Cassette Motor Speed Mod Tutorial

[@TTSetters]

I just get a 10k pot and find the motor leads, hook on there, boom. Working on the motor directly of anything to control speed is always best for me, but your switch bypass works too.

[@seanchud]

I've been looking for this exact type of tutorial for what seems like forever. Thank yOu!

[@Barry7777777]

You can get back up to normal speed without using a switch - just use a very high resistance control like 1 to 5 megohm. The control you're using is too low a value, causing a resistance (or in this case, a conductance) to remain even with the control at its highest resistance setting. 5 megohms should be more than enough to present a virtual open circuit at the highest setting - but beware: That much range squeezed into 330 degrees of rotation will make the control extremely touchy, meaning a tiny movement will have a huge effect.

[@GeminiHorror]

Thanks for the insight!

[@mxlchic6471]

Hi! So, as I appreciate the making of this video and the people commenting on their experience, for it is very helpful, I figured out I might as well share mine! Luckily I went the safe way and bought a 10K pot, I thought "well, if it doesn't do the trick I'll add the switch, no biggie", however idk! It just worked! Normal stuff, connect ground, and in and out. If I leave it to let's say around 4.5K (idk if that makes sense but I mean imagining there are 10 speeds on the knob) it's the standard speed. If I turn left It goes slower, and if I turn right it goes faster. It worked without the switch and with a 10K pot for me, so I'm guessing it just has to do with the voltage that the machine uses! You can use a multitester to check the voltage on the circuit and calculate (using the ohms law) what pot will work best for you. Cheers guys.

[@Reprobus3]

Hey man, I don't know how I've never found your youtube channel before now. I love your instagram stuff, and this is something I'm hoping to do with at least one of the old broken walkmans I've bought from ebay. Many thanks from sunny England, and keep up the great work, it's really inspiring.

[@nasound42]

Thank you for the pdf! I plan to make a few walkthroughs in the future and the pdf is an amazing addition! Big ups Gemini

[@AHeadC]

Great video, actually informative instead of just "do this then this" etc.

[@shawnlennon1947]

hey warning on the input idea. im pretty sure those mics require 5v and anything you input will have the 5v going into your gear. I dont know if its bad but its something to consider. also im a noob and I was told this by another guy so take it with a grain of salt. I would just test the wires with a multimeter to see if there's any voltage coming out of it.

[@Betkho]

I was looking for video for this video forever! Thank you man! it's one of the best tutorials ever

[@manueltietz3761]

Well I've tried a few spots and a few worked but than it seems like I've connected the wrong ones and it just stopped working and the motor wont turn anymore. Seems like I broken this thing for good...

[@edmundmoon556]

You could find a push-pull combined pot. So can forego the switch.

[@0xptomaine]

came here after Andrew Huang video good job man

[@niklasvfx]

Worked perfectly! Thank you man.

[@THEWEIRDNET]

Increasing the range of your variable resistor should help get closer to the original speed. Thanks for sharing, very useful video!

[@stevieschmidt3719]

I did 100k and got about a half step off. You then sacrifice the top 1/2 or so of your knob on going a few semitones, and theres less space down low for the juicy spots. I decided it was worth it though. You could theoretically add a fine tune by putting a smaller pot in the chain too. (I think)

[@stevieschmidt3719]

was wrong about the fine tune

[@bobsbits5357]

hi done this to a tascam 238 that the servo was dead i pimped it to belt drive it now 1 7/8 to 7 1.2 ips play back only now do i record i have a high speed record in real time i did a video over 10 years ago

[@sp3ct3rsd3mos]

hey man this was rad. thanks!

[@Nilbog-Hunter]

When doing this on a older cassette, the only thing I can find is it going up in speed, I can't find anything that slows it down. I cant find a trim pot either. Not sure what to do

[@GeminiHorror]

You mean like find a trim pot to do the mod? I got mine on Amazon if that helps? There are some players that will slow it down natively like the marantz cassette decks and the tascam 4 tracks but they are getting pretty pricey. Alternatively you could get something like the chase bliss blooper but again that’s not that cheap. There’s a cheaper donner looper on amazon(i think like under $100 US) that can slow down a loop. Hopefully one of these things will help!

[@samplikprost]

Please tell me, this trick works only with players who have speed adjustment? Or is it possible on regular players ? Without speed adjustment

[@lakloplak]

Thanks youuu!!!! This was a mystery for me

[@Audhentik]

nice one! thanks:)

[@deesnutz4638]

I just came from your insta & found this without even looking for it...😂😂

[@kbg-]

Am I correct in thinking this shorts the motors V+ to ground via potentiometer to drain some voltage and speed alongside it? I appreciate the tutorial, I'm just trying to understand why this works. Cheers.

[@GeminiHorror]

I honestly have no idea but I'm assuming something like that yea

[@rhysmayes9107]

@@GeminiHorror Are you connecting the first wire to ground? Or if you don't know thats alright

[@GeminiHorror]

@@rhysmayes9107 Yea I'm not sure

[@howva]

I have the same player the trimpot that is the speed controller is actually right next to the point that slows it all down so i think its related to that somehow

[@azagedon]

What kind of potentiometer did you use? Lin, log or rev log? Thank you.

[@azagedon]

edit: I've just made my own with a 20k audio log pot and its got even more range! :-)

[@GeminiHorror]

Did you post it anywhere? I'd love to see that!

[@samplikprost]

Why I wasn't subscribed to your channel?! Thanks for the great tutorial

[@alexvaught106]

Really simple question, can you give me the make/model no of that second tape player you showed off with the 40 percent speed knob? I want to try to find a couple on ebay.

