Stereo Sony Microcassette Recorders. Another grail found!

Been looking for one of these for ages, and as usual, the rare ones come in quick sucession! Found these 2 units locally within a few days, and for really cheap too. Just under $12 in total. The M-1PD was advertised as "motor running but cassette not turning", just a simple belt change. The M-1000 was your typical seller's optimistic "I'm guessing it works.



The Sony M-1PD turns out to be in a very good condition. Just needs a new belt and a fix of the typical cracked capstan gear that seems to be the Achilles heel of this mechanism (M7, M9, etc). I don't even need to clean the body that much. Almost unused, it seems.





The M-1000 is in much rougher condition, but just as easily fixed. Just slightly harder to reach the belts.





Regarding the capstan gear problem, this has been discussed before in a thread but I'll post this here a future reference. The crack is caused by the shrinking of the plastic part, similar to the DD gear. A quick and very simple fix would be to remove the gear and enlarge the hole just a tiny bit. Now you can glue/epoxy the gear back to the flywheel. (Left pic is the cracked gear, right pic is a fixed one using black epoxy)



As a bit of comparison, here's the M-1PD and M-7 open side by side to show the difference between a mono and stereo unit.

 

Great price for the M-1PD! Well done! And thank you for the info on the capstan gear, I have had a couple of this model. Not yet encountered this issue with mine but I probably will one day! I do have the issue with my DD model and have purchased Marions replacement gear but I have not had the guts to risk damaging my favorite Walkman to swap the gear out so I live with the clicking for now.

 

Replacing the DD gear is quite easy once you get the hang of it

For the moment I'll be content with my M-1000 and be more on the lookout for an M-80.

The M-1000 Sounds good, but has a constant buzz that increases with volume. I've cleaned the volume pot and record switch, any ideas?

 

If it is increasing with volume then it is pickup prior to the volume control.

A few ideas

A bad ground
A dried out capacitor in the motor drive.

Does it vary with motor speed ? (Slow the motor down with your fingers)
If you have the means to disconnect the motor the buzz still there?

 

Thanks! I'll check on those the next time I get the opportunity to open it up. So far, I have not tried recapping anything though.