YAMAHA MT4X | TEAR DOWN

[@theseoldhands532]

What a rad video ❤ my mt4x is now serviced with new belts and running smooooooth

[@johntammaro]

I always look forward to your videos. I think you bring a great background of experience from multiple manufacturers, there is always something to learn from you. Your the best on KZbin for sure when it comes to cassette multi-tracking.

[@Tetrakan]

Thanks for your words of encouragement, I appreciate them 🙏

[@JordanSeal]

I'm so glad you posted this video. I have a few cassette multitrackers, and my MT4X is in the best condition... for now. And everything's relative. So I'm very glad to have this resource!

[@Tetrakan]

Thanks Jordan

[@ritofuturito]

This is great, thanks so much for sharing your knowledge! Do you know if the MT1X is similar to this model inside?

[@Tetrakan]

Thanks. At the time of writing I don't know, I have limited experience with Yamaha stuff compared to Tascam and Fostwx, but stay tuned and I'm bound to cover it eventually

[@BadChizzle]

For future situations that may arise, may I please get the type of tactile switch to order for the transport controls and such. So many to choose from on Amazon. Sheesh. I don’t need any now, but when I first got one of my units it needed some harder and quicker than usual pressing to get them working correctly, as time went on, they worked correctly though. Whew! Thank you! By the way… you’d be proud of me. I modified an off brand knob for a pan pot and painted the red line white to make a master volume slider tip a channel 4 controller. Not quite on your level of clever moves, but got these parts working well enough for my use, I figure. Thanks again! -Chuk Forgive me if I’m bothering you with these questions. I don’t want to be a pain in the ass.

[@Tetrakan]

Hey Chuk. the main search term you're looking for is "tactile switch". Most you'll see supplied on ebay, amazon, electronics wholesalers have 4 pins, but I've changed them on yamaha units which were using a 2 pin variety: I forget if this applies to the mT4x but check my video or your unit before ordering. Pretty sure yours are 5mm square, maybe 4mm depth - again, check. btw I'm always happy to answer questions here - liking/wanting to help folks keep these contraptions working is no small part of my motivation for starting a youtube channel, and besides which, an active comments section blesses me in the algorithm's eyes, which betters my chances of maintaining or expanding a trickle of income from google adsense, among other things!

[@BadChizzle]

@@Tetrakan Thank you! I’ll do these things you suggested. Ha… I just woke up, so it’s like I’m just on the edge of being able to say things to you that make sense, relating to our subject at hand. 😵‍💫 🤣😂🤣 I’d always want to do anything here that would help your channel… uuuuuuuuum… if I can wake up! Ha Ha! Thanks again!!!

[@bosbolo]

Hey @tetrakan thank you for your valuable videos. A tip for the ribbon cable: you should not remove the lip, lift it slightly on the left and right until it releases. Then simply put the label back in and press the lip back down.

[@Tetrakan]

Hey, my problems with those sort of connectors have been more to do with the metal half getting bent, so I’ll stick with leaving them plugged in, but thank you for sharing this tip which may help someone else!

[@michaellukie2145]

Excellent video-keep them coming. I was finally able to send all 8 tracks out of my Tascam 488 into a DAW. Making up tunes from 1991.

[@michaellukie2145]

Baking up tunes from 1991.

[@michaellukie2145]

Backing up tunes from 1991- Sorry for the typos.

[@Tetrakan]

@@michaellukie2145 thanks! Autotext and tiny smartphone keyboards were sent to try us.

[@michaellukie2145]

It has been a process! I have about 100 cassettes to convert all with original 8 track tunes. I even recorded my 1994 Elvis cover band live using the 488 and I have it in digital now. Lots of fun!

[@thomasjacques2822]

Nice! Loved your mt8x videos, please do more.

[@limetruth215]

Can i ask you a question please, i have a mt4x and i use it only as console skipping the cassete for plug in my two synths d50,κ2000. I think the eq of the mt4x is really magic or it is about a kind of placebo at my ears , i read the manual about the eq and i made one sound without my console, raising the same frequencies exactly and one raising the same frequencies with the mt4x and the result are miles different, i want to say that i cant reach the eq of the mt4x in any plug in , plus the preamps that i think are great to , do you have any opinion / advice on this? Thank you very much keep doing.

