wondering if anyone is using an MM1200 out there....the bridge section on ours had a shorted diode and when we got the piece back from ATR all our tensions needed to be readjusted......something strange though......when doing the initial reel servo calibration, the only way we could get the rest of our adjustments to fall in line was to make that initial adjustment with the lift defeat enabled (brakes off)......the manual does not say to do this, and i know that we used to be able to adjust our tensions without the lift defeat enabled on that first step..........
..........the tension is still not quite right.......should i be trying to make my initial reel servo calibration with brakes on or off?.....any ideas?.......

you could try these pages

http://analogrules.com/Ampex2inch.html

yeah i've seen this.....basically a copy of the manual.....still doesn't address our problem though.....to make things a little more complicated, we have a machine that was modified by sprague electronics so that our play take up tension is controlled by a separate piggy back card.........
...i know all the 1200's are finicky and kind of individually unique......every one needs to be adjusted a little bit differently to suit the user.....just wondering if anyone out there has direct experience with this machine.....