Demagnetizing anxiety.....

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MULEFAN

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Has anyone ever really ruined record heads from a demagnetizing accident? I've never had any problems over the years, but the manual for my 488 makes it sound pretty treacherous. There is a rubber tip on the head of my new demag unit, so it should be pretty safe, right. I'd like to hear if anyone has had trouble when demagnetizing. Thanks, Steve Z.
 
I remember talking to a tech from a pro studio once, and he told me a story about demagging an Otari 24 track machine back in the late 70's, early 80's. He was bringing the demag towards the head, and heard this strange clicking sound coming from the recorder. So he backed off and tried it again. Same odd sound. Turns out he had the machine still turned ON, and the sound was from all twenty-four VU meters pegging out at the same time! Luckily he didn't damage the deck.

As long as you leave the rubber tip on and come in slow as advised, you shouldn't have any problem. Touch the head with the bare metal tip and you're pretty much buying a new head.
 
yeah, i recently bought a 488mkII and it came with the Teac demag...however, it has no rubber tip on the end. it says you can use a piece of plastic tape instead...i'm assuming electrical tape would be good.

i'm a little confused by what the manual says: "slowly move into the tape path. move the degausser slowly back and forth, touching lightly all metal parts in the tape path."

does this mean the heads too??? could someone please clarify this for me...i don't want to take any chances with my 488. i really appreciate it.
 
Don't worry, I freaked out too. The instructions I've followed without ruining anything:

Have machine off.
Plug the demagnetizer in about 6 feet away.
Slowly approach the tape machine.
Wave the demagnetizer in the tape path, heads included, don't worry about getting ultra close.
Back away slowly from the machine.
Unplug the demagnetizer.

Hope that helps.
scott
 
Hehehe, this brings back memories of the first time I demaged my Tascam 38! I was so afraid I was gonna fuck it up, but in the end it was fine. Now I wouldn't even break a sweat!
 
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