Welcome to the 3M M79 ALIVE Blog
By Mikie G
Here is where we interact. This site is an extension of the 3m79 website and created for you to ask question, watch tech videos (M4v format) and to subscribe to the 3m m79 Itunes podcast.
So dig in and enjoy, ask questions, make comments and send info.
This entry was posted on March 24, 2007 at 1:58 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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May 24, 2007 at 6:44 am |
This Looks Familiar
October 24, 2007 at 9:57 pm |
Do the 3m 79 and 56 use any of the same audio cards or are they different beasts? I own a 3m 56 and it sounds amazing but is is a little hissy and it puts out a bit too much hum. Anyone have some advise and spare cards. Anybody ever adjust the bias frequency?
December 18, 2007 at 3:22 am |
I have 2 spare cards for a 3m 56
January 7, 2008 at 11:02 pm |
I reckon I could sort out a spare card or two, for the M79. I seem to remember the bias frequency being lower than usual as standard??
Sorry , I just found this site and Im over enthusiastic as I thought I was the only person still using one. Im going to dig out my manuals…
September 11, 2008 at 4:24 pm |
Just stumbled on to this site. i am very excited to find it. Us 79 guys need all the resources and help we can get. i own/operate HIGH OCTANE AUDIO in Lovilia Iowa. My main machine is a 79 16trk. I am also an audio tech besides studio operator and that is a good thing cause otherwise a guy would be screwed with one of these machines, especially in remote southern Iowa. I have been through countless hurdles on the 79, but I love the sound. The audio sonics of a 16trk 79 just can’t be beat.
i am working towards some upgrades on audio cards and on the capstan drive. I have many design irons in the fire but these are a couple of them. If money was no object, I would assemble a team and redesign and remanufacture this machine, for basic design concepts are genius in my opinion. over the years we have learned alot about it’s pitfalls and shortcommings, but with refinement I believe we could reman. the best tape machine ever imagined. any believers out there?
October 7, 2008 at 3:00 am |
I’m looking for a 3M M79 24 track. Does anybody have one?
October 13, 2008 at 6:12 pm |
I just bought a M79 24 tks for 400$ with the Selectake II….here in Montreal.
But, there’s some cables and connectors missing. Anyone know where I can find some old Molex connectors for the remote and Selectake and other spare parts????
November 8, 2008 at 5:04 pm |
Hey guys! Im also another of the 3M M79 (24track) gang!
Alas it doesnt get as much use as id like, but mainly due to time contraints of the studio and the price of ruddy tape!
The M79 does have an amazing ‘in your face’ character, completely rinses the digital system we use mainly for that!
My main problem is we are missing 5 audio cards from ours, as well as it not being about to read the bottom tracking markers of the pinch roller too well either. does anyone know where i might be able to get hold of these?
Thanks for reading guys…
November 24, 2008 at 4:57 pm |
I have a perfect 3M-79 2 track machine with less than 8 hours of time on it for SALE.
All original cards and also modified cards with IC’s removed.
Dean Jensen transformers in and out and 2 totally rebuilt Dolby 361-A’s with all new relays and CAT 22 cards doner by Dolby labs.
I also have the original service manuel with all the factory updates.
I also have a 3M-79 24 track machine that works or can be bought for parts.
Ypu can reach me at valgaraymusic@verizon.net
Val Garay
November 24, 2008 at 5:00 pm |
For molex connectors you might try contacting Dale Manquen @ MANCO.
He used to work for 3M in the day and has lots of parts or knows where to get them.
805-529-2496
December 24, 2008 at 12:56 am |
Sebastien Says: $400
wow, sebastien that’s great – you should know that the insides are so straightforward to get up and running and that to recapp is affordable
there’s John Klett and all sorts of guys around the country – they are very amenable to the M79 machine, there’s also Coral Sound with Matt
it’s part pot luck draw, you should be up and running very quickly, to get it to broadcast spec is where the work comes in – also if only 12 tracks work – you can still make some music on those decks
i’m close myself to get my machine doing the thing
and for relap there’s jrf magnetics
you have two ways, pay for a working machine (big $) or rebuild your own
learn to punch in and to comp vocals – you’ll be the man
hey, val garay is hanging out here – DUDE… !
