AA STUDER A80

This lovely old machine has been refurbished by analogue expert Roy Harrison who informed us that the machine has been fitted with optional transformer outputs

Roy has :

Acquired and fitted an Auto-locator plus remote control & Varispeed  
Tested all components and replaced faulty parts
Performed a partial Recap - all faulty capacitors have been replaced.
He has had the heads tested and relapped by Summertone Ltd, UK audio head specialists, who said the heads are in very good condition with lots of life left in them
He has also given the machine a fully service

This machine uses 2" audio tape and runs at 2 speeds 15ips & 30ips. Having spent many hours on my knees lining up the narrow bodied version the wide bodied machine makes sense.

As the machine came in without a remote control and autolocator we believe it may have been used to archive and copy tapes. 

Studer introduced their first commercially produced analogue 8 track recorder in 1969, the A80, it was shortly followed by 16 & 24 track versions. We believe this machine is a Mark 2 recorder. which would make it over 40 years old however it has had the Roy Harrison treatment and is in full working order 

Apart from part of the White Album, their 9th, and Hey Jude all of the Beatles albums were recorded on Studer machines as was Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon and many many more hits by many other artistes. The reason the Beatles went to Trident to record part of the White Album was because they wanted to record on an 8 track machine but the management at Abbey Road would not buy one, they took the view that 4 tracks were sufficient. Most of the Beatles recordings were made on Studer J37 4 track recorders, they sell for over £25,000 these days, if you can find one.

Many years ago I swapped a new Tascam 3440 for a Studer J37, the owners of the Studer were fed of having to move it from one stage to another, seemed like a fair deal at the time.

The Beatles went back to Abbey Road for their final 3 albums

E&oe