[@Tetrakan]

Thanks. Any analogue technology has an idiosyncratic transfer function, meaning there are subtle changes between input and output signals which digital technology do not produce by default. Differences in transfer function account for differences between tube and transistor amplifiers, different speakers, etc. So yes, the mixer in your 4 track will sound noticeably different to supposedly equivalent digital plug ins. If it is very important to be able to reproduce the sound ypu get from your yamaha 4 track in a DAW, some software manufacturers - waves, for example - make plug ins which create a profile of the transfer function of analog gear. Basically you send signals from the software through your gear, the MT4X in you case, and back into the computer where the software creates a profile of how your gear changes the input signal.The software then captures those differenced as a preset on the plug in and does its best to reoroduce thd result digitally...maybe you could use that as a substitute for the MT4X?

[@limetruth215]

@@Tetrakan from the moment I have the hardware console I don't need substitute it , as I found that if the output that goes to the sound card is aux send 1 2 and not the stereo out I skip the master and more importantly I avoid a noise that the machine makes and I have 4 positions with the eq and the gaini like and much lower noise floor , the reason I asked was if you had any opinion on the eq of the consoles, especially the low end, I ,anyway thank you very much for the response!:)

[@Tetrakan]

I don't understand what you want my opinion on... please make your question more specific?

[@lucalentini8746]

Hi, I’ve bought a yamaha mt8x, it’s in good condition but if you press the play button to record or playback tape doesn’t run. technician said to me I need to find a new capstan motor, do you have one? Many thanks!

[@BadChizzle]

By the way, I was really impressed by how you did your work around on this unit to get it going. When I just start taking out a hundred screws, I start getting nervous about getting em back in the right places. I’ve always been that way, even though I can record it all as I go. Maybe I need a Valium before I start. Ha ha!

[@Tetrakan]

It's finicky for sure. Grouping screws and clips pertaining to the same area in baggies either laid out in a tray in order or grouped with the bracket/board they were removed from using elastic bands or masking tape helps. Fortunately I don't have to do so much work as I did with the MT4X in the patreon video on most units...that one was sold very cheap with parts missing, and under most circumstances I'd relegate it to the spares pile.

[@stevecoats4869]

Hi. Great videos after finding your channel. I have an MT4X and none of the input channels are working. Any ideas? I think it might be the ribbon cables from tge input connector pcb. Your video has given me the confidence to have a look. Thanks. Steve

[@Tetrakan]

Thanks. If you suspect the ribbon cable is at fault, you could check the connection with the continuity setting on a multimeter.

[@BadChizzle]

I’ve got a pinch roller coming from Australia, for just in case I need one some time. Already received the two main belts I ordered for same reason. The reason I bring these up is, the seller tried to sell me an idler wheel plus some other thing, that I didn’t know the MT4X even had in em. We’re they just trying to upswell me something I won’t ever need, do ya think? Thanks!

[@Tetrakan]

There's no idler wheel on the MT4X, the shorter belt drives cogs, which intersect with teeth on the base of the gear tables, with no rubber parts between. There is an idler wheel with a rubber tire on the MT8x, so perhaps the seller thought you needed that? You don't, though.

[@BadChizzle]

@@Tetrakan Great! Thanks! I’m more apt to believe they were just trying to get me, hoping I’d bite, but maybe not. I should really trust people more I guess. Thanks again!!

[@artmartinezartist2459]

Thank you so much for this video.

[@noizareth]

Hey there, just got my MT4X. Apparently the 'stop' button doesn't work, do you maybe know what could cause this and if it's easy to fix ?

[@NeverEverRecords]

thanks for making this. I have one of these and there is very little I can find about it online so this is helpful. Mine was working until recently it stopped recording. I cleaned the head with alcohol and it recorded again but at a lower volume than before then within the hour stopped recording again. Wondering if you have any thoughts on what that could mean? I'm wondering if I just need to be a bit more aggressive with my cleaning or if there is something that possibly needs to be resoldered.