March 22, 2009 at 8:52 am |
I have several M79s – two that run and two I keep for parts. All are 24/16 track. I’ve had no luck with GRS systems – they are always out of the country and only keep a tech who doesn’t know troubleshooting and can test cards on there jig. Too bad, they seemed like a good hope. I have tons of spare cards – not sure all are good but extras are very useful. Lemme know if you need a few… briankehew@gmail.com
April 10, 2009 at 5:46 pm |
Hello everyone, I stumbeled across an old magnetic tape recorder. Its in a giant cabinet about the same size as the m79 but a totally different design. There is a plackard underneath the recording unit that says mincom div 3m model #23013A100 then 83-5920-0821 then 00033 on the next line. On the top of the cab there are four seperate units with levelers and recording parameter selections. There is also a board with 4 xlr inputs and two rca style stero outputs. I can’t find anything online that even distantly resembles this unit. It does say 3m professional recorder on it but there is no other information listed on this cabinet. Can anyone out there possibly identify this recording machine, it seems to be a little older than the m79. If anyone has any idea of what this is please email me kakoattacko@gmail.com I also have pictures that might help. Thank you.
June 9, 2009 at 3:04 pm |
I have a 3m-m79 w/ audio kinetics locator,selectatake ,24/16 head stacks, spare logic card, spare belt. I sold my belove trident console ,now it’s a museum piece!
I put 200 hours on it 98-2000 , moved three times in hopes of setting it up again.never went commercial, wife says it’s got to go. powers up,
logic cards are broke,i think. too much moving. emalmstrom@msn.com
really? almost went for it.
July 23, 2009 at 2:44 pm |
I’m thankful for the 3M site and blog, as resources are very scarce for these machines. I own a 3M M56-16 which needs restoration. Just keeping my fingers crossed that the heads still have life after relap. Also don’t like the fixed guides in the tape path and want to modify these to rolling guides. I was a little disppointed to hear that GRS systems is a marginal source for 3M support. As FYI I have spoken with Analog Domain in Arizona and they are not only very reponsive but also actually will work on 3M machines. To answer a previous question, no I do not believe the M56 and M79 cards will interchange. The M56 is completely discrete electronics and the M79 has ICs.
August 9, 2009 at 2:12 pm |
In response to Kevin K’s question about the unit he came across that pre-
dates the M79; that would be the M23 that was manufactured from around
1966thru about 1971. It was offered in 1/4″mono and stereo,1/2″4track
and 1″8track. It had a separate signal cage for each track that could also
be configured for the special”Dynatrack”version that used two tracks for
each signal channel to create one Super Wide Dynamic Range System. It
sounded great but suffered from channel reduction,which in the face of the
noise reduction system being introduced by Ray Dolby, was a fatal flaw.
There were only about 20or30 machines sold with the “Dyna-track cards
some of which pre-dated the M23 and came out of the St.Paul plant rather
than the Camarillo Ca. plant where I worked from 1966to1972.
I was the project engineer for the M79 along with Clive Ross who did
the signal card and capstan servo design,and John Bristow who did much
of the mechanical package dwg detail including offering up the infamous
“M79 Blue panels”. I was overall system jocky including pushing for 24trk
capability when local sls mngmt was a bit asleep at the wheel. I had been
in field service before Jack Mullin asked me to join the engineering team
and knew first hand from working with people like Wally Heider and Bruce Botnick that more tracks was more desirable and marketable,
especially if you believed in Dolbly”A”. There was supposed to be enough
space in the bottom of the machine below the signal cage to fit 24 Dolby
cat.22cards but this never got completed.
I see another post by Val Garay. For those who don’t know, Val is one
of the industries standout engineers who recorded much of Linda Ronstadt and James Taylors early hits. The M79 was also used by Jim
messina(jimmessina.com)to record Aerosmiths “walk this way”. Neil
Youngs early albums,Jackson Browne,Men at Work and the “Boston album by John Boylan(producer). Of course Michael Jackson’s Off The Wall,Victory and Thriller albums were(as noted elsewhere on this site)
recorded or mixed on the M79’s. The list goes on.
