Portastudio 244 Refurb anyone?

[Anna Log]

Original owner of a 244. I'm not a DIY guy so wondering if anyone here can recommend an outfit that can do a PROPER repair/restore? Amp & mixer working but rubber has turned into gummy bear and I haven't been able to run a tape through it in about 18 years.

I'm in the greater Philadelphia area but willing to ship to a quality repair joint that can bring it back to life. Would love to start using it again to record and mix with but if that's not likely, would at least like to be able to transfer my shoe box full of tapes to digital.

I tried searching the threads but didn't find much - maybe I'm not doing something right... (impossible!!)

THX

 

[Max Relic]

You can do it yourself at home. I restored my 244 by myself, it was a dirty job (sticky gum blobs everywhere) and it took me some time but I did it. I bought spare belts, pinch roller and idler tyres on Ebay (seller revox_de) and followed some nice tutorials made by Youtubers Tetrakan and Multitrack Cassette Fans. Yellowed plastic parts as slider/pot/switch knobs can be restored by putting them in a 50% mix of fresh water + hydrogen peroxide and exposing to sunlight for a period of 6-24 hours (it depends on H2O2 concentration and sunlight strength). This method is not applicable to the transport keys because the keybed isn't easily detachable from the 244 chassis.

 

[Anna Log]

Thanks Max. I’ve seen some of those videos. Might have to give it a try…