424 playback head

[magnafi]

I've got a late 80's 424...it seems that I'm getting no playback of channel three. It's definately recording onto the tape because when flipped over I can hear what i recorded via track two...only backwards. I've tried cleaned the heads with iso alcohol, and still no difference. If I raise input levels way up when recording, I can sometimes get a barely audible signal on playback. Any help with this would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Slapback]

What about track 4 - can you record on it? It may be that your record head is misalligned - I have the same problem on my 488 - I can record on tracks 1-7, but not on eight. Track seven bleeds onto 8 because the record head is not lined up properly with the tape. See if track 4 records as it should - that may be your problem.