check out these heads

[FALKEN]

tascam 42 came today. this thing is even LARGER than my fostex e-16!!!!! the tape comes tomorrow so i can't test it till then. check out the heads, what do y'all think?

http://www.yellowcakebread.com/heads1.JPG

http://www.yellowcakebread.com/heads2.JPG

[The Ghost of FM]

It's hard to tell from a two dimensional picture but the repro head appears to have uneven wear, perhaps from misalignment and the record head seems to have some vertical scaring that is off center which might be a photography issue from poor lighting?

The lifter arms are badly worn and should be rotated to a spot that isn't flattened and the pinch roller has some shininess to it that should be cleaned with a good rubber conditioner like CaiKleen RBR from Caig Labs.

All in all, not too bad and definitely serviceable with a bit of rudimentary work.

Nice score!

Cheers!

[FALKEN]

ok i think most of that is the flash on the camera and the light behind me. how do u rotate the lifter arms? take apart the head assembly? was that really caused by rolling tape? i think i would have to be a sucka to believe any of this.

[acorec]

Originally Posted by FALKEN

ok i think most of that is the flash on the camera and the light behind me. how do u rotate the lifter arms? take apart the head assembly? was that really caused by rolling tape? i think i would have to be a sucka to believe any of this.

The heads probably need a re-lap. The worn flat spots on the guides are an indicator that there is serious wear on the whole assembly. Send the headblock to JRF and they will re-lap, rotate the guides and laser align the assembly.

[The Ghost of FM]

Originally Posted by FALKEN

ok i think most of that is the flash on the camera and the light behind me. how do u rotate the lifter arms? take apart the head assembly? was that really caused by rolling tape? i think i would have to be a sucka to believe any of this.

The tape lifter arms are rotated from their underside, set-screw which can only be accessed once the front cowling is removed along with the head block assembly which would have its own mounting screws on the steel plate that holds all three heads.

As I mentioned already, its difficult to diagnose head wear and alignment issues via photograph and harder still when the photography is less then perfect in terms of lighting and angle.

As for being a "sucka", believe what you want to. It's a free country.

Cheers!

[FALKEN]

thanks for the help. I will give it a test run tonight and see how it sounds before attempting any of this. they seem to look okay; there isn't any gunk on them or anything. the head assembly is way different from my fostex unit but that is the fun right?