Ben wrote:

I own a Vintage AKAI GX-77 reel to reel that needs parts. It will not Play
or Record I believe the PC boards (System and or Pre-amp PCB) might be gone.
I have been on E-BAY without any success. Does anyone have or know of where
I can get info on this? I have about 40 tapes that I would like to transfer
to CD for my kids.

Any help will be greatly appreciated...


I don't remember if the GX-77 is one of the Akai models that used
modular line amp blocks...they look kind of like big ICs but are
actually small circuit boards encapsulated in a black plastic
material...but if it is, you'll need to find a source for those. They
had a way of failing, knocking out one channel or another on Record or
Playback, depending on which one went out. At one time I heard of a way
to fabricate an op-amp gain block that could be substituted, but the
cost to do this on other than a DIY level, where you place no dollar
value on your own labor, would be prohibitive. I don't know the
details, anyway.

Mitsubishi took over the financially-struggling Akai about 20 years ago,
but provided very little parts support for Akai products after a short
time. Urban legend from the time said that truckloads of Akai America
parts were literally trucked to landfills because Mitsubishi felt the
tax writeoff would more benefit the company than cataloguing and selling
parts for an extinct line of equipment.

-GP