Jump to content

JBond

Members
  • Posts

    542
  • Joined

  • Days Won

    8

Everything posted by JBond

  1. I saw the DR on the tents and for some reason it reminded me of the Nagra IS and Dela… Oh how we age…
  2. It is "gorgeous" the way Nagra designed the famous SN recorder with seven removable plug in modules, each held in by only a couple of small brass screws. The one shot hastily taken picture, with parts of it out of focus is disappointing.
  3. Dela, I believe the jack that Tunes is talking about is not on the SNST, even though the SNST is in the picture, Its the jack on my red 1973 SNS. Tunes asked me and I didn't know what the jack was for. I just took the board off and the jack is wired to the proprietary SN microphone input. I assume this is so you can use a normal 1/8 microphone jack that was found on a pen or watch microphone.
  4. Maybe it will become a fad, You have to be very into Nagra to wear this out in public or around the house for that matter. https://weadmire.net/product/nagra-noire-serie-all-over-t-shirt-by-yukio-miyamoto/
  5. This listed on eBay , reminds me of Dela's collection, I see why he collects them, look at that custom DR radio silkscreen. You have to admit the Nagra IS is a sweet recorder. You will find Dela's IS collection on post 576 page 24 Or just go to the post index on page 1 and click on Dela 576
  6. Thank you, daniel That's a great story and is just the kind of story I was looking for to be told when I started this thread back in January 2015. I wanted it to be about untold stories using Nagra tape recorders in your profession that only soundmen knew about. The original title of this thread was Nagra Stories only soundmen can tell. There were others on here that told stories over the last three years and I appreciated their stories also. Wow, so you were on the ship for a month? God, it seems so primitive using tape reels in your profession today. I can see you now hanging on and trying to change the reels on an SN. The locking reel hubs unlike a Nagra III or IVS really need two hands as the reel lock would make it impossible to do one-handed so I can see you now trying to do that and keep yourself upright on a rolling ship. I can also imagine how you must have felt not wanting to drop a reel to watch it roll down along the deck leaving a 50 ft tape trail behind, especially with a crew as you explained that did not make you feel at all comfortable. You got the gig over a more experienced soundman, so I guess the pressure was on you to show your best. I appreciate your taking the time to tell your story and hope it'll inspire others to tell theirs. After all, when I started this thread I wanted it to be about Nagra stories that only a soundmen could tell. It would've been nice if the guy had sold you the SN. If I were you, I would look for an SN as you have a great memory to go with it.
  7. Thanks JonG, I appreciate it. Its almost hard to believe that Nagra would take all the time and money to come up with this CES 2018 advertisement / web page below in the link, showing 65 years of awards, listing all their achievements of the past 65 years and get the early history so wrong. 2018 CES Nagra http://www.nagraaudio-hd.com/history.html 1st. They show a Nagra II and call it the 1951 Nagra I (even though they have a real Nagra I ). Stefan Kudelski is holding the Nagra I in the picture before, remember the off set reel nuts. 2nd. Look at the picture of the so-called 1970 Nagra “SNST”. They show a picture of a late model black silkscreen Nagra SN, not a 1970 plain no name Nagra SN (even though they have one) but a black silkscreened late model SN and mistakenly call it a 1970 SNST. The SNST did not get developed until seven years later in 1977. 3rd The1957 Nagra III which should say “1958”. (there is no 1957 Nagra III) They show a later pilot model Nagra III and call it a 1957. The pilot model was not developed until 1962. I guess that’s what happens when there was so much miss information over the years, over and over again. The current people at Nagra may not know what’s real or what’s not. Now its clear to see how the Nagra SN story got so messed up over the years. Nagra Stories #373
