Presto K8 Recording

This is where record cutters raise questions about cutting, and trade wisdom and experiment results. We love Scully, Neumann, Presto, & Rek-O-Kut lathes and Wilcox-Gay Recordios (among others). We are excited by the various modern pro and semi-pro systems, too, in production and development. We use strange, extinct disc-based dictation machines. And other stuff, too.

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TThomson
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Joined: Tue Aug 23, 2016 4:41 pm

Presto K8 Recording

Post: # 43674Unread post TThomson
Tue Aug 23, 2016 4:45 pm

I've been testing my K8 and it's been going well but the vocals are coming out all garbled. also the playback is very soft even with the recording volume turned all the way up during recording. Any ideas what could be causing this??

Babooino
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Re: Presto K8 Recording

Post: # 43722Unread post Babooino
Sun Aug 28, 2016 8:50 pm

mono or stereo head?

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Gridlock
Posts: 286
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Re: Presto K8 Recording

Post: # 43723Unread post Gridlock
Sun Aug 28, 2016 9:18 pm

I use a k8. Sometimes that's just the way it goes. Having an inline multiple band (7+) eq goes a long way. Are you using the amplifier that's in there? It is designed to match the presto heads. I am experimenting with different amps to power the presto head. It is an old one and im pretty sure it is a J series head at 4 Ωs. MOST IMPORTANT THING use .5 v quick blowing fuse even with the onboard amp. i have blown so many of these funking fuses. Slight feedback on a line can get real ugly real quick. Especially if you are recording "harsh noise" or "experimental doomcore folk-metal". Which i hope you are.

Side note a: no way this is stereo.

Side note b: using a 300Ω matching transformer i can now play xbox on my 1950s circle-screen bakelite black and white televition. Every gamer on this forum should follow suit. You wont be disappointed
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Recordette Sr.......Presto K-8

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TThomson
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Re: Presto K8 Recording

Post: # 44012Unread post TThomson
Thu Sep 15, 2016 7:41 pm

I am using the amp that's built into the machine. I just bought a good cutting needle and I'm hoping that that maybe solves some of my problems. The weirdest thing is Ill do a test cut that sounds fantastic, I wont adjust any settings, then when I go to do another take its all jacked up. Have you had this happen to you?

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Gridlock
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Re: Presto K8 Recording

Post: # 44015Unread post Gridlock
Fri Sep 16, 2016 3:22 pm

I guess make sure your swarf isnt bunching up on the needle? Is your vu meter reacting normally?
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Recordette Sr.......Presto K-8

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tapesandtubes
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Re: Presto K8 Recording

Post: # 44240Unread post tapesandtubes
Wed Oct 05, 2016 3:41 pm

A couple of things come to mind...

-Clean the armature
-Replace the tubes
Presto K8 | 6N

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piaptk
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Re: Presto K8 Recording

Post: # 44243Unread post piaptk
Wed Oct 05, 2016 8:22 pm

Are you embossing or cutting lacquer? If embossing, you are going to lose 30+ of volume because of the hardness of the plastic and those presto 5c heads that came with most k8s weren't very hot to begin with and once you add on 80 years of godknowswhat abuse and disuse, you are not going to get loud cuts regardless.
I Buy/Sell/Restore Vintage Machines/Parts and Provide Phone/In Person Tech Support
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Gridlock
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Re: Presto K8 Recording

Post: # 44245Unread post Gridlock
Wed Oct 05, 2016 11:20 pm

My k8 hauls ass. Regularly cutting hot loud 45s with straight eq to beat most Hilltop pressings. But ive been hemming and hawing over this k8 for five years and learned a few things the hard way
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Recordette Sr.......Presto K-8

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piaptk
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Re: Presto K8 Recording

Post: # 44252Unread post piaptk
Thu Oct 06, 2016 9:58 am

How are you cutting 45rpm on a k8?
I Buy/Sell/Restore Vintage Machines/Parts and Provide Phone/In Person Tech Support
www.MichaelDixonVinylArt.com
www.LatheCutCamp.com
www.RecordLatheParts.com
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Gridlock
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Re: Presto K8 Recording

Post: # 44253Unread post Gridlock
Thu Oct 06, 2016 11:13 am

I record to really fast analog tape with a potentiometer on the tape speed. Then when i cut to disk im running the tape at a lower speed that's marked with a pen by the pot. It's kind of tricky to get the exact speed but there is a fifth note harmony that happens when you get the speed right. So at 33 rpm its all slow and stuff so if you can bring out bright highs on that then when you play it back at 45 rpm often sounds way better than the original tape recording. Which i find odd. almost like the setup is just filling in all the blanks for you. as if cutting to disk wasnt spooky enough already. But this only really happens when i have musicians come to my studio and record to master tape. Otherwise i just do 33. I think the beatles did some crap like this half speed mastering or whatever its kind of like that. Hope that helps. Screw the impossible to find k series 45 adapter. So basically im really pushing the boundaries of what you can do with the k series. Also cutting leadouts and locks by hand. No microscopes, only handheld vacuum nozzle. Ive basically known this was my calling for as long as i can remember. Reading oliver reads recorded sound book was like "well duh!" 800 pages of tellin me crap i already know. Sorry oliver, it is truly a great source. Me n a friend are experimenting transmitting sound via light waves like the old theater reels with some startling and spooky results. Btw mike i ran into a friend who said he rolled with your crew in like arizona or something. Carey mann from eugene. Says hi. Hope this was at least helpful for someone cheers yall.
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Recordette Sr.......Presto K-8

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Gridlock
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Re: Presto K8 Recording

Post: # 44256Unread post Gridlock
Thu Oct 06, 2016 3:02 pm

Also i hear That the original IS THIS REAL? By the wipers was MASTERED on a k series
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grooveguy
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Re: Presto K8 Recording

Post: # 44259Unread post grooveguy
Thu Oct 06, 2016 10:06 pm

Regarding your K8, that is the exact machine we had at our high school. I don't know when they got it, but probably some time in the 1940s. By the time I got there in the late 1950s, it hadn't been used in years, because the Radio Arts Department had gone over to tape as quickly as they could. (Webster Electric 'Ekotape' followed by an Ampex 600.) Being a disc-recording nut already for a good number of years, I latched onto the school's K8 and tried to make some records for use by the girls' PE department. By that time the machine was probably still less than 20 years old, but recordings were horrible. Very pronounced resonances in the upper-midrange and no bottom-end. The amplifier sounded fine (push-pull 45s, if memory serves), so I figured that whatever damping material Presto used in the head had dried out. Maybe that's your problem too. I still have a Presto 1D head, also dating to the 1940s, which sounds as good today as it probably did when new. But on the "semi-pro" machines, perhaps Presto didn't take the same care. Either that or the K8 was stored in a bad environment all those years. Get someone who knows that head to give it a going-over.

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TThomson
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Re: Presto K8 Recording

Post: # 44353Unread post TThomson
Thu Oct 13, 2016 10:33 pm

Hey yall!
I got it all sorted out. The problem was with the cutting needle. I purchased the ruby tipped one from Apollo and it now cuts perfectly!
Thanks for responding!

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