Ampex 1260 (c. 1962–1963)
Little is documented about the Ampex 1260 beyond its place in Ampex's Fine Line 1200 series of the early 1960s. What the record shows is that the 1260 was the portable version of that line. Ampex's own advertising in Audio (February 1963, p.47) listed the 1250 as the unmounted version and the 1260 as the portable one. A High Fidelity ad (March 1963, p.32) described the series as borrowing features once reserved for professional recorders, offering crosstalk-free high-fidelity sound.
The one solid hands-on account is a test report in HiFi/Stereo Review (August 1962, p.26). The reviewer found the 1260 quite flexible and so full of features that he didn't try to list them all. Sound-on-sound recording, echo-chamber effects and language-instruction applications were among the standouts. The reviewer also noted that tape threading was automatic - once the tape end was placed in the take-up reel, it wound on smoothly.
Ampex pushed the 1200 series with a free-tape promotion in 1962-1963. Buyers received what the ads called $116 worth of Ampex tape, described as twelve reels of Premium Ampex Tape worth $66. In the ad's arithmetic, that was enough for 38 hours of stereo or 76 hours of mono recording. The series carried Ampex's "Four Star" one-year warranty, covering replacement of any defective part.
Past that, the record thins out fast. No detailed specifications - speeds, frequency response, output, dimensions - have surfaced in the material available to the Archive. The 1260's production span and original retail price remain unconfirmed.
- Portable tape recorder, Ampex Fine Line 1200 series
- Sibling model: 1250 (unmounted version)
- Sound-on-sound, echo-chamber, and language-instruction features
- Automatic take-up reel threading
- Four Star one-year parts warranty
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