General Electric M8455A "Duct-Tape-Corder"

This machine I fixed up to be working more properly, but you need to be careful in not letting the play button release too hard or it will jam and will NOT push down! Then you get a screwdriver or other small, pointed utinsil and move a small piece on the inside back in place. It is a very good quality machine with excellent AC bias quality....and AC bias is something very rarely found on a basic mono GE. Trust me, I have many GE machines and soooo many are DC bias! This video had the audio recorded with a Superscope C-206LP, and I do my best to keep it synced up. I decided to use a different camera as my camcorder has too many problems playing the tape, as the heads need cleaning and I still have't got a cleaning cassette for it. (I don't want to put Q-tips on the heads in the camera, I'm too scared I'll mess it up. It's not like cleaning a simple audio head).

Category:

Music

Tags:

• cassette
• recorder
• vintage
• 1970s
• early
• General
• electric
• AC
• bias
• Sanyo
• made
• in
• Japan
• Japanese

[mindfear]

I just found one of these at a thrift store for a few bucks. Wonderful body shape but having the same problem with the rewind. Do you know if the mic port is mono or stereo? It seems the headphone jack is... I'm trying to transfer digital audio to tape using this machine. Is this possible using a wire?

[CassetteMaster]

THe mic and ear jacks are mono, this is completely a mono machine. If you transfer from line-level to mic-in, you need to buy/make and attenuation cable. The rewind should be an easy fix. Some lubrication and cleaning. Take the back off the machine, and the screws that hold down the mechanical section, and once you're to the top of the mechanics where the tape goes, carefully take the tape spindles off, and put oil down the shafts and put the spindles back on so they turn freely. Cont-----

[CassetteMaster]

Then clean the rubber idlers that run the tape rewind with Windex, or CLR (I haven't tried CLR), and dry them. It should be improved after that. Be very careful when working with these!

[Brandtalones]

What do you mean by an "AC bias?" "DC bias?"

[CassetteMaster]

It has to do with recording. AC bias uses a high-frequency AC (alternating current) signal on the head while recording to make a good recording. DC (direct current) bias uses a DC signal for recording, but it has more background noise and more likely to distort. AC bias is better quality.

[EclipseWebJS]

Do they have cleaning cassettes for hi-8/DV cameras?

[CassetteMaster]

Probably. THe camera sometimes flashes the words "CLEANING CASSETTE" across the screen while recording.

[Vinylrecordsneverdie]

Yep this is the same one I have and it's Sanyo made too, but looks like a Panasonic.

[wilkes85]

ricky, can you use rye to clean tape heads, if you're out of the proper alchohol?

(rye = Canadian whisky)

Because for some reason tape cleaning alchohol that comes with cleaning tapes always seems to just disappear, even in the containter, sealed, and one of my rape decks has a filthy head on it.

[vwestlife]

Yes, Radio Shack sells an 8mm cleaning tape, but I'm not sure how well it works. Any 8mm cleaning tape should work equally well for Video8, Hi8, and Digital8, as the physical specs of the tape itself are the same for all.

[CassetteMaster]

I has Sanyo parts inside. THe capacitors and transistors are Sanyo. Also the bias coil, it I remember.