JoeisREELcool
New member
This is my first post so I am sorry if this is the wrong spot or if I am doing anything out of order. Please Correct me if need be.
I just got an otari mx 5050 MkIII-2 that spent most of its life in a radio broadcast studio and the rest dormant in the house of an employee. All the guides and parts move very fluidly and the machine seems to still be good for the most part mechanically besides these few things.
1. There is a completely black head marked ER above it (I presume that means it's the erase head) located all the way to the left. I'm thinking it's probably not stock but I don't really know much about this stuff yet. Anyways, the head has a dull mark on it that doesn't seem to be coming off. I'm thinking it may be really old tape residue but I don't know for sure.
So is there a more thorough way to clean than q-tips and alcohol or is this normal (or some random bad sign)?
2. The guides are super worn and I need to get at the stationary ones in/ by the heads but i'm not sure if they unscrew or if they are press fit. They look like 3 pieces. Like two larger diameter sandwiching a smaller diameter guide in the middle. Do they screw out, heat them and pull, just pull without heat, or what?
The Picture makes the black head look a bit worse than it is but the spot is on the upper left section contact pieces (If you know what I mean).
I just got an otari mx 5050 MkIII-2 that spent most of its life in a radio broadcast studio and the rest dormant in the house of an employee. All the guides and parts move very fluidly and the machine seems to still be good for the most part mechanically besides these few things.
1. There is a completely black head marked ER above it (I presume that means it's the erase head) located all the way to the left. I'm thinking it's probably not stock but I don't really know much about this stuff yet. Anyways, the head has a dull mark on it that doesn't seem to be coming off. I'm thinking it may be really old tape residue but I don't know for sure.
So is there a more thorough way to clean than q-tips and alcohol or is this normal (or some random bad sign)?
2. The guides are super worn and I need to get at the stationary ones in/ by the heads but i'm not sure if they unscrew or if they are press fit. They look like 3 pieces. Like two larger diameter sandwiching a smaller diameter guide in the middle. Do they screw out, heat them and pull, just pull without heat, or what?
The Picture makes the black head look a bit worse than it is but the spot is on the upper left section contact pieces (If you know what I mean).