[@samslavin8957]

Just picked up an mt3x but seems pretty warbly and some major dropouts. Would you be open to mail in repairs? Or do you just like repairing your own stuff. Either way content rocks!

[@Tetrakan]

Thanks! If you're in the UK yes, msg me over Facebook or Instagram to discuss

[@bugzycantrell5139]

Any idea on low recording levels during playback. Plus erase heads dont totally erase the previous take.

[@missterkim1811]

Hello pleaseeee help Mine makes 2 pop noises and the cassette does not spin or play. What would cause this ??? Thank you

[@idoco12321]

Hey man love your vids! Any chance you’re going to do a tutorial on the mt4x (like the one you did on the 488) any time soon?

[@Tetrakan]

Thanks. I am planning to, but probably not soon since I've got a backlog of half edited videos and half filmed footage, sorry!

[@cadeneberry]

Hi, I just bought a tascam porta 03 mini studio, and when I plug it in and switch it on, no lights come on, no sign of life. My guess was the chord is bad, or maybe some of the soldering on the parts that cause it to turn on cracked, but do you have any advice? Thanks

[@Tetrakan]

That model is susceptible to damage from using the wrong polarity or psu. You should have negative tip 12 volts, 500mA or higher, what have you been using?

[@cadeneberry]

@Tetrakan I’m not sure, how do I check?

[@Tetrakan]

Usually there is writing on the ac adapter below the plug prongs. It'll say something like "12v 500mA" and there is a symbol involving lines, a circle and a half circle, and a plus and minus sign, which illustrates the polarity. Look up DC polarity symbol I Google images if you're not sure what I mean by that description.

[@richardsmith4992]

All Quiet On The Tetrakan Front? Hope everything's OK with you.

[@Tetrakan]

Hi, thanks, usual stupid human brain stuff, on the mend and more videos soon!

[@johnhart793]

The Yamaha Mt2x I own is no longer in working order.would I send this to the breakers?

[@Tetrakan]

It can probably be fixed. By you, even, given enough patience and enthusiasm.

[@nawshloryat7373]

Does anyone have a service manual for this machine ? Any links would be well appreciated :)

[@atetraxx]

Do you think this would be similar to the mt2x?

[@Tetrakan]

No. MT2x looks like it has a mechanical cassette player, external ac to dc adaptor and a completely different style of mixer and casing

[@atetraxx]

​​@@Tetrakandang, been trying to get a mt2x working for a while. I thought I got it working but it's still not strong enough to play a tape

[@Tetrakan]

@atetraxx I've since worked on these, it's the GEC generic cassette player in thete, I've got a playlist on refurbishing that it'd be worth checking out

[@samslavin8957]

Hey man I cracked open an mt3x and it only has a single drive belt? I bought a kit advertised for the mt3x off a guy that came with 3 belts and pinch roller and I only used the drive belt and the pinch roller didn’t fit. Can’t seem to find any of the other belts on the service catalog. Was I scammed?

[@Tetrakan]

At the time of writing, I'm not so familiar with yamaha stuff, and I haven't seen inside the MT3X. Generally speaking, transports with more motors (there are between 1 and motors depending on the design) need fewer belts, I hear mixed things about belt kits, and no service manual I've seen gives the correct belt sizes weirdly, so everyone is buying and selling this stuff in a sort of experimental after market limbo. If you send me a gut shot of the mt3x cassette player over Instagram or Facebook messenger, it might be a style of transport I recognise from another model, and I can put you onto suppliers I use?

[@fabricehougaerts2415]

Hi, I have a Portastudio 246 that needs repairing, anyone interested ?

[@whiletr]

Wth is going on with the image around your hands? Is it 'face correction algorithm' tries to fix something?

[@zachramsden9549]

Hey! I'm not sure if you get on Instagram much, but I just messaged you on there with some questions on my tascam porta two! If not instagram, where would be the best place to correspond with you?

[@Tetrakan]

Facebook messenger is better for sharing photos and video in my experience