I bought a very nice Akai X-330D a month or so ago from a nice neighbor. Thought I would tell a short story -

About three years ago when I was hitting the garge sales around here (Leavenworth, KS) pretty hard my GS Buddy and I stopped at a nice sale around the corner. The lady was selling a ton of stuff, uncluding some Dolby NR units, Sansui Echo unit, and a many other vintage stereo things. We bought what we could and talked about how much fun we had with the vintage stereo gear we had in our homes..

I asked if she had any more (expecting it had already been sold). She replied that she was keeping the reel to rell stuff and a few other items. I gave her a business card and asked that she call me if she ever wanted to sell it.

Now - over three years later - she calls and asks me to come over as she is ready to sell the rest of the components.

WOW!! I ran over ASAP after I got home. She noted that her husband had died three years ago, and that they they had travelled the world as he was in the Army for 30 years. She was a bit annoyed that he died just a few months after retirement, but was now ready to move the rest of the surplus stuff down the line. She remembered how we loved the vintage stereo gear and had kept my card.

What a stash!! Akai X-330D with owners manual, 10 10" metal reels with tape, 25 7" reels with tape, Three 7" Akai reels with the cut-out "Akai", Sanusi RA-400 Reverb w/manual, Teac Dolby Calibration Tape and a handful of other nice things.

We agreed that $100 was a fine price!

Now - I need to give the X-330 a tune up. Seems to work fine forward, and truies to go into reverse, but the selonoid never kicks in to move the heads up. Brakes a bit slow too

I plan on doing a basic disassembly and cleaning of the guts.

Are there any thing odd thins I need to do or NOT do,, or to take a good look at?

Ultimately - I hope to offer a niche service to copy home recorded tapes from 3"/1-7/8" up to 10"/15ips translation to CD or cassette. - Is this a good deck for that? I had been using my X-150D for that from time to time, but now I have this with 10" capability!!

Thansk again Dan for a Fun site

Any advice or insight appreciated

Mike
Leavenworth, KS

Sounds like a good deal for the tapes if they are in good condition! Now back to that machine--the x-330d. That Akai model doesn't have the GX--glass x'tal ferrite heads. If the person that you bought it from recorded on all of those reels of tape, then the heads could be worn enough to degrade the sound. I consider the X (Cross field) series to represent "classic Akai" hardware. It is built very, very well mechanically. However, my classic Akai stuff doesn't sound as good as the stuff made in the mid to late 70's--they highs don't seem to sing out.

My tubed Akai 345 was about 4 years older than yours (yours is ca. 1969-70), but I had a similar reversing issue. I was able to trace the root of the problem to that funny counter-wheel-thingy at the front top center of the deck--between the reels. You will notice that wheel has numbers on it and a manual reverse button. My "reverse-wheel-thingy" was belt driven and the belt was not turning the wheel correctly--causing the deck to keep popping into forward play when I wanted it to go in reverse. You might want to try to see if that wheel is acting up. If I remember correctly, the user was suppose to load the tape, turn the wheel to zero, fast forward to where you want it to reverse, and set the smaller dial.

In reference to the braking issue, the X-330d was a technical marvel at the time and it uses the reel motors to perform most of the braking (electomagnetic braking) and mechanical brakes clamp on when the unit slows down. Make sure the motors are helping that deck stop and clean the braking surfaces. As long as the unit is not spilling tape, it is braking the way Akai intended for it to brake. At fast wind, when you hit stop it should slow and then click later to stop. There's also a sensor on the back of one of those motors to help the deck stop--check that too.

In reference to your transcription service--I recommend using a closed loop dual capstan setup--because many tapes that people ask me to copy are krinkled and in bad shape. For 7" I recommend the sony TC-440 because you can adjust the azimuth of the roto-head very, very easily for each tape.

As for servicing the x330d, a new belt and a head clean and demag should get you going. good luck!