Need Advice re: Rek-O-Kut TR12 & M-12 that I just score

[orlandoinsane]

I went to help my uncle sort out a bunch of stuff in a house of a deceased relative... It turns out he was an audiophile and a technology buff! In the depth of crap piled around the house I found 2 (!) Rek-O-Kut TR12 each with a M-12 Master Pro... now I know nothing of this stuff, but I have always loved vinyl, and have thought a lot about trying to figure out a way to make my own acetates...

So I turn to you my little trollie friends, I haven't tried them out yet, but assuming that they do work:

1) how hard would it be to get a stereo head on one?
2) I figure I only need one lathe, so rather than piecing the other apart for spare bits, if I sold it on ebay, would it be worth enough to get a better head (I am assuming that the stock head on this unit isn't that great, it was used to record discs for kids to learn their barmitzvah passages)?
3) What kind of amplifier (and what kind of wattage) do I need to use with these boys to get some tracks down? I have a spare Quad 303 amp for my old Quad 33 could I use that?

anyways I appreciate any advice you guys can throw me

also there was a box of blank laquers, of various sizes... as long as they aren't flaking they should be still good right?

thanks!!

I will post some photos soon

[edaudio]

I am only guessing that a "real" stereo head would be a challenge to mount and perhaps too heavy for the the M12 - but if you have an M12 I'm interested (he-he). At the moment, I'd be happy to cut mono...

[cuttercollector]

The Rek-O-Kut table and lathe while nice in it's semi pro way for the time is not really the best thing to base a modern stereo cutter system on. You have 2 turntables and 2 overhead lathes with heads but no electronics correct? The turntable in my portable Rek-O-Kut is 2 speed, 78 - 33 but you can sub in a 45 idler to cut at that speed. Not too easy to find them however. The way the lathe drives off the turntable center and the very design of the head would make it very hard to attach a larger stereo head and have the stylus positioned tangent with the center spindle to edge of disc line. The turntable can be made to be moderatly quiet (for a rim drive design) and does have enough torque to do the job. I also am not quite sure however if a 14" master (needed to master for a normal 12 record) will quite fit. The original head was of course mono and good depending on the model, out to perhaps 8 - 12 Khz and could only attain moderatel levels by today's standards. Your Quad amp is around 100 wattts per channel I think? One of those channels would be more than enough to blow up the Rek-O-Kut head assuming it is a low impedance (8-16 ohm) head. If it happens to be a 600 ohm, then you need an amp capable of driving a higher impedance head to the voltage it requires to operate properly. (Not more power but higher voltage due to the higher load impedance). If you get a stereo head you will have to improvise the mix circuitry to introduce the output of the feedback coils into the mix along with your RIAA record EQ before the Quad power amp. And it would be somewhat low in power for best results with a stereo feedback cutter.
Perhaps one of the new stereo cutters being made are small enough to fit somehow. One of those is feedback and the other is - I guess - not. Check out their dimensions from the manufacturers found elswhere on this forum.
But unless I am mistaken, the design of your lathe is set up to mount the little flat cutter it came with horizontally underneath. You don't have the room in front or above for certainly anything the size of a Westrex for example.
Oh, as for the old lacquers - most likely not good for anything critical.
It all depends on who made them and how they were stored. I have seen some old ones cut OK but mostly they are dry and make a lot of noise when you try and cut them. That is the subject of another whole thread.

[cuttercollector]

OK - slight addendum.
You couldn't put a stereo head on MY machine but it is not the same head or lathe mechanism as you have. Yours with one of the new small stereo heads might just work. You still need one that is very shallow back to front. And I found in my literature that the later mono heads from Rek-O-Kut were good out to 13Khz. Very respectable for a non feedback mono cutter in that type of machine and era.

[JayDC]

the stereo head that is not feedback (VR) is not available for sale w/o purchase of the whole setup. Talk to vinyllium, they'll sell just the head (SC-99) w/o the lathe setup.