Much of Neil Diamond’s early hits were recorded on the M79’s predecessor the M56 16trk or previously mentioned M23 1″8trk which
was done by The team of Dale Manquen,Don kahn and of course
recording pioneer John(Jack)T.Mullen(1913-1999?). The M23 had a
pretty good acceptance in the film industry;Universal had quit a few
as I recall. Early on in my Westlake Audio days we placed a lot of M79s
around the world, often with our monitor systems and studio packages
including consoles from Auditronics,API and Harisson. We did a complete
studio for The Moody Blues in London(3M M79&API) and a multi-room
facility for Lagab in Mexico city(M79/Auditronics). I made my first trip
to Japan in 1974 to install several M79s. We opened our Nashville and
Montreux Switzerland offices around the same time. Although Tom Hidley championed the European marketing we were not successful at
selling very many 3Ms.By then Willy Studer had a pretty good hold on the market there. Nashville was a tough sell as well except for a few
machines at RCA which had bought some for L.A and New York as well.
MCI and Ampex were the staple in Nashville along with Scully. We did
Place some M79s down in Macon Georgia for the Alman Brothers studio
we did and at Bill Evan’s Studio-in the-Country in Bogalousa Louisiana
just outside of New Orleans. One Local sale that we did I have fond
memoris of at Ray Charles’ studio. Ray mentioned to me that he particularly liked the layout of the remote on the M79 as he could just
run his fingers down the track selector buttons and feel the ones selected(depressed)for record and sense the status of the machine by
the heat from the light bulbs in each button including the transport con-
trols. Less fond are my memories of service to Ike Turners studio
where he let it be known that no one left his studio without their equip-
ment working (or words to that effect). We had one of those Iso-Loop
tracking problems as I recall.
All in all it was a lucky day when I spotted the help wanted add that
3M had run in “The Valley Green Sheet”. I jumped at the thought of
working for the company that made my favorite possession; a Wolsensak tape recorder. I was only there for a few days when I found
out that the wolensaks were’nt made in Camarillo but in Chicago, my
birth city. But even though I’d spend the first years working on instru-
mentation tape recorders used for the security agencies and research
facilities, I soon met Jack Mullin and my opportunity to pursue my true
passion was presented. Thank you Jack,3m and Bing(Bing Crosby
Electronic Enterprises was purchased by 3M and became The Mincom
Division that I went to work at in 1966).
Well I see I’ve over stayed my welcome. I’m not in the recorder
service business any longer, but if any one has a question I’d be happy
to answer it if I can.
That’s 40!
Glenn Phoenix President, Westlake Audio
“Good Sound…It’s not Rocket Science…But it’s close!”
August 9, 2009 at 6:06 pm |
Thanks Glenn. that is the most comprehensive history on 3M i have heard to date. Please feel free to drop in any time. Also check out 3m recorders group at Yahoo and 3m79.com where many of us dwell with our various technical challenges. Hoping someday Dale Manquen drops by for some history lessons as well. We love to romance over the the 3M and keep them alive.
August 23, 2009 at 3:51 am |
Hey! Coolsite & blog.
It’s hard to find someone to entrust your beloved M79’s to. So I’ll put my two cents in so that others may get the help and parts they need.
I have 4 M79’s. two 24 tracks, one 8 track and one 2 track. Just as an FYI. I have had all four machines rebuilt from top to bottm by GRS (grssystems.com). They also have a lot of parts and they do individual rebuilds of cards and most other stuff. Great techs and service. Reasonal as well.
About the only thing that remains a problem for us 79′ers is locating replacement capstan belts! Anybody have a source???
Cheers!
Greg
AnalogStudio7
August 24, 2009 at 11:35 am |
There has been a lot of “talk” but none delivered. Doug weeks if you can find him. Also check Matthew Allen in Nashville. He may be able to help. His link is @ 3M79.com
September 27, 2009 at 4:54 pm |
Does anyone know if a machine set up for 14″ reels can be modified to work with 10″ reels? Thanks!
October 1, 2009 at 3:11 pm |
14′ reels are use for live remote recordings. to set it back you need to take the top off and move the motors in by unscrewing 4 screws on each motor plate. be careful to note the orientation of the plates and the cables and as always make sure the machine is off. I have never done this mod but have taken motors off several times. The motors should be almost vertically aligned with the selonoids for the shield plates. If you need a new transport cover with holes to match the new settings I believe I have a spare for sale.
best regards
M G