Teac Model 10B
A mixing console that arrived with a modest list of fixes and quietly became the small-studio workhorse of the late '70s.
Overview
The Model 10B is Tascam's revision of the Model 10. Teac's own announcements in the trade press said it changed "not much - just the things that matter." Teac's advertising called the Model 10 "one of the most popular mixing consoles ever." That's marketing, but it does tell you the 10 was a known quantity before the B arrived. The changes are specific: peak-reading LED indicators on each input, chassis-mounted ¼" phone jacks for added stability, and the ability to use the echo busses together with the program busses for 8-out capability. That last one is the big one for anyone mixing on it. It takes the console from a 4-out workflow to 8-out without a wholesale redesign.
Owners and contemporary write-ups describe the 10B as a modular system rather than a fixed console. Two expansion modules make that work. The Model 116 is an 8-channel Monitor Mixdown Module that interfaces directly with the 10B. Each of its channels can be switched between monitor buss and tape, with individual pan and gain controls, a split mono cue send (1 & 2), and an outboard automatic switching matrix. The Model 120 Input Cue/Solo Module goes on top of that. It lets you mult the accessory send signals from up to 12 inputs, mixing tape cue and input cue on the split mono cue buss, and it allows soloing any of 12 active input channels. The 10B was designed to grow with a room. A small overdub setup could start simple and add monitoring and cue flexibility as the work demanded it, without replacing the desk.
Teac's own copy says the 10B is "built with the same design philosophy and integrity" as the Model 10. That's a manufacturer claim, not an independent verdict. What the documentation does establish is that the B revision was a refinement, not a reinvention. The LED metering, the chassis-mounted jacks, and the expanded buss routing are the substance of the change. The 10B was sold through TEAC Tascam Series dealers, and the company promoted it with a toll-free dealer-locator line (800-447-4700, with a separate Illinois number). The pitch was aimed squarely at the project studio: "if you have more talent than money," the copy read, look into the 10B.
Period studio listings show the console in use. A San Diego facility, Accusound Recording Studio, listed a modified Tascam Model 10B as its main console, configured 12 in by 8 out, alongside a stock Model 10 running 12 in by 4 out, per the studio's entry in Mix (September 1978, p.32). That 12×8 configuration confirms the 8-out capability the 10B advertised was actually being used in working rooms, not just on spec sheets. The same listing pairs the console with Tascam's Model 80-8 and 3340 tape machines.
The available sources don't establish the 10B's channel count, EQ topology, dimensions, weight, or original price, and this page won't invent them. What is documented is the revision's feature set, the two expansion modules, the design lineage to the Model 10, and at least one confirmed studio installation. The 10B was a modular small-format desk that let a room scale its monitoring and cue routing as the work grew. It wasn't a large-format console and didn't try to be.
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