  8. Some early Covert Recorder beauty shots, Prototype reel over reel developed in 1955, finally completed and first sold in 1959 only to become obsolete. Photos marked with RJW are copyrighted. Any use other than private with or without the RJW watermark is strictly forbidden, without written permission from the owner. Photos marked with RJW are copyrighted. Any use other than private with or without the RJW watermark is strictly forbidden, without written permission from the owner. The CIA Type 1, "Resin Recorder", circa 1956-57, group pose. First known 2 channel unit lower left. First auto reverse record upper right. First instant erase (self magnetic destruct) tape. Photos marked with RJW are copyrighted. Any use other than private with or without the RJW watermark is strictly forbidden, without written permission from the owner. The CIA TYPE 2, "Edwards Model 30 Recorder", circa 1960-62. White Nylon reels thought to keep the heat build up to a minimum. Photos marked with RJW are copyrighted. Any use other than private with or without the RJW watermark is strictly forbidden, without written permission from the owner. The CIA Type 3, UMY-25 recorder, circa 1965-66 - the first to use IC chips, the two chips equivalent to 26 transistors. Photos marked with RJW are copyrighted. Any use other than private with or without the RJW watermark is strictly forbidden, without written permission from the owner. Type 4, EDI Recorder, Circa 1967-68 first to become public in 1967 and the reason for the name on the recorder. Photos marked with RJW are copyrighted. Any use other than private with or without the RJW watermark is strictly forbidden, without written permission from the owner. TYPE 5, Alpha One, circa 1970-71. The most advanced recorder of this type, after a 15-year span. Photos marked with RJW are copyrighted. Any use other than private with or without the RJW watermark is strictly forbidden, without written permission from the owner. Photos marked with RJW are copyrighted. Any use other than private with or without the RJW watermark is strictly forbidden, without written permission from the owner. MC-2 Miniature Recorder, ("Cigarette Pack Recorder"), circa 1971, known to be used by the FBI. Photos marked with RJW are copyrighted. Any use other than private with or without the RJW watermark is strictly forbidden, without written permission from the owner. Evershed T704 ("Yellow Recorder"), circa 1973 Photos marked with RJW are copyrighted. Any use other than private with or without the RJW watermark is strictly forbidden, without written permission from the owner. The Nagra SN Series cosmetic differences - 1970 to 1999. Yes, I know I'm missing a head cover. These are expensive I'm lucky to have it . The Nagra SN recorder will become the most desirable and sought after reel to reel recorders ever made… mark my words. Photos marked with RJW are copyrighted. Any use other than private with or without the RJW watermark is strictly forbidden, without written permission from the owner. Right to left, 1st, from 1970 Flat gray paint no silkscreen. 2nd, 1973 low gloss gray paint with red silkscreen. 3rd,1974 to 77 dark anodized aluminum in black and some in red silkscreen. 4th In bright anodized aluminum with black silkscreen. Photos marked with RJW are copyrighted. Any use other than private with or without the RJW watermark is strictly forbidden, without written permission from the owner. The Nagra JBR, 1984. The most advanced analog recording system ever produced at this size. Photos marked with RJW are copyrighted. Any use other than private with or without the RJW watermark is strictly forbidden, without written permission from the owner. Swiss made Stereo Microcassette covert recorder system used after the JBR and SNST "No controls"; special pen to operate. Not for public use. The Pearlcorder ZUIKO, first Microcassette recorder 1969, Apollo age modular system. Photos marked with RJW are copyrighted. Any use other than private with or without the RJW watermark is strictly forbidden, without written permission from the owner.
  9. No one on Jwsound remembers using a Nagra SN in their career of recording movie sound? Not even one experience using the Nagra SN as a movie sound recorder? How can this be?
