TSR-8 HEAD ALIGNMENT

camus

New member
Managed to get an old Tascam TSR-8 off a friend's Dad fer free. However, reading the manual's section on head alignment sent me head reeling. Is it necessary to do all those complicated electronic adjustments re freq response, tape bias etc, or will repositioning the erase and repro head azimuths alone suffice? Can any experienced users out there help me with a step-by-step list of what to do? I NEED HELP!
 
Why do you want to adjust the heads? Are you sure that they are out of alignment?

Run a test tape first and compare input /output levels.

Clean and demag of course. You have a great machine!!

Since you got the recorder for free, bite the bullet and have a "pro" service it the first time...ask questions and next time you will be able to adjust it yourself.

Sincerely;
Dom Franco
 
camus, you scored! tsr8 is a fab machine. they used to sell
for $3500.00 new. if you go gently on the buttons and don't "poke" them you'll get many happy hifi hours and tracks. i thought i scored getting one for $750.00!
you can "bang 'em" a bit with high end tape like quantegy499
the noise reduction compromises the tone but you can get the
hiss out at any mastering house or with decent post production software.
good luck!
mo

[Edited by MO ELEMENT on 08-05-2000 at 09:34]
 
Clean the heads and check the channels two at a time recording a good sounding CD then play the tape back and sync it with the CD . If it sounds very close you are ready to record. If a channel is not up to standard you will know it instantly . Alignment is for making your tapes compatable with other machines.
 
Thanks for replying people. The problem is the old girl hasn't been used for a pretty long time, so I'm a bit worried bout the state of the heads and all. Speaking of which, he's also getting rid of ANOTHER Tascam reel-to-reel, only it's a 4-trk, can't remember the model no. Being rather new at all this analog stuff, how do you tell whether the tape heads need replacing? Also, after I take home the machines, how many times should I clean the heads /demagnetize before they're considered 'ready for use'? Like I said, it's been a rather long time since the both of em were last used. How many cleaning sessions would you all recommend before I start using em again? Thanks!
 
camus said:
Thanks for replying people. The problem is the old girl hasn't been used for a pretty long time, so I'm a bit worried bout the state of the heads and all.
Unless you have rust on the heads (which I never heard of) don't worry. The state of the heads worsen with USE, not with not being used. The thing to worry about it the mechanical parts, which can get problems if you don't use them. But you'll notice that straight away.

Check out this great site:
http://home.flash.net/~mrltapes/
They have loads of info on how to check your machine for tape alignment errors and tape path magnetization. It's loads of info, and pretty much unsorted, so you have to wade through it a couple of times, but it's there!
 
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