Opinion on heads please

[gerard]

Hi all, can you guys/gals check these heads out and tell me what you think? They are on a TASCAM MS 16, 1" tape machine. set for 15 IPS. The rubber rollers are original and the tape guides and lifters have not be rotated. The area looks a little dirty but the heads seem good(?), no relap on them. Some reflections throw me off but the machine is said to have about 250 hours on it, home studio use only since new. I'll post a few more pick next post. Thanks in advance.

Jerry

 

[The Ghost of FM]

There's definitely visible wear on the heads and guides. Impossible to say what head life is actually left to them though or if there's enough left for a re-lap. The wear does at least look even top to bottom, so the alignment is decent.

Again, what does the seller say about how heavily the machine has been used? Is he the original owner? How many albums have been tracked on them? All good questions to ask them to get a better sense of usage.

Edit;

I see he claims its only 250 hours. Don't know if I'd believe that but it might be?

Can you see this machine in person before you buy it or is this an ebay deal?


Cheers!

 

[gerard]

Hi, It's a 4 hour drive one way and it's not an Ebay item, guess it's worth the trip. Comes with 8 reels of tape ( 5 sealed), 2 MRL tapes ( 1 sealed), metal hub adaptors, 2 takeup reels, and a manual( not a copy). He's the 3rd owner. he said he put about 10 hours on it just to track his drums, the guy he bought it from did 2 CD's with it, and the first owner is a question. HMMMMM...............Thanks for the input!

Jerry

 

[fgonza2]

Agree, wear seems to be even, the pics are too blurry, you can ask the seller to use a blank sheet of paper on the side to control the reflection. The metal hubs are a premium on this machine, not easy to find, the two MRLs one sealed and the blank tape makes it a good deal as each roll is ~$150 and the MRLs are at least 300 each. So if all that tape is post 2002 you may be having a good deal, as long as you are not paying more than 1.5k for it... In my opinion. Worth the drive if you are serious about it, you'll need to pick it up anyway.

 

[gerard]

The sealed tapes are post 2002. He wants $2,200 for the whole thing and will not bargin. I'll tell him about the paper trick, thanks!