Acman, and Rok, blank tape is the problem. If you know of a source of tape "maybe" it would be OK. Those machines have to be played on a regular basis, or they'll go bad. Before my machine was too old, I replaced all the transistors and capacitors; all in all, I can't say I recommend a new beginning in R2R. I started when a good R2R was the ultimate, now the computer can be raised to such a high degree of quality, that I see no reason for the R2R.
Enjoy the music.