TEAC 85-16 help!

[wyattt]

OK. I bought this unit about 2 years ago off a kid who thought it was broke mechanically but just didn't have any tape. Now I am selling it, and I haven't used tape in 5 years and that was just for a few weeks in a college class.

I am having a bit of trouble getting this baby to record. I bought some used 456 and got it set up. After troubleshooting the cabling on the back (most of which wasn't labeled and when some cables looked the same), I have gotten the machine to receive a test tone through it on "input mode" and out into my monitors. Every input and output receives signal upon further testing and also shows this on the meter bridge. I can also hear back what was originally on the tape while in "repro mode". But when I arm a channel (blinking light goes on indicating ready) and hold record and play (record light goes solid), I can't get the tone to record to tape. It only plays straight through the input and then to the output.

Here are some pics of my machine. http://picasaweb.google.com/thomasawyatt/TEAC8516#

I have the manual and it seems to be fairly standard but I still am stuck.

I have to admit I am a protools guy, and had hopes of using tape but never got around to it. So any help you could give would be most appreciated.

If you need more clarification, or pics, (such as of the back connections, I can also take some of those.

[Tim Armstrong]

I suspect your record head is the culprit, if everything else seems to be passing signal but nothing is going to tape.

Tim

[woodman]

dang, that is one nice deck! worth salvaging for sure ... if you get it up and running, it's worth considering using it with your ProTools rig. record the digital stereo mix onto tape, then run the tape recording back into PT. adds a whole new dimension of warmth and fat to your final mix!

[wyattt]

Agreed! That was my plan, however I had to close the studio because I don't have time for it with a new job and a kid on the way. So I am downsizing to keep some gear, but mostly for my own demo purposes.