Sublime! Marian recently returned a Batch of DD units to me, ranging from a D3, a few DC-2's and my prized MINT DD-100. Each one is an absolute gem, and any memory of a prior fault is totally erased.... in fact, the new gear and subsequent service has rendered each machine as BETTER than new... A bold statement? No.... Its just a very simple fact. Im currently enjoying some Studio One Reggae on my D3 and I dont think its ever sounded so good since it was given to me in 1987 as a present. It runs so smoothly, and sounds so sweet! As a 17 year old I knew this machine was special, but now it just sounds amazing... Same with the DC2's and DD-100. All amazing, as to be expected from those models.... but the D3 has been elevated to Hero status, thanks to Marian. The D3 has incredible sentimental value to me, so it was always very important to get this one working again.... Top Job. Take a bow, Marian.
I've fixed a several dd walkmans now with Marians DD gear and capstan ring All have performed bang on factory specs or in some cases actually better (0.06%wrms w+f) Every time I see that white gear I think hundreds, if not thousands of hours must have gone into designing, researching and making it. It's very hard to find companies who want anything to do with stuff like this I know other people repair the old gear but to me Marian is the true saviour of Walkmans, his guide enables n00bs at home, like me, to still do a good repair My only regret now is not buying lots of DD walkmans a few years ago when they were £20-£30 !!
I was a noob when it came to DD's. But after getting a few DD's and trying to repair the gears I was successful only once. The gear kit that Marian provides is the only way to fix them now. One happy customer here!!
you havn't start again and go through all the guide. also service manual shows you height alignment for the gear
Thank you very much, I'm really happy that I can share my hobby with so many good people, I like challenges and I always like to work on something new. Behind each part, there's lot of study regarding materials, properties, etc. DD center gears sell little better than I expected. That's why I'm able to finance development of other spare parts. Currently I'm working on - pinch rollers for narrow Sony walkmans (rubber plus core) - capstan ring for WM-DD9 - idler tire for WM-55 series - pinch roller dor D6C, DD.... - capstan ring for DX100 - small idler tire for D6C and TPS-L2 - small reel gear for WM-D3 - pinch rollers for Panasonic RQ-S/ RQ-SX plus I'm preparing rubber kit for TC-D5M. They should all be ready by the end of 2018 And I'm working on e-shop. I would like to offer not only belts and rubber parts, but also small capacitors, tools, oil, etc. Any profit will always go to development of another parts. If you have any idea, what else could be produced, just let me know.
I'm looking forward to be able to buy high quality small capacitors from a trusted source: I would like to recap myself some faulty units, but I'm not sure where to buy good quality capacitors of the correct size for use in walkman's. Besides, I do not want to have to buy batches of 100+ caps when I need just a couple of each value. As for spare parts I would like some replica of the fragile gears of the WM-EX49 tape transport used also in several derivatives: they are all really nice looking but that mechanic has several weak points and it s very hard to find one in working conditions.
I was thinking of making parts for WM-EX49 like mechanics. But this mechanics has so many issues. Several cracked gears, deformed plastic parts... and most have leaked capacitors. What a pity. Optical design of these is very nice. And also sound quality is good. I don't think it is cheaply built. It is full of tiny, difficult to make, plastic parts. Just very unreliable design. But one day, may be...
For now you can buy caps from mouser, Farnell, or Newark (I buy from Newark element 14.) The caps themselves are very cheap but the shipping is usually the expensive bit. Use this list for Walkman caps: http://www.stereo2go.com/forums/threads/list-of-common-walkman-capacitors-2017.1246/ I would love reproduction WM-150/EX-49 gears. The weak points are the tiny clutch gear and the takeup reel gear. Current workarounds are to weld the clutch gear together, and for the takeup, sacrifice a supply gear from a parts unit (same diameter) and grind it down to the thickness of the takeup gear and sub it in. Otherwise they are good mechanisms with EX amorphous heads, and nice design like WM 150,550C,EX49. Another mechanism to consider with weak gears is the late Panasonic EX series clutch and cheese gear.
