Visual cues of a worn-out head?

[Whoopysnorp]

As I posted a few days ago, I picked up a Tascam ATR-60-8 cheap this weekend. I haven't been able to get my hands on anything to play on it yet, or to calibrate it for that matter. I'm curious about the condition of the heads--are there obvious visual cues that would tell me if they were severely worn?

[Whoopysnorp]

I think I should re-formulate my question...after doing some research and closely examining the heads, I can see that there is some wear. What I'm wondering is what serious wear looks like versus what trivial wear looks like. My heads don't look near as bad as the worn head example in figure 3 here. I'd say the visible wear on my heads is roughly between a third and half of that size. Can I get away with waiting a while before relapping?

[Tim Gillett]

In the end it's up to what you can accept in terms of dropouts and general performance of the highs, especially on the edge tracks. A good test is to record FM radio interstation hiss and listen how clean and steady is the playback, compared to the source.

Tim

[The Ghost of FM]

Originally Posted by Whoopysnorp

I think I should re-formulate my question...after doing some research and closely examining the heads, I can see that there is some wear. What I'm wondering is what serious wear looks like versus what trivial wear looks like. My heads don't look near as bad as the worn head example in figure 3 here. I'd say the visible wear on my heads is roughly between a third and half of that size. Can I get away with waiting a while before relapping?

Based on what you described, you should be OK for at least a couple of album's worth of material but posting a clear picture of them might give us a better idea. The key thing to head wear is that it should be even wear from top to bottom and side to side. If it ain't, it means you've got misaligned heads which will throw off levels consistency pretty dramatically .

Cheers!

[Whoopysnorp]

I tried taking a picture but my camera is crap and won't give me a clear image. The wear is fairly even from top to bottom but not quite perfect on either head--there is a very slight angle on it. I guess when I get my hands on a calibration tape and align it I'll see how bad the high-frequency loss is.

[The Ghost of FM]

It sounds like it shouldn't be a major problem if the wear is pretty even top to bottom.

Keep in mind as a play heads wear, the high frequency output increases and record heads behave in the opposite way so if you make use of the repro head for mix-downs, you should be fine for a good long while. A fresh calibration should be done though if there's some obvious level issues.

Cheers!

[cjacek]

Originally Posted by Whoopysnorp

What I'm wondering is what serious wear looks like versus what trivial wear looks like.

You may find this helpful:

http://homerecording.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=241966

[Tim Gillett]

The head condition is just one possible issue.

I would be getting a reel of tape, probably used, and at least give the thing a test record and play. The machine could be in excellent condition or there could be problems which may not be worth repairing. But the only way to find out is give it a go. The cost of the tape is nothing.


Tim.

[Whoopysnorp]

Originally Posted by cjacek

You may find this helpful:

http://homerecording.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=241966

Oh, awesome link. My heads look way better than the examples of bad heads I'm seeing there. That's encouraging.

Originally Posted by Tim Gillett

The head condition is just one possible issue.

I would be getting a reel of tape, probably used, and at least give the thing a test record and play. The machine could be in excellent condition or there could be problems which may not be worth repairing. But the only way to find out is give it a go. The cost of the tape is nothing.


Tim.

Yeah, I'm aware of that. A friend of mine has some 1/2" stock that has never been used and has been stored in good conditions that he is going to sell me for cheap, and I'm in the process of trying to get my hands on an MRL tape to do the alignment. I have a software test tone generator so I should be able to check the response on all tracks when I get my ducks in a row. I'm just trying to identify whether there any show-stoppers before I get going on that.