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Old radio guy told me to always clean the tape heads first
Back in 2019, this older collector at a swap in Portland said I'd waste hours chasing wow and flutter if I didn't clean heads first. He was right, I spent 3 hours on a deck that just needed a Q-tip and some alcohol. Anyone else had a simple fix save a whole repair session?
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jason_robinson1mo ago
...and then I opened up this old Marantz I picked up for cheap and the pinch roller was literally caked in dried up 80s tape goo. I was about to start messing with the speed adjustment pot and the motor caps and all that nonsense. But I remembered that exact same advice from an old tech at a hamfest years ago. Cleaned the heads and the pinch roller with 91% isopropyl, put a scrap tape in just to see, and it played at the right speed clear as day. Yeah the capstan belt was a little loose but the main problem was that sticky residue messing everything up. Makes you wonder how many decks got tossed or parted out over something that simple.
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wesley_grant331mo ago
Man that's wild, @jason_robinson... what was the scrap tape you used? Like some old blank or a prerecorded one you didn't care about?
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