I bought this 1983/4 Nakamichi LX-3 cassette deck from a eBay and the seller said that it “played well but needed a service”.
It arrived in one piece thankfully but on applying power it quickly became apparent that it was going to need a bit more than a service. Only a partial display, no tape transport and the whole thing looked as though it had been stored in a deep fat dryer.
Anyway, new belts and capacitors were ordered and I then had to wait a month or so. I gave the deck a clean and read up as much as I could about Nakamichi “classic” tape transports. Complex to say the least. Four belts, numerous springs, fiddly washers and all contained in a three-deck sandwich of metal and brittle plastic. Oh and an array of wiring harnesses to wrangle.
Amazingly (for me) I managed to dismantle everything and put the belts in. I even managed to replace the idler tyre that powers fast forward and reverse. Popped it all back together (sounds easier than it was) and….nothing. Closer inspection showed that the pinch rollers (dual capstan machine) were seized and not rising. This meant another strip down and a battle royale trying to free the rollers. It took best part of a day but I did it and then reassembled and double checked everything. The moment of truth had arrived. I put in a cassette and the mechanism whirred. I smiled with satisfaction and then hit Play.
It was horrible.
Flutter galore and a serious lack of back tension on the supply reel meant the sound vanished after a few seconds. After expressing my dismay through a range of choice four letter words I did a bit more reading and found that these classic mechanisms are very sensitive to the tolerances of the capstan belt. Fortunately I had ordered a couple from different suppliers and took the transport out yet again and swapped out the belt. The second one was a much more snug fit so I was hopeful.
Got it all back together for a final time and it is now working beautifully!! Awesome sound and it has an 80’s design that is now starting to look futuristic once again
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Very happy with how this turned out. Having been through this project I wouldn’t feel daunted by tacking another Nakamichi. They are well built, albeit fiddly. Taking it slowly is the key along with the service manual. Oh, and photos, lots of photos!!