cleaning my 424

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hardcore guy

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i know i probably went against a lot of maintenence rules of my 424 mkIII but i've had it for about a year and i haven't done any cleaning on it. i've probably only used it for about 6 hours. i bought a thing made by MAXELL, it looks like a tape, it says its a head cleaner and demagnitizer (dry type). i was wondering if it is safe and/or effective to use on my four track. please let me know, any response would be appreciated, thanks- Jordan
 
I wouldn't use it! I think those tapes may have an abrasive element. You need to get liquid head cleaner, rubber cleaner, and a separate demagnetizer. American Musical Supply carries the stuff (tascam brand). Check the manual on how to clean and demagnetize the 424.
 
Yup, and some q-tips!

Casette style cleaners are only useful when you can't reach the head with a q-tip. This is the case for my tape deck, which uses a shuttle mecanism, like a CD, for inserting the casette. But then you should also use the type that wipes the head clean with alcohol.
 
Yeah... the only time I use those cassette-style cleaners is in the deck in my vehicle, where I can't get to the heads. If you get the tascam cleaning kit (that is what I use), I'd recommend squirting the head cleaner onto a q-tip rather than squirting that stuf into the cassette well. I use the rubber cleaner first, then the head cleaner in case I get rubber cleaner on any of the metal parts.
 
Ok, I'm in the same situation as hardcore, except I just got my 424, but anyways, is there no way around the $50 head demagnitizer made by tascam? Any cheaper alternatives at least? I am presuming not, but it's worth asking because I am limited on money. Thanks in advance!!

Brandon-
 
The Tacam demag is the only one I could find, but I waited until I found it on sale (I think this rarely happens). I got it from http://www.zzounds.com/a--2676837 for about $35. It might make sense to check out Radio Shack, though. Seems like the kind of thing they might carry, and it might be cheaper...
 
$35's pretty good!! Hmm...I may try to wait till it's on sale, but, like you said, that's probably a rare thing. Oh well. Thanks for the suggestion raj!! I'll go see what radio shack has to offer. C-ya!
 
Go to Radio Shack - I just picked up a demagnitizer for under $20 and it works great - we've all given Tascam enough money as it is.
 
Dang! I wish I had thought of Radio Shack before I bought my Tascam demag... Do remember to be REALLY careful with any demag, though, as it is said you can permanently damage your heads if you don't use them properly. I make sure my multitrack is turned off, going so far as to unplug it. Then I stand as far away from the tape unit as I can (about 6 feet), with the demag pointing away from the unit as I plug it in (it doesn't have an on/off switch). Then I slowly turn around, and slowly approach the tape unit. Even though mine has a plastic tip I don't actually touch it to any of the metal parts, just kind of slowly go in close and maybe wave it around a little. I kind of "draw" the magnetism out of each head and the drive capstan by slowly pulling the demag away from each one as I do them. Then I slowly turn the demag away from the unit and walk away before i unlug it. Maybe I'm a little paranoid, but I haven't fried the unit yet.
 
Slapback, do you have ANYTHING I could use in reference to the demag you got, like a model number, brand name or anything like that that I could use to get it or at least look into it?

Brandon
 
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