  10. Thanks Tunes, I recently found this out and purchased a copy of the 1970 American Cinematographer Magazine which has the first write-up of the 1970 Nagra SN. The article seems to suggest the first 1970 SN was specially developed for the movie industry. Shown below is my picture of the 1970 style SN with the Dec 1970 American Cinematographer Magazine article in the background. Full credit for the magazine in my picture goes to American Cinematographer Magazine. It’s an excellent and complete first write up of the NEW Nagra SN and written in great detail. Most all of the necessary accessories were available at the time the recorder was released for the movie industry in 1970/71. That makes a lot of sense since Nagra / Kudelski by 1970 was heavily invested in the movie industry and apparently not so much in the secret spy recorder business. There has never been a scrap of evidence that any Nagra SN was utilized for any reason before 1970. Was the first actual SN developed in 1970 for the movie industry and not the spy industry? It's hard to say for sure; the first SN seemed to fit the movie industry more at the time according to this article. The 1970 SN movie recorder was full track 1 7/8 and 3 3/4 for sound quality. It is possible, Nagra thought at the time 1 7/8 would also be good for covert use, 1 7/8 speed certainly would be useless for actors voices. So one dual-use recorder with two-speed choices depending on the application was developed in 1970 and first sold in 1971. Its possible the SN after being used in the field as a covert recorder worldwide, (It was never meant to be a U. S. use only recorder) suggestions were made that a longer running recorder was needed. In September of 1971 the first SN- Slow speed recorder was manufactured with the serial number 83. (per Nagra email) The September 1971 SNS was 1 7/8 and 15/16 tape speed and 1/2 track so both sides of the tape could be used. The first SN used in the movie industry looked precisely like this 1972 Slow speed model below serial number 811, No silkscreen just a plain gray recorder. Does anyone remember using this recorder in 1971 or later recording movie sound? Photos marked with RJW are copyrighted. Any use other than private with or without the RJW watermark is strictly forbidden, without written permission from the owner. The first SN developed in 1970 was for both the movie industry and to be used covertly worldwide. The SNS was developed a year later more specifically for covert use only. The SNS in September 1971 was truly the first "meant for covert use" recorder Nagra made. From there, they started their line of covert use only recorders with the SNST, JBR, etc. Can anyone share any known information about using the Nagra SN as a body microphone recorder for the movie industry? Was it extensively used and popular? Or hardly used? I know we talked about this briefly before, but I don't know where. I do not know anything about how it was used or how long in the movie industry. Frankly, I always thought the SN was used much later in the movie business and not released right from the start for movie use. I also thought it was released just a little too late and wireless microphones soon filled the sound problem with the actor's voices. Can anyone say for sure if they know of an actor/ actress that first used the Nagra SN on their person? Or the first movie to use the SN that would have been in 1971?
  11. This updated story of the Nagra JBR has some new information that only a handful of people have known about. The Nagra JBR, 1984 by RJW The Nagra JBR (Junior Body Recorder) was perhaps the most needed covert recorder advancement of the time when it was introduced secretly to the FBI in 1984. It was a joint venture between Nagra and the FBI and 2 other three-letter agencies of the U.S. The aging SNST was still in use at the time and still very popular, but everyone "in the know” knew how to detect someone using the SNST. The SNST was large and cumbersome for one to wear secretly on their person. Not to mention the person on the other end of the conversation most likely was using an advanced tape recorder detector of that time. A smaller-sized harder to detect recorder was needed so Nagra, with the help of James B. Reames* of the FBI, developed this smaller, harder to detect covert recorder, possibly the most secret recorder ever contracted. * James B. Reames 1958-1990 Federal Bureau of Investigation Washington, D.C. Responsible for the analyses of audio tapes to improve intelligibility, to identify non-voice signals, and to determine authenticity of magnetic tape recordings submitted by Federal, State, and local law enforcement agencies. Also involved with the FBI’s Tape Enhancement Laboratory, Tape Recording Capability, Research and Development Activities, Technical Security Counter measures programs and Tempest Programs. The project was kept highly secret, even to the people who would eventually be the ones using the new JBR, for reasons to also weed out any bad characters even within the government agencies themselves. The recorder could now be used to expose people who knew how to detect the SNST and other recorders of the time. They certainly would not be suspecting the new hard to detect JBR. “The design and