Multivox Tape Delay No Erase

[Muesic]

Hi everyone. New to the forum, looks like a great place to hang out, lots of stuff to learn here. Personally I probably know just enough to get myself in trouble!

On to my question.

I have a multivox multi echo mx-312. It sounds pretty good, except it doesn't erase! I have new tape, have cleaned heads etc... I'm wondering how I would go about actually testing the erase head to see if its faulty?

Here's a page with some pics of these machines...

ESTECHO - Evans Super Echo SE-780, Multivox MX-312

Any help is appreciated!

[Enzo]

Check the head for continuity, is it open?

If it records, I have to think the bias oscillator is working. SO either the bias oscillator is not getting to the erase head or the head is defective. Scope the head leads, is there a LARGE high freq signal there?

[Jazz P Bass]

Here is a nice tutorial with graphics.
Link: Tape Recording

[Muesic]

Thanks for the reply. I don't have a scope... For a continuity test do I need to desolder the head? And yes the bias oscillator works.

[Jazz P Bass]

That depends what the oscillator circuit looks like.
The head is a coil of wire.
So it will have some resistance or not.

[Steve L]

Multivox Service Manual

You might find this useful:

Multivox MX-312 Tape Echo Service Manual.pdf

Steve