AKAI GX-255 Open Reel Player, Restored and Fantastic w/ Box & Manuals

Description

Up for sale is an AKAI-GX255 reel to reel in excellent, restored condition.
These were very well built units but like any piece of aging electronic equipment, the components inside have a shelf life. That’s not to say that all parts inside have expired but there are some known items in these units that definitely go bad
To complete the restoration, the entire unit was broken down to the inner chassis so all components and circuit boards could be accessed.
Both of the reel motors/capstan motor were pulled out, disassembled, cleaned, and reinstalled with new lube.
All of the tape guides were turned to give the tape a fresh contact surface. All of the parts that come into contact with tape were polished for minimal friction loss during play.
The impedance roller was pulled and relubed
The braking linkages were cleaned and new lube added
The head transport linkage was cleaned and new lube added
All electrolytic capacitors were replaced with fresh Nichicon FG/KT/KL/PW series caps depending where they are in the circuitry.
All (12) 2SC458 transistors were replaced with fresh Fairchild KSC1845 in matched pairs using a Peak Atlas Pro component tester
Every part, inside and out, was cleaned of dust and grime before being reinstalled.
The control panel buttons were cleaned and are extremely responsive.
A new counter belt was installed. The old belt was working but it had seriously degraded over the years
The pinch roller was rebuilt by Terry @ Terry’s Rubber Rollers who has 15 years experience and widely known among hobbyists
Heads will be demagnetized prior to shipping.  I demag them before initial testing but i will put 20+ hours of listening onto the deck so it will get done again prior to packaging.
There are some bits of damage on the reel but luckily they aren't very significant.
The top plastic cap had some cracks/splits and yellowing from age. Due to the top cap being the exact same as the bottom, I swapped them so the bottom cap is now on top and in excellent condition.
The wooden side panels have a small bit of damage right where they connected to the top panel. I was able to glue it back down and make it very hard to see.
At the time this listing was posted, I have listened to about 12 reels (side 1 & 2) on 7 1/2 & 3 3/4 IPS with no faults or signs of misalignment. The heads are in excellent shape and the tape guides show light wear. To ensure a new tape path, ive rotated the tape guides to expose a fresh surface to wear on.
Included with the reel is an original GX-255 box/packaging foam and owners manual. I’ll even throw in some tapes so you can listen right out of the box.