manufacture of the recorder has been so secret and important to the FBI (and two other unnamed government agencies who are supposedly the sole users of the recorder) that any public availability of information on the recorder would ‘’make the machine extinct,'according to an employee of Nagra who refused to provide any details on the recorder in a telephone interview." (1) Photos marked with RJW are copyrighted. Any use other than private with or without the RJW watermark is strictly forbidden, without written permission from the owner. Photos marked with RJW are copyrighted. Any use other than private with or without the RJW watermark is strictly forbidden, without written permission from the owner. Photos marked with RJW are copyrighted. Any use other than private with or without the RJW watermark is strictly forbidden, without written permission from the owner. The complete project was spelled out from the beginning, the JBR recorder along with the advanced universal playback unit called the PU-1. The proposed PU-1 was designated to be a “Playback Universal Unit” to be able to play back the SNST reel tapes and a JBR cassette (a multipurpose unit). The JBR and Playback unit was very advanced technology at the time that was never realized before in a recorder of this size. Since the JBR recorder was easier to develop, the JBR and the playback unit were not ready at the same time. Due to time restraints, the JBR was delivered to the FBI without any means to play back the recording. As the JBR recorder started to be used in the field, the playback unit was still in development. There were many delays as this “new” technology was being developed. The center control track on the JBR was to speed correct the tape since it didn’t have a pinch wheel. The speed of the tape and motion while worn were not going to be an issue because of the control track. Everything was thoroughly thought out in advance, except for the delays. The customer now had “ evidence tapes” and no way to reproduce them, due to the lack of any available playback device. A mechanical adapter was developed: Called the CST to work in conjunction with a common SNST to play back the recorded JBR cassette. This adapter was one thing that was not in the original plans, but it was the best way at the time to play back the recorded JBR tapes while the advanced playback unit was being developed. This was not a cheaply put together adapter. It was made in the same fine quality like any other Nagra product. It's almost as if Nagra knew it was going to be awhile before the “PU1” would be ready. A couple of issues emerged: The tapes did not have any speed correction since the SNST host machine didn't have the capabilities to read the control track. Because of the speed issues and Wow & Flutter, the customers started questioning the quality of JBR recordings. Of course, it wasn't fair since the whole concept hadn't been realized yet. No PU-1 or PS-1. A control track filter SCTF was developed to remove the control track tone from the audio during playback. No one wanted to hear the high-frequency tone mixed in with the audio evidence. If not for that filter, the SNST would otherwise reproduce the constant control track tone. All of these things were stop-gap measures to calm the customer (FBI). The other main flaw in the mechanical adapter was its hold-back tension. It was so high, it damaged the tapes when used. With a few gear changes, they got it to work, sort of. (2) The CST adapter was made utilizing a Nagra SN housing: The SNST would slide on top of the SN housing and lock securely in place, and the folding arm would swing out and hold the JBR cassette also locked securely. Underneath the cassette was a fold-out rewind crank like on the Nagra SN for manually rewinding the JBR cassette. It was very well built. Nothing speaks vintage Miniature Covert Recorder like this setup in playing back the recorded evidence tape. It just goes to show in this clandestine world, you gotta do what you gotta do. The folded CST unit Photos marked with RJW are copyrighted. Any use other than private with or without the RJW watermark is strictly forbidden, without written permission from the owner. Photos marked with RJW are copyrighted. Any use other than private with or without the RJW watermark is strictly forbidden, without written permission from the owner. Bottom side with the manual SN rewind crank, this is also used to remove any slack in the tape. Photos marked with RJW are copyrighted. Any use other than private with or without the RJW watermark is strictly forbidden, without written permission from the owner. The JBR cassette mounting plate swings open and locks, the SNST slides and locks into place. All photos marked RJW are copyrighted. Any use other than private with or without the RJW watermark is strictly forbidden, without written permission from the owner. Photos marked with RJW are copyrighted. Any use other than private with or without the RJW watermark is strictly forbidden, without written permission from the owner. Add the DSP playback amp and this was the first playback setup before the Control Track Filter was developed. You can see it was a continuous work in progress to satisfy a growing impatient customer. Photos marked with