VID/DES: Maxell 10.5" black metal reel

This is one of the rarest reel that I have and of course wasn't commercially released, it was made by someone. The reel was probably in origin a Maxell silver reel, one of the first designs, almost the same than the common 3 holes from Agfa and ReVox.

The reel presented here is painted in black but with a layer of bright varnish, so the final result is really cool. All the lettering is in gold colour, with the characteristical big "m" of maxell and the brand written too. Lettering is in both sides and placed three times in a 120º configuration.

Pictures worth more than one thousand words:

And here is a video with this reel used as take-up reel in a Teac X-2000R:

DES: Akai R-7M 7" metal reel

Akai is probably the brand who made more different designs for their 7" metal reels. This one described here is the design with blue AKAI lettering.




Akai R-7M reel.


It has three holes in-line with no slot. The reel is silver with the AKAI lettering in blue. The design is identical on both sides, no differences. It has three screws and three "blind slots".

The reel is very light with made by thin aluminium, but is consistent. The distance between the both flanges is a few just, however is rare that the tape touches any of them.





The original box.




A pair of AKAI reels in their boxes.




The reels in an Akai deck, the GX-77

DES: Ampex 7" metal reel

Never known that Ampex did metal reels of 7" diameter. I was lucky to find some of them in the same lot.

It has three holes in-line, three screws and is easy to thread thanks to a large loading line.

Spinning at 9.5 cm/s

Front view

There is a "blind slot" in the inner circle of the reel, like another spindle hole, but without the star shape, just the circle. Maybe it was used to hang the reel...

The lettering is identical in both sides, "AMPEX" in the first line (bold and capital letters) and "audio supply" in a second line in a smaller font size. Each side is labeled as "1" or "2".

DES: Teac 7" metal black reel

That reel is unusual. Black metal reel with the TEAC logo painted in gold. I think that only existed the 7" version and wasn't made in 10.5" with the same design.

It has three holes off-set and uses four philips anodized screws and has a slot to hold the tape.

A pair of reels like this makes a good visual result with a TEAC black faced deck, as the X1000 or X2000.

DES: Pioneer PR-85 7" metal reel

Now is the turn of one of the most wanted 7" metal reels, the original one that came with the Pioneer models RT-701 and RT-707. However, it was also sold separately.

It has six holes "in line" with three screws and it's very light because the holes are really big and between each one, there is a radius that goes to the center hub. There is also present a single slot to hold the tape.

The aluminium is very delicated because of the size of the holes. The central hub has three marks to hold the spindle in the right position while pressing the reel.

Here are some shots of this beauty:

Stopped





Closer look






Running at 9.5 cm/s




With the reel full of tape

DES: TDK AR-7M 7" metal reel

TDK 10.5" metal reels are found usually, both two and three holes design, but the 2 holes version in 7" size is not so usual, so, here is.

I bought this one one year ago more or less, and was unopened, perfect condition in all ways. This is the only one that I've found for sale in some years looking for it.

Here are some shots in a Pioneer RT-707 together with a Revox 7" metal blue reel.

Stopped




Closer look




"TDK 178". The size in milimetres.




Running at 9.5 cm/s

DES: ReVox 7" metal golden reel

Previously I did the entries for the blue and red ReVox 7" metal reels. Now is the turn of the golden "champaign" reel. Identical to the other ones, except the color.

DES: Scotch 10.5" six holes metal blue reel

After some time looking for a pair of these beauties, recently I've adquired them separately.

The design (six holes "in line") was common used by different brands like Scotch and Basf and was also used in the well known Teac RE-1003 and Pioneer PR-101 empty reels.

Here are three shots taken in the Pioneer RT-1020H with ReVox metal silver NAB hub adapters.

DES: ReVox 7" metal red reel

Identical than the blue model except for the color (click here to read the entry dedicated to the blue reel), this one looks also very nice in most decks, however looks incredible in the Pioneer RT-707.

DES: ReVox 7" metal blue reel

ReVox is a brand well-knowned in the reel to reel recorders world. Most of the ReVox material is legendary, from machines to accesories.

But there is one object not so popular, the hard to find 7" metal blue reel.

It has 3 holes "in line" with 3 philips screws. It's very width, so it's very difficult that the tape touch the flanges. It has no slots where to hold the tape.

The design is almost identical to the AGFA-GEVAERT 7" metal reel, except in one detail: the hub. If you look carefully to the pic, the hub where the spindle gets the reel isn't part of the blue reel, it's part of the hub and it's made of (I think) a very hard plastic which doesn't get marked in spite of the use.

It's made of a hard aluminium that won't bend easily. It looks nice with a Pioneer RT-707 and even in bigger decks like the Pioneer RT-909.

DES: Dokorder 7" metal reel

Sometime ago I discovered the interesting look of the Dokorder metal reels, however I didn't think about getting one until this past month, where a paranormal force told me that I had to buy one of those beauties ;)

So I did. After lost a few auctions I finally got one at the price of $57 + shipping... $77 was the total price for me to pay.

In spite of being one of the more expensive prices than I have paid for an empty 7" reel, it worths the money.

I've just taken some shots of the reel in a Pioneer RT-707.



In pause.




Running at 19 cm/s.





Two closer shots.

As can be watched in the pics, the reel has six rounded holes "in line" with the other side of the reel. The flanges of the reel are fatter than the ones of a Maxell MR-7. It's made of a strong aluminium. Three philips screws by side that are screwed into the hub and provided with three slots to hold the tape.