Richard, thanks for your feedback on the various 1176s. Renting is a great a idea--so obvious I dont know why I didn't think of it!
And, believe it or not, I have been thinking seriously about getting a tape machine for overdubbing but everyone else I've mentioned this to has told me it's a crazy idea. "Not practical." "A huge pain in the ass." "Use a tape saturation plugin." Etcetera. So thanks for the suggestion; it's encouraging.