RJW are copyrighted. Any use other than private with or without the RJW watermark is strictly forbidden, without written permission from the owner. I was going to post a scan of the instructions for the Control Track Filter, but because of a schematic on the back side stamped “do not reproduce” I am not going to post any parts of the original document at all. The drawing is dated Oct 1985 The Control Track Filter is just a small box that fits between the SNST and the DSP playback amp and the ASN power pack. So the CST adapter was used without the Control Track Filter for almost a year before the filter was developed. The “make-do” playback required these five items from the original Nagra document: ASN Power pack, SNST recorder, DSP playback amp, CST mechanical adapter and the SCTF Control Track Filter. (3) Together they completed the setup required to play back JBR tapes in its early years. This was the only means available to play back a recorded JBR tape for two years. The PU-1 dual use playback unit that plans called for an SNST and JBR combination unit was scrapped and never realized. Either Nagra or the FBI dropped the PU-1 for whatever unknown reason. In 1986, the PS-1 playback unit as we know today was finally delivered to the FBI for the first time since the 1984 delivery of the Junior Body Recorder - the full potential of the JBR system was finally realized. The harder to detect recorder was only one part, but the advancements made in the PS-1’s capability in enhancing the reproduced playback sound was just amazing. The JBR - measuring only 4½” by 2½ - with the PS-1 playback system was the smallest, most advanced analog recorder system ever produced. One of the hardest stumbling blocks of using past covert analog recorders, including the SNST, was the ability to capture clear quality evidence recordings consistently. This was now made easier thanks to the highly adjustable JBR playback system of the mid-eighties. It was all so secret and no one could ever speak about this advancement in reproducing analog recordings. Of course, digital soon took over, and another Covert Recorder quietly and without fanfare goes down in history. Photos marked with RJW are copyrighted. Any use other than private with or without the RJW watermark is strictly forbidden, without written permission from the owner. Original Nagra JBR advertising poster showing a JBR beauty shot, with the cassette cover removed to show off Nagra’s reel to reel covert recorder roots This extremely rare poster from 1990 was meant to be used for advertising the JBR at Intelligence trade shows, but its use was short lived as Nagra was informed not to advertise the JBR. The reason was stated to me below. As I advised, xxxxx xxxxxx told me that Nagra New York received a letter from the FBI advising that these recorders were an Interception of Communication (IOC) device and if Nagra continued to advertise these units, there could be legal percussions. I don’t think Nagra advertised the recorders in the USA again. (4) "The Nagra JBR along with the SNST miniature recorders were categorized by the U.S. Department of Justice to be Interception of Communication Devices (IOC).” “The IOC statutes make it illegal to own, use, train and/ or educate non-law enforcement personnel to use this equipment.” (4) Photos marked with RJW are copyrighted. Any use other than private with or without the RJW watermark is strictly forbidden, without written permission from the owner. Sources for the Nagra JBR 1) From - Full Disclosure Newspaper, Libertyville, Illinois (USA) 1991 2) Anonymous former Nagra employee 3) SCTF instruction manual. 4) Anonymous intelligence source.
  12. Thank you, yes, of course, the SNST-R (typo) It also could be, Philips, a maker of "recording tape" was asked by Kudelski (maker of "tape recorders") to develop a smaller size tape, which might have led Phillips to develop the first cassette in 1963, who knows? I did not research or look into Phillips. I understand what you are saying, that maybe the Prototype was made in 1965 instead of 1960 because the 1/8 cassette tape was developed in 1963. I don't believe that to be the case.
  13. The prototype dates back to 1960 The Nagra SN dates back to 1970 Repost your clapper boxes alone so we can learn more about them.
  14. I'm glad to see they still bring top dollar, I guess I got a good deal on mine.
  15. Hi Vienna Whoever made it certainly tried to make it match a Nagra III But the control knobs, the metal rings around the knobs and even the radius of the corners of the case tells me it's nothing Nagra did.. Most likely it was made to sit under and match a Nagra III. I would think finding a schematic would be about as hard as finding another one of those. What does the top look like?
