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NAGRA 4.2


Clay Reeves

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I have just received a near new Nagra 4.2, immaculate condition. However the recorder includes the Neil Stone mod. It includes the Deneke board and an interesting toggle switch "left-stereo-right". I noticed the record and playback heads are stereo heads. When I record on channel two, it does great and the playback is also great. The first channel appears to be for timecode. I talked to Deneke and they confirmed the setup, sent me a very early drawing which details an external timecode hookup. The preamps are universal. I would like convert this recorder back to it's original factory specs. I have absolutely no knowledge of what that would entail. With twenty years working with Nagras, this the first exposure to this mod. Any information regarding this interesting mod would be appreciated or what direction I must take to convert. Thanks in advance.  

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I never actually owned one of Neil's conversion recorders but I did consider it for awhile and Neil was my friend and serviced all my gear so I'm generally familiar with the machine. 

The conversion was an attempt to make a less expensive time code machine and also provide the option to keep using a serviceable mono Nagra. Very little work in the late eighties and early nineties required multiple tracks and, in any event, the factory time code recorder only had two tracks.

The time code machines in use at that time (almost all of them Nagras, perhaps a few Stellavoxes) all recorded the code in the center of the tape between two audio tracks. Any alternate design would need to conform to that standard if the audio was to be processed in telecine suites and most post facilities. So, to make it all work, Neil replaced the whole head stack in a mono Nagra with stereo Nagra heads. But to keep the cost reasonable, he replaced only the heads and not any of the recording circuitry. So, the machine functioned only as a mono recorder despite the stereo heads. As I recall, the signal was split to the upper and lower tracks, each recording the same signal.

I don't know why there might be a switch labeled "left-stereo-right." I might speculate that it was to permit monitoring each recorded track to confirm that each was functioning properly but that might better be labeled "upper-mix-lower," or something of the sort. In any event, there was no stereo recording.

Replacing the heads with a set of mono heads ought to largely restore the machine to original operation. I believe that Neil also made some changes to the circuity to permit recording a time code signal rather than a Pilotone signal but I'm not familiar with those changes. There may also be some small tweaks to facilitate the use of the stereo heads. The time code clock, as you've ascertained, was an externally connected Denecke GR-1.

David

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Aloha, thanks for your input. Interesting that input 2 is perfect in recording and playback. Input 1 is also usable for recording and playback however it's level is slightly lower than input 2. I spent the morning playing with the recorder and found it to be immaculate in every detail. If you never opened it up you would never know of the Neil Stone. The exception would be the stereo heads. In  really detailing it out, I was unable to detect even a very minor scratch. I will continue to enjoy it before deciding to convert it back. I wander now that it is in fantastic condition, how many famous sound mixers fingerprints were  on this recorder over the years. Everybody have a great day and thanks 

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Interesting!

The BBC modified their first Nagra 4 recorders to record time-code on a separate track

as this was an earlier standard an meant that they did not have to have neo-pilot machines in transfer suites.

They even modified semi-pro Revox machines to resolve spilt track time code.

Oh well wonderful history !

mike

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