In general, the newer the machine, the lower the flutter, and the less sense of blurring there is. The ATR-100 is much better than the 440 in this regard, and the 440 is much better than the 350. The 350 is better in that regard than a well-maintained 300, if such a thing could ever exist. The 300 is presumably better than the 200 although I have never actually used a 200.

I haven't used an MR70 either, just heard everyone talking about how much better the world would be if we could afford one. By the time we could, nobody wanted them anymore.
--scott