  16. Every once in a while I do a Nagra search on eBay, this came up today. I post this only because we were just discussing these tapes and here are three of them. I removed the seller name as I'm not promoting, but I thought it was interesting to share the asking price and description. Two tapes 7 1/2 ips and one tape 15 ips. Does the Nagra III record in 15 ips ? I think I will be happier copying the 1 or 2 songs from the Movie HELP onto my Nagra III for free. THE BEATLES January 1969 Get Back Session 5" Nagra Reel To Reel Tapes Up for purchase are 3 original 5" Nagra tapes from the January 1969 Get Back recording sessions. These tapes were mixed in with a large collection of studio tapes and Apple Records acetates that I purchased in 1985. These are incredibly rare tapes and I've never seen anything like these come up for sale on the open market. The tapes have no stickiness to them, there are no vinegar smells and there are no fall off from the magnetic tape. Each tape comes housed in a plastic BASF clear top container and that is placed inside a light grey BASF plastic case with a drop down door. There are numerous scuffs and scrapes on the case and the Roll #s are penciled in on two of the cases. There will be no returns for this item which is due to the ease of copying this material for later reuse. As always these tapes are being sold collector to collector with no rights given or implied for the recorded material. Individual tape information follows: The Beatles recording session January 1969. Tape Box: Grey BASF Box Serial Number: 561A Reel Type: BASF Reel Size: 5” Speed: 7 1/2 ips Tape Type: BASF Leader Tape Color: Green Splice Angle: Angled Splice Tape Color: Silver Individual tape information follows: The Beatles Recording Session – January 1969 Roll 561 Slate 438 continued Paul mentions Roof Top performance Tuning Two Of Us 562A Guide Track – Show track – Slate Take 1 – All cameras Get Back Roof Top concert take 2 all cameras Get Back All cameras take 3 Get Back Don’t Le Me Down I’ve Got A Feeling (Essentially this is the beginning of the roof top concert. Sound quality is excellent. There is approximately 4" to 5" of tape that has compressed on itself and is damaged. This tape damage occurs at the very end of the song Don't Let Me Down and is noticeable but very little impact on the listening experience.) Tape Box: Grey BASF Box Serial Number: 411A Reel Type: BASF Reel Size: 5” Speed: 7 1/2 ips Tape Type: BASF Leader Tape Color: Green Splice Angle: Angled Splice Tape Color: Silver Playback speed 7½ ips – 5” Reel – Grey Box marked 411A Roll 411 Slate 266 Camera A She Came In Through The Bathroom Window Talking – Dialogue She Came In Through The Bathroom Window Tape Static 4 min (cleaning?) Talking / Chatting Tape Box: Grey BASF Box Serial Number: 83 Slate 158 Continued Reel Type: BASF Reel Size: 5” Speed: 15 ips Tape Type: BASF Leader Tape Color: Green Splice Angle: Angled Splice Tape Color: Silver The Long And Winding Road Chatting I Me Mine (This tape is picking up the recording from a distant mic and therefore the sound quality is diminished) (All items will be packed in a strong record mailer to insure safe arrival.)
  17. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/13/arts/critic-s-notebook-let-it-be-said-beatles-tapes-are-a-trove-if-familiar.html http://wogew.blogspot.com/2015/11/source-of-nagra-tapes.html Those Nagra III tapes were made 49 years ago this month. A year later John Lennon's quote, clearly showing at that time was the beginning of the demise of the Beatles. If only things could have been different, either way, after Dec. 8, 1980, it would have ended anyway… Or maybe not. The Nagra recorder has been such a part of so much history. I would love to hear those tapes playing back on my Nagra III
  18. The video does not exist on youtube, probably for copyright issues. This is all I found, but its just enough that everyone on here will remember. This
  19. I think Nicholas West meant the first movie showing a Nagra III in the movie. I don’t know if that was the first "help" but it's the one I would associate the Nagra III with. The first tape recorder I ever had is this pictured GE recorder below; I got it for my birthday. I remember being home from school sick and looking through the Service Merchandise catalog (I think it was Service Merchandise and I believe it was Dec 1969 or 70). That night when my father got home - of course, I was feeling better, my mom, dad, younger brother and sister went out to buy it. Watching the recorder coming down the conveyor belt at the pickup counter … well, it was a pretty good feeling. Sometime after that, months later, I recorded the sound from Beatles Help with this little microphone next to the television speaker, making sure the red level light was almost lit, very dim. I recorded both sides of the original GE tape that came with it. I must have played the tape back a million times back then. I think I could recite the whole movie. Even today if I hear a line from the movie help I could probably finish the sentence. In this picture below shows a new one that I bought on eBay quite a few years ago. The original one I still have in the attic, but for some reason, I colored the whole recorder with a black permanent magic marker, it came out horrible I still remember the smell, I guess I thought I was painting it like new at the time. Back then I had no idea what a Nagra III was, but whenever I think of a Nagra III in a movie, it's Help just as you do. That was a great period in my life. Thanks for posting Nicolas and bringing up some good memories. Who did the sound for Help? Anybody know? I wonder what he thought of the Beatles at the time, that must be a memory. I'll bet he has a few stories to tell.
