3440 head assessment

[fazeka]

Got the seller to provide some pics of the heads and the tape lifters for a Teac 3440 I am interested in.

I'm no expert but these seem worn more than I'd expect from the claimed recording of 6 or so reels, even with lots of shuttling? Seller said he used the machine on and off for about 10 years from new.

Not sure if the head gap is flat there or if it's the angle and/or the light. I'm suspect the heads are probably quite worn considering the lifter wear - I wasn't expecting the lifters to look so worn.

What do y'all think?

TIA!

 

[sweetbeats]

Actually that looks like lower than average mileage to me. If the lifters were cleaned they’d look better. It needs a new pinch roller. And clearly the current owner doesn’t know how to keep it clean…the aforementioned lifters and good golly the capstan shaft. Wow. But the heads look okay to me. Take it with a big grain of salt because the worst way to evaluate heads is to get an opinion from a stranger over pictures. The only way to truly evaluate heads is under magnification and comparing current tip depth to original tip depth, and/or comparing each coil’s current inductance to known inductance range when new.

 

[fazeka]

Agree with you on the capstan. Hopefully, it's apparent lack of cleaning hasn't caused irreparable damage and it's just in need of a thorough cleaning?

 

[sweetbeats]

Lack of proper cleaning/maintenance doesn’t usually lead to “irreparable damage”, it just leads to poor performance. The exception is if somebody improperly maintains mechanical alignment of the tape path causing maladjustment of one or more components and unwanted/incorrect wear patterns on the heads. My opinion is that’s not the case with that machine you are looking at. Again, that’s my opinion. It could be wrong. It needs a thorough and proper cleaning. I think the owner ran some tape that is starting to go sticky and didn’t clean it all up. That’s what it looks like to me.

 

[fazeka]

I agree and understand. Thank you for your feedback, I appreciate it.

 

[sweetbeats]

Here is an example of a worse-off head…see pics below. Notice the fairly wide wear area…higher miles. Worse yet you can see the wrap angle was way off…in other words the wear area is not centered on the head. Bad. It needs relapped. There’s no way to know if it has already been relapped and whether or not, considering the offset wear, it can even be relapped again. No gaps are opening up yet. I’d have to get it under magnification to get a better assessment. BUT…even with all that gloom and doom, it is possible it could be relapped and still have maybe 25% life left, and, as is the case with most home-based studios or enthusiasts that are not using their machines every day all day long, 25% head life can actually last a really, really long time.

 

[sweetbeats]

Closer inspection reveals the zenith was slightly off too…I didn’t see it at first, but when I looked at the wear pattern depth under magnification I can see it. It’s slight. But it’s there and complicates the prognosis for this head. I think were the wear depth the same but the zenith and wrap were proper it could be relapped with some life left…maybe 20-30%. But I think it’s not worth it as the amount of material removal needed to correct the uneven wear pattern would put it too close to end of service or even start to open up a gap. Too bad. But my point is that head above is an example of a head that would make one go “Oooo that doesn’t look great.” And now compare that to the heads on that machine you’re looking at. And mentally align your eyes to the fact the head I pictured is a 1” head. The tracks are twice the width as the Teac tracks, and so visually the width of the wear pattern is, relatively speaking, double…like the wear pattern on the head I pictured above is every bit of a 1/4” wide. The other thing to consider is it is easier to find NOS replacement heads for 1/4” 4-track whether they be Nortronics or SAKI or whatever (compared to, say, the 1” 8-track example above). What’s of greater concern to me is the lack of people in the world that have the skill and equipment to properly lap heads, align headblock assemblies, mount and adjust heads, etc., and the problem isn’t going to get better as time goes on. But, doom and gloom aside, my opinion (again not “assessment” because that requires special equipment and knowledge and to be in-person with the heads, and I’m none of those things) is the heads on that machine look alright.