EMI 140S has been a bit poorly of late, with many notes beginning to stick and scrape.(No, this wont be a poem!)
What had happened was that the chrome strip that guides the tapes through 90 degrees into the headblock had badly worn.
Yesterday, I took the patient north to the tron doctors. It was a lovely day to be driving through the English countryside, and I was excited by the proposed fix Martin had described to me.
What happened is that the offending strip was removed and replaced by a full set of rollers, which have their own mounting plate which can easily been taken in and out when changing frames.
If anyone has problems driving their tapes, I would thoroughly recommend having this mod done. It removes completely the potential for friction in that area of the machine.
I'm surprised I haven't heard of this problem more on the list, particularly as it's something I've encountered a couple of times before on previous machines.
One other point.......I was so impressed by the care and attention J&M lavished on both the machine and me. What they do is something that I personally feel is sometimes taken for granted and indeed abused by some postings that I've seen here. Just ask yourself this. What would you do if they were no longer around? I know Marcus is doing some great work, and I know some of you across the pond have various levels of expertee. But here in the UK, we would be stuffed to put it mildly.
Thanks Martin and John.
Andy K with EMI 400 now feeling on top of the world!
PS: If anyone wants to see how the mod looks. Let me know and I'll send you a couple of pics.