  20. After thinking about it, I removed what I use to clean. I can just see someone spraying the corrosive product all over to make a dirty Nagra look good for "sale" and not being at all careful. You would not want the product to get around or under the nameplates, hinges controls, etc. and later down the road possibly damaging an otherwise good Nagra finish. I would NOT recommend using any product that is "corrosive". It was irresponsible for me to do that. I sometimes forget this is a post online. Just use a good safe household cleaner, 409 or Fantastic, etc.. Then follow up with some auto spray wax on a rag, never spray anything on the Nagra itself. You would not want whatever cleaner you use to get around or under the nameplates, hinges controls, etc. Spray the cleaner or wax on a clean, soft, tee shirt type cotton rag ONLY not spray the machine. For sellers, all true collectors would rather have a Nagra "as is" uncleaned condition, we can clean it up ourselves. You can mess up a finish if you clean it improperly and hurt the value of the recorder. When I buy something online I ask the seller to leave it alone and not clean it before packing for this reason.
  21. You miss understood me. Yes, I agree with you, 400 is closer to 259 than the possibility of 1,436 1960 units. You have a pretty sizable collection, I knew there were other larger Nagra collectors, but I understand not wanting to put their collection on line. It took me a long time to get up the nerve to post on line. I'm learning more though from collectors like you. Do you keep your collection in one area? Post some overall pictures if they are displayed, Everyone likes seeing Nagra pictures. Welcome to JWsound What I have liked about this site from the beginning, it's the only place where the people on here recognize, know about, appreciate and have used these recorders. Recording the world's favorite movies of the time. I can't believe the number of soundmen on this site and the movies they have recorded, forever etched in history with the machines you and I admire. You don't see that anywhere except for here on JWsound. When you watch a movie, keep an eye on the sound credits. Depending on the year, it was recorded on a Nagra of some type and most likely by one of these famous people on JWsound.
  22. Good work Spectreman. Just goes to show how well a Nagra III is made, with your determination and skill you now have a unit you can be proud of. Thank you BGAULLIER for the fantastic job and pictures explaining the Nagra III's You are a true collector. I know how much work that was for you to do. Thank you very much. You have a beautiful collection of Nagra III's best in the world. So you own 25 Nagra III's Wow!! I'm almost afraid to ask, how many Nagra's do you own all together? I had this ready to post just as you posted, I also heard the same serial number story from Nagra. Yes, they added all sorts of letters to the serial numbers but the running number of units made was still the same. Here is how I determine how many were made. At first when BGAULLIER new numbers messed up my chart I thought could there be many more Nagra III's than I thought. But then I remembered this. This Nagra statement below. Success of the NAGRA III was huge, and delivery times were between 6 and 8 months. Production has to be increased continually. In 1964 office space and manufacturing space is rented in Renens, then in 1965 in Malley. At the end of the year a factory in Neuchâtel is purchased. A vast piece of ground is purchased in Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne, for the construction of a dedicated factory. In 1967 the 10’000th NAGRA III is celebrated According to that statement, the dates and serial numbers listed below seem to match up. The 1967 10,000th recorder fits below in RED Except for 1965, I don’t have an answer for that yet. Unless his serial number is different somehow. Overall It seems very few Nagras III's were produced in the10-year period. For example From the chart below. Take the last number shown in 1965 and the first number shown in 1967, subtract 7623 from the first number in 1967 9556. Even if those numbers were the start and finish of the 1966 Nagra III (which they are not) the absolute best possible outcome for the year 1966 Nagra III’s produced would be 1,933 and the least made would be 1,761. Even though only 57 serial numbers were used in compiling my so-called database, you can see how one can determine roughly how many were produced in any given year except the last year. So In 1966 there were between 1,761 and 1,933 Nagra III's produced. So now you say, So,… Who cares? Well, when I started this I had no idea at all how many were made per year. Now I can start to see roughly which Nagra III's are the rarest by number and so can anybody reading this. Right now for 1960 the most that could have been made is 1,436 the least 259 It looks like in the early years just a few hundred were made each year. So over time I think the 1960 number will be closer to 259. The only year you can't do that is 1968. I just added BGAULLIER latest serial numbers that would affect my chart in blue (only the lowest and highest number matter each year) To make it less complicated the letters in the serial numbers do not change the total number made so they are left out for this purpose but are nice to know. As you can see the more serial numbers I get the more accurate it will be in determining how many units made each year. 1958) 22 - 58 1959) 105 -222 1960) 408- 667 1961) 827- 1471 2010 1962) 2103- 2529 2573 1963) 2907 2998- 4104 1964) 4147- 5520 1965) 6053 6204- 7623 1966) 6714- 8475 1967) 9556- 10,000 -11769 1968) 12303- 13874 13928
  23. Here is an updated Nagra III picture list and the span of serial numbers known per year as of Jan 2, 2018, this includes BGAULLIER ten recorders, of course this will change over time, but you can see roughly the dates and serial number range for each year. 1958) 22 - 58 1959) 105 -222 1960) 408- 667 1961) 827- 1471 1962) 2103- 2529 1963) 2998- 4104 1964) 4147- 5520 1965) 6204- 7623 1966) 6714- 8475 1967) 9556- 11769 1968) 12303- 13874 When listing the years and number range above, I found two problems; 1) was a mistake on my pictures list 65 5348 was supposed to be 65 6248 and has been corrected. 2) when adding BGAULLIER’s number for 1965 (7623) this blows up my database; this is the first time this has happened. As you can see under 1965) in red the previous year should not be a larger number than the following year if the serial numbers are meant to be consecutive. Either this is a mistake somewhere, or Nagra has a whole different way of adding serial numbers then previously thought. Could this mean serial #65 7623 also will have the same number in 1966? 66 7623? Does anyone have a Nagra III serial number that contradicts the consecutive order written in the above list?
