Caring for your 4-Track
edited by Dan Frankowski
Liar's Club
this is taken from Dan's 4-Track FAQ
How should I clean my 4-track machine?
>llinimon@aol.com (L Linimon) writes:
>1) Is it better to clean with a kit (aka swabs and head cleaner,
>etc.) or one of the tapes that head cleaner is placed on? The cleaner
>tape is "played/recorded" on, and the liquid makes slight contact
>with the "dirty" bits.
Use the kit, where you can see what you're doing. The tapes are better
than nothing.
>2) Is the rubber washer (or whatever it is) near the capstan a high
>maintenance item?
It's the pinch roller. Get all the oxide off it and use rubber cleaner
on it.
>3) What is the best way to demag...with a Radio Shack Demag tape or an
>actual heavy-duty degausser?
ak748@detroit.freenet.org (Daniel W. Newport) writes:
Use *only* rubber cleaner on pinch roller. Use a kit to clean with
lintless foam swabs.
Do I need to demagnetize my 4-track heads?
psu02178@odin.cc.pdx.edu (Joshua Meredith) writes:
Demagnetizing on a *cassette* four track is not necessary. Due to the
slim width of the tape and the relatively slow speed of the transport
(even when you're using double speed), magnetism does not really
accumulate. On top of that, every time you put the machine in record,
it demagnetizes the heads so even if you are concerned about it, the
machine does it for you.
With reel to reel tape decks (stereo or multi-tracks), demagnetization is very important, as the accumulation is too much to be eliminated by simply engaging record.
kowalski@scooter.ping.de (Thorsten Kowalski) writes:
I use a degausser myself, did cost me about US$20 but there are some
that cost US$60. I don't know if they are better. Mine's very useful
for any kind of tape machine. I prefer it over a battery-powered tape
unit; those are only good if you can't use a degausser, e.g. in a car
radio.
Degaussing should be performed about every twenty hours of usage.
I use a degausser with my home cassette deck, a Nakamichi. There were
some people who asked me if they should go and buy such a device and I
gave them mine so they could test. They have never done so in about 2
years and after degaussing they have lots of treble which they weren't
missing because the loss of treble comes slowly.
I've never heard of any tape device that degausses itself. If there
are some please give me their names.
jeibisch@revolver.demon.co.uk (James Eibisch) writes:
So why does the manual for my Tascam 05HS (cassette), and everyone
I've heard comment on the subject recommend degmagnetising frequently?
Shawn runs the Home Recording Web site -- a site devoted to home recording projects.
