How useable are these tape heads? pics attached

diskobox

New member
Hi Guys,

I'm dusting off my TSR-8 but i wanted your opinion on how useable the tape heads are:

Thanks very much for looking!

:):):):eek:
 

Attachments

  • photo (5).JPG
    photo (5).JPG
    471 KB · Views: 84
  • photo (4).JPG
    photo (4).JPG
    440.8 KB · Views: 69
  • photo (3).JPG
    photo (3).JPG
    426.8 KB · Views: 72
Hard to say with any certainty from a couple of pics.

The wear appears even, which is a good thing for sure and I couldn't detect any open gap so re-lapping the head is always possible.

Cheers! :)
 
They look good to me...ever had them relapped before? If not I'd wager they have a lot of miles left...and yes the wear appears even. The proof will be in the calibration if you are planning on doing that.
 
They look good to me...ever had them relapped before? If not I'd wager they have a lot of miles left...and yes the wear appears even. The proof will be in the calibration if you are planning on doing that.


HI,

I've never had them relapped - i would not know how to calibrate,

please can you explain what you mean when you say the proof will be in the calibration?

do you think they need to be relapped now?

Thanks!:):)
 
I don't think they need relapped but you have to take that with a grain of salt because there is NO way to make any sort of accurate assessment from a couple pics posted on the internet. And that's why I said the proof is in the calibration.

Bottom line, if you can get all channels to line up in record and play and the frequency response is in spec, and the tape passes through the headblock clean then you're good to go.

You've owned it since new?

And if so how many hours do you think you've put on the heads just ballpark? Or how many projects have you done on it?
 
...and the tape passes through the headblock clean then you're good to go.
That would be the key factor in my mind. If you're working with good, (non-shedding), tape and the heads and guides are not becoming dirty abnormally quickly, then I wouldn't worry about immediately getting the head re-lapped.

That said, the lifters are equally or more worn down then the head is and they could stand being rotated to a clean arc to keep from acting as scraper blades against the tape surface.

Cheers! :)
 
Back
Top