Studer B62
A compact Swiss two-track that became the default second machine in studios and broadcast racks across Britain, and the reason so many of them are still running.
Overview
The B62 was built to be the machine you didn't have to think about. Studer's own literature for the period calls it a compact, space-saving professional tape machine that had, by the time that copy was written, "become the accepted standard by numerous studios and broadcast companies." That's manufacturer advertising talking, so take the superlatives with some caution. The trade press backs the claim up, though. DB-Magazine (April 1984, p.17), surveying the mobile recording scene, noted the BBC's fleet of stereo control vehicles and the largest of them, the "Radio 1 Roadshow" truck. Flip through a studio directory from the mid-to-late 1970s and the B62 is everywhere, usually sitting beside a larger multitrack as the dedicated stereo or quarter-inch machine.
Studer sold it on versatility and reliability. The transport is fully transistorised and modular, so when a card fails, it comes out, a replacement goes in, and the session continues. Tape tension is electronically controlled, and the capstan is servo controlled. Owners only notice that kind of engineering when it's missing. The machine could be had as a bare chassis, in a carrying case, or trolley mounted, and it was offered in mono, stereo, two-track, or pilot-tone configurations with remote controllability. Studer's copy pitched it as equally suited to the studio or the outside-broadcast truck, and the period record bears that out.
The portability claim isn't just brochure language. The same publication's studio directories from later in the decade list the B62 in facility after facility. At Startling Studios it sat alongside a Studer A80 quarter-inch and a 24-track. At Strawberry in Stockport it was the stereo machine next to the A80 multitrack. At Studio Bohus in Sweden it shared the rack with an Ampex ATR100 and a Revox A77. Island Mobile carried a pair of them.
The B62 is a two-track, quarter-inch professional machine, not a multitrack, and it was never the flagship. Studer's own advertising from the period positions it below the A80 in the range, with the A80 and the 789 Quadro taking the headline billing at the APRS show stand. The B62 was the dependable second machine, the one that handled stereo mixes, safety copies, and location work while the big multitrack did the heavy lifting. Collectors who chase one today tend to want it for that reason. It does a specific job well, it's smaller and easier to live with than a full multitrack, and the Swiss build quality means the survivors are still working machines rather than museum pieces.
eBay Listings
As an eBay Partner, we earn from qualifying purchases. This helps support our independent vintage technology research.