About the Company
J-Corder is not a tape deck manufacturer in the classic sense, but a boutique rebuilder and customizer of Technics reel‑to‑reel machines, active from the mid‑2000s onward.
What J-Corder actually is
J-Corder is a small U.S. company (Gig Harbor, Washington) that provides service, sales, and customization of Technics reel‑to‑reel tape decks, plus some related Technics and Ortofon products.
Its work centers on cosmetically and electronically upgraded Technics RS‑series decks (e.g., RS‑1500 family), which remain fundamentally Technics machines rather than new designs or new transports.
Founder and origins
The operation is built around Jeff Jacobs, a former stereo‑shop owner who sold major Japanese brands and found Technics decks to be the most reliable; this experience led him to focus his later business exclusively on Technics open‑reel machines.
He began rebuilding and hot‑rodding these decks in his own workshop/garage, eventually creating the J‑Corder brand for these restored and customized units and exhibiting them at audio shows such as CES and RMAF.
Nature of the “production”
Each J‑Corder deck starts as a donor Technics machine that is fully disassembled, recapped, mechanically overhauled (bearings, brakes, tape path, VU meters), and then cosmetically transformed with custom finishes, hubs, and reels.
On the electronics side, selected models receive upgraded record/playback electronics, sometimes with input from former Crown engineers to increase headroom and drive modern high‑output tapes harder than stock units.
Timeframe and scale
Reviews and the company site place J‑Corder’s activity well into the 2010s and 2020s, contemporaneous with the modern “tape revival,” rather than the original reel‑to‑reel era of the 1960s–1980s.
Output is artisanal and low‑volume—custom builds rather than factory mass production—so there is no classic model chronology or yearly production numbers as you would see with Technics, Revox, or Otari.
Position in reel-to-reel history
Historically, J‑Corder sits in the category of high‑end restoration/customization houses (similar in spirit to modified Studer/Ampex specialists) that keep legacy transports alive and optimize them for modern audiophile use.
Its significance lies less in original engineering and more in extending the life and perceived luxury status of Technics RS‑series decks through visually striking, show‑grade rebuilds and performance‑oriented upgrades.