Nagra Stories Sound-men won’t ever tell

[Quad]

About the similarity of the Russian Recorders to the western one:

 

The Ritm Reporter and the Stellavox:

 

 

The Ritm 320 an the Nagra IVsj:

 

 

The Ritm and the Perfectone EP6A:

 

 

And the Jauza 20 and the Uher 4000:

[Quad]

About the soviet covert recorders: I have the photos almost all of them, but in the reality I have four of them:

The most interesting the L60M twin reel-to-reel recorder, probably to make recordw withot any pause. 

 

The secon is the Elektronika compact-casette recorder, which one probably is a copy of a Japon Walkman, but with metal body and special connectors.  

 

I have also Jahta - copy of the Nagra SNST, and the Mezon wire recorders too:

 

 

 

[JBond]

I'm happy to see that yellow mark on your recorder as it's further proof and backs up my story. My three-letter friend in the story did not have the yellow mark on his recorder or the nameplate which made it a mystery for almost 20 years. It's easy to understand a novice seller or collector might try and remove the yellow mark not knowing its place in history. You can also thank Jeff, without Jwsound my Yellow Recorder story would never have been told and no one would ever have known about the yellow mark and its meaning or of the super rare recorder for that matter.
Now you found one for yourself thats fantastic I'm glad the story helped.  It looks like on yours someone also tried very hard to remove that yellow mark but gave up. A little bit of pledge furniture polish will let the mark blend back nicely with the contrast of the leather don't worry that mark was meant to stay forever the pledge won't remove it. You have the recorder now,  Were you able to pick up a copy of the children's book also? That is a must-have to go with it. 
 

[Quad]

Hello Mr. Bond,

I have to tell you another story, which one was solved also with the help of your Yellow recorder story.

 

Apart the R2R recorders, I have another, smaller collection too, I collect the different shape audio tape cassettes and cartridges, and the recorders/players for them. Now I have information about 73 existed ever cassettes/cartridges format, and 56 of them I have in reality.  Here a few of them:

 

 

A few years ago, I have found in the Net two photos about an unknown (for me) player with his strange cassette, :

 

 

But I couldn’t find any information at all about them. And now, when I’ve read again your story about the yellow recorder, and have seen again the photo in “New scientist”, I’ve realised that they were also a CIA production. Later I’ve found them in in your collection. (May be the photos above were yours?)

 

Mr.Bond, Could you make me a favour? Could you post a comon photo about this cassette used in this MC2 together with a compact cassette? (For the comparison)

 

[JBond]

[Quad]

Thank you very Much, Mr.Bond

[Grim Reaper]

On 11/4/2021 at 11:38 PM, mono said:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Comrade, your keyboard performance sounded very soviet.

[Davor]

Hi

Maybe someone knows genuine pinch roller dimensions for NAGRA ISS?

It fall apart after "some time".

[externalpower]

Hello all!

 

I am still looking for a lid for my 4.2. I'm afraid to take it anywhere without one!

 

Here is my machine:

 

Here is a lid on ebay... Question: even if I were to find the hardware for this lid, am I correct that this is for the dual push lock, whereas mine requires one with the rotary latch?

 

Thank you very much

 

 

[Philip Perkins]

Yes the lid in the pic is for the L/R push lock, not the rotary.

[Vienna]

On 2/23/2022 at 10:10 AM, Davor said:

Hi

Maybe someone knows genuine pinch roller dimensions for NAGRA ISS?

It fall apart after "some time".

 

The diameter is 23 mm.

[Fred Salles]

Hi everyone, maybe off topic but I though it could fit here.

I have read several time that the great Jimi Hendrix used to carry a Nagra with him whenever he was attending jam sessions and recorded everything. But I have never seen any proof of that. Even after hours of research on the web. Anyone has a photo of Hendrix with a Nagra?

[Barry M]

Think I might have seen this linked here?

 

 

Edit: news story says this was a Sony:

Quote

 

But, as recounted in David Yaffe’s Mitchell biography Reckless Daughter, Mitchell’s initial exchange with Hendrix seems to have happened when the Foxy Lady guitarist shyly approached her at the club that night, carrying a portable (but clunky) Sony tape recorder:

“My name is Jimi Hendrix and I was just signed to Reprise, the same label that you’re on,” he said, according to Mitchell. “Could I tape your show?”

“Sure,” said Mitchell.

Hendrix then situated himself close to the stage, set up the reel-to-reel recorder, put on a pair of headphones and taped the solo-acoustic performance. “He didn’t put [the tape recorder] there and back off,” Mitchell recalled. “He engineered it all the way through.”

 

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/amp/arts/music/article-lost-live-recording-of-joni-mitchell-by-jimi-hendrix-resurfaces-after/

[tourtelot]

Ah, good story.  I was just telling my wife, as we were listening to The Doors/LA Woman that it would have been so cool to live in LA at that time in history.  And I wouldn't have even realized how cool.  But I would have known that it was.

 

I lived in NYC in the late 70s through the early 90s, two blocks from Times Square and I KNEW it was cool.  A bit scary, but definitely cool.

 

D.

[JBond]

 

[Fred Salles]

What an amazing pristine condition! I think I’ve never saw a Nagra 2 working in real life. Very moving it must be. 

[JBond]

Full disclosure, that video is running on the windup motor only, the audio was added to the video. 
No other power but winding it up, It takes two types of batteries, I never tried recording or playback with batteries. 

 

Maybe someday I'll try it with batteries or a couple of power supplies and see what happens. I noticed yesterday Youtube changed some of my videos and some are not working or missing.
Thank you, Fred

[daniel]

 

 

[JBond]

1st thought Wow, a great video showing 1977 history recorded on the Nagra SN of the day. I never saw this before. Thank you Daniel for posting it. 
Now I get it,  fooled again.
This is the same mind game as my Nagra II video.  I had to think about it for a minute it looks like SN is playing the sound back, but it's not. The magic of movies.  I keep forgetting the sound you hear in movies is added later. It's really all smoke and mirrors but it works very well.

[Jeff Kreines]

This may be the first sighting of a Nagra II in a popular film: Godard’s Breathless. 

Has anyone seen this bizarre stereo Nagra III in person?  Made by the National Film Board of Canada. 

[JBond]

Pretty cool, Thanks  for posting that clip of a  Nagra II in a film. Probably the only 4 seconds in the whole film that showed it. Very few people today would ever spot that and know what it was. The second picture is blank/missing?  Stereo Nagra III?

[Jeff Kreines]

Here’s the stereo Nagra III from the National Film Board of Canada. 

[Philip Perkins]

The lower machine is a Pilotone Nagra?    Assume this was a special order--good move having the mic input be female!

[tourtelot]

I remember that it was a common (?) mod to change the mic input on a Nagra III to make it female.  I believe mine was that way and whether I did the mod myself or had the techs at Record Plant do it is, well let's say, foggy.

 

D.

[mono]