[@0228christian]

Looks like a Marantz Pmd-201, or perhaps a 221 or 222. Whatever it is... they're crazy expensive right now. I managed to find a Pmd-101 in perfect condition for $40, which was a great deal, and it has the pitch knob and multiple speed modes, but it's mono and doesn't have the other features of the 200 series.

[@Hazelchka]

Hello! First of all thank you for this really good tutorial :) I am wondering if it needs to be the General Electrics model tape deck, or if I can quite simply apply these steps to another variable speed model? Thank you greetings

[@GeminiHorror]

Yes it should work on anything but it will take some experimenting to make your specific model work

[@robbertvanderbildt]

How random is the first attachment of the green wire? Like what is connected to the point that it goes half(?) speed? Thanks for sharing the video!

[@GeminiHorror]

In the pdf i have a close up of the points i hit but i have no idea what they are or why it works hahaha

[@robbertvanderbildt]

@@GeminiHorror ah oké check haha. Lucky shot than :).

[@stevieschmidt3719]

@@robbertvanderbildt When I told someone who knows a bit about electronics about this mod they told me it probably works by connecting the pin for the motor to the ground.

[@Ad_Kondraty]

Does anyone know what track/song was recorded on the cassette?

[@Digital__rb]

you showed the 1/8th jack and then started talking about CV stuff, what were you gunna do with that?

[@GeminiHorror]

If you take 2 jumpers off the pot to the 1/8 input it will be CV controllable but fair warning it is super jank

[@Digital__rb]

@@GeminiHorror i actually just found that out on my own lol thanks! Works freaking awesome

[@GeminiHorror]

@@Digital__rb nice!!

[@kryptichands968]

Doom metal cassette player 🤘

[@SteveSpiffler]

Do you know how to add a 3.5mm mic in jack ?? Instead of the microphone on there or replacing the microphone on there ? Plz help 🙏🏻🙏🏻

[@GeminiHorror]

Yea it's pretty easy, you just follow the mic to the board and if i remember right it even says "mic" on the board then solder in your input, i did this with a 1/4" input a while ago, see this example instagram.com/p/BrkW_oyFHqZ/?igshid=c7y9dybj3ml4

[@Krustpunkhippy]

I've done this a lot of times..here's how... To add a ⅛ audio input socket to it, so you can use either the internal mic or an external audio source. I used a switched jack socket... Desoldered the mic (+) wire from the pcb and hooked it up to the switch terminal on the audio socket.... Attached the socket signal wire to the pcb mic (+) pad, and connected the socket GND to the mic GND. If nothing is plugged into the socket, the mic is in operation.. plug a lead in and the socket is ready for an external feed. The switched jack socket is important.. You can also add an attenuator pot to the sockets signal wire so you can manually adjust the volume of the audio being played in to the recorder.. They often have quite a 'hot' audio signal going in, so being able to trim the volume down will stop distortion etc.

[@vincentpinson]

Hello, thank you for this video. I did a test with a cassette player and a 20k potentiometer. And nothing happens for the first 80% and then the last 20% make a huge difference. Do you know why? thanks for your advice.

[@ProjetHomeStudio]

Maybe it is a logarithmic pot ?

[@sambethyname]

Hey man, great vid I’m gonna defo give it a go! I’ve been trying to figure out how to do exactly the same thing with a reel to reel but can’t find anything online, any ideas...?

[@GeminiHorror]

Not off the top of my head, i know the nagra reel to reel players are very popular partly because they have speed controls

[@samgreenwood9595]

I’ve got a crappy old reel to reel which a chap I know (who knows about wires n stuff) is going to try and mod for me if he manages it, I’ll defo upload a vid of how he did it!

[@joacomancue]

Hey, do you know how to make it go full stop, like the ones amulets does?

[@GeminiHorror]

it's probably a different resistor, maybe try different sizes, or ask amulets, he's a pretty cool dude :)

[@graysonschiller3288]

Could u add CV to the playback of a cassette player

[@GeminiHorror]

I think so? I don't have a lot of knowledge on this stuff sorry! Im still learning

[@cesarcofrer]

Hi!!! Nice !! I stay investigate about control tape for me, I’m maker and I love made sound machine, so, I want made machine like to om-1 (ondes magnetique) (why buy if I can do it and I also dont want to sell it).... so.... my question about it.... in the om-1 control tape cassette with cv and gate (sq-1).... How? .... cv is easy ( I think) like the “analog industries” video... but and gate? ... mixed with push button and pots.... do you know how om-1 works? Sorry for my english and thanks for your time!!!!

[@thepotto8175]

I did this to the ones you can buy on amazon

[@thepotto8175]

Just now. Thank you.

[@howva]

Which ones did you buy off amazon?

[@thepotto8175]

@@howva "super usb cassette capture" it is marketed as a "cassette to mp3 device"

[@thepotto8175]

@@howva they have unbranded ones and branded ones, but they're all from the same factory. Mine was like $15.00 USD but i'm seeing featured ones for like $30. Depends on how much you dig. I also used a B10k pot. You're gonna want a potentiometer with lower resistance by about a factor of 10.

[@howva]

@@thepotto8175 Ah okay I see alot of those and I was wondering about how they would work for this, hows the sound quality out of those?

[@luisgerardo4800]

Carla muy chido pero no podrías subtitularlos al español 😅

[@returnofthemilk]

👍🏻

[@gusanoestupido666]

after some experiments with my own tape player and a long conversation with my technic interrested father, i finally get my on my own DIY Cassete speed mod. By the way my cassete player needed 10 Ohm instead of 10k Ohm. ;)

[@witChaos]

Do you know how many % +- is the speed mod?

[@Mostlyemptyspace]

Do you know if the tape player had to have speed adjust already?

[@GeminiHorror]

I don't think so?i think it makes it way easier if it does

[@Nic-tg2ei]

Lost the joy?