  24. Welcome BGAULLIER, I'm glad you posted here on Jwsound You are a true Nagra collector, Thank you for posting your Nagra III part of your collection. How did you happen to find Jwsound? Please feel free to post as many Nagra pictures as you like. It's the only way we can get a complete history of Nagra items. A couple of things since that Dec 2016 post, a 1959 Nagra III has surfaced from a man in Belgium named Antoine Martens. He posted pictures of his 1959 Nagra III serial number 59105 Its on post #681 page 28 His Nagra serial # 59 105 is painted in the same wrinkle finish as the 1958 Nagra III, a Nagra II wrinkle type finish. I noticed your serial # 59 222 is now painted in the gray hammer-tone paint used on all Nagra III's we know today. So your post narrows down when the paint changed, somewhere between 105 and 222. It is too soon to tell if there was a serial number 400 in 1959. I think that is too high I would guess there was about 250 1959 serial numbers ended about 350 but only a guess, time will tell. I am finding out the past serial numbers that were released are not accrete since it was reported that 240 1958 Nagra III's were produced. That number has been debunked when a 1959 Nagra showed up with a 105 on it and now backed up by your serial number 59 222. Its clear that 240 produced for 1958 is the wrong number. Since you have one for each year can you list some of the differences that you have found that are not commonly known? Do you have any Nagras with tape direction arrows in red etched into the deck lid. Any of your recorders have the early head covers as shown in this picture below?. It looks like your 58 and 59 has them, is this correct? If the covers are removed it leaves space for the third head. You would never know bu looking at this picture. In this next picture of my 1958 Nagra III you can see the head covers are removed but can see the holes that were filled in. It is unknown if this was done at the factory or a former owner removed the head covers and added guides on the sides of the heads as the picture shows. On my 1958 the tape path is different from later Nagra III's. noted by the red arrows. On any of your early Nagra's do you see signs of the holes being filled as this next picture shows? It would probably be on the 1960 machine if any. On the 58th Nagra III ever produced its either Nagra was experimenting with the plexi tape guides and the red arrow tape paths or a later technician removed the head covers and added the later Nagra III guides on the sides of the head. Below is my latest serial number database that I started, it does not reflect the new numbers you have just presented. Again please feel free to share any information and post your pictures. You have a very nice collection of Nagra III's, they all look in excellent condition. Thank you
  25. Anybody want a rare Nagra QDAN? Last time I looked at this it auction I thought I saw more pictures and I thought one picture confirming it was serial number 91. The seller for some reason took some pictures down. Maybe because it shows some defects I don’t know, I was not paying much attention. Ask for more pictures and buy at your own risk, I do not know this seller. I’m only sharing an ebay auction of a very rare, one of a kind, Nixie tube product form Nagra. Some fine polishing compound works wonders on a Nagra III type finish, although I was lucky and it was not needed on the one pictured below. https://www.ebay.com/itm/NAGRA-KUDELSKI-TAKE-IDENTIFICATION-DECODER-QDAN-No-091/322962176389?hash=item4b320bb985:g:DzAAAOSwyXNaQ1bG I already have mine,
×
×
  • Create New...