OK, obviously he quickly found out what the tape lifters are 'cause he revised the listing, cleaned the 'lifters' and re-did the photos:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Tascam-BR-20-Re...ryZ15000QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
A couple of quick points:
(1) significant flat spot on the stationary tape guides
(2) significant flat spot on the tape lifters
(3) one of the rec / play heads is showing a flat spot but what's worse is that it is uneven ware [I'd say about a couple of mm of metal gone].
While it's hard to tell how much metal is still left in those heads, one thing is clear that 'low hours' is a misrepresentation. I'd say a more reasonable use machine but certainly not 'low hours'.
While this recorder looks to have life left, as is, just from a stand point of visible wear, I'd not pay anywhere near this amount and I'd look into having the unit re-calibrated, to compensate for the head ware, at the least. In the future you may want to turn the stationary guides around, including the tape lifters and also relap or replace the heads. [Realigning the heads may not be a good idea when the heads show uneven ware].
Just to underline, that this machine will still sound good and perform well, as is, just from looking over the ware, but it will be off spec and would need some TLC to bring it back. Is this being a bit 'anal' about it? Maybe but 'low hours' is a misrepresentation and the seller's asking price is ridiculous. Plus the seller doesn't seem to know his machine very well, from what he replied with.
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