Soundesign 4684 First Look inside

[Salvage_Jams]

I finally got some proper tools and and took it apart. Based on what the seller told me, the belts are probably whats stopping it from reading tapes, and when the wheels start turning the belt sure is jumping. Another weird fault is that if you halfway press the play button, the wheels will spin, but if you fully depress the play button, the wheels just stop, not sure if thats related to the belt or not.

I already ordered some replacement belts, but has anyone taken of like this out? Do I need to take out the whole thing or can I try to replace the belt while its inside.

 

[Tinman]

Single belt on each player and then one counter belt on the upper one?
It's hard to say from the pic but if you just want to replace the belts, you should be able to do it without removing everything.
Most likely you'll need a pick tool or a piece of wire with a 90 degree bend to fish the belts around the pulleys.
Before you remove the two screws that are holding the capstans in place, note the play in the capstans front to back.
When you reinstall the screws, you don't want to tighten them down.
They usually have springs around them and have that play so the capstans don't get bound up.
When you're sliding the belts over the capstan pulleys (between the capstan shafts and brackets with the screws), be careful because there's usually grease at the end of the shaft that you can get on the new belts.
It's not always necessary but most guys remove everything then clean and apply new grease & oil to shafts and other moving parts.
A lot of times the old grease gets gummy and slows things down or keeps things from moving freely.

As to why they are stopping when you fully depress the play button could be that the pinch rollers are contacting the capstans and stopping them.
That's just a guess.