Dopers,
This is kind of a long shot, but I feel there are enough people here who know about different kinds of technology to make it worth a shot.
I’ve just picked up a secondhand 4-track cassette tape recorder on ebay. In the manual, and indeed everywhere else I’ve looked online, they recomend demagnetising the tape heads regularly to get the best sound. The photo they show is of a wand-type demagnetiser, which you plug in to the mains. Is there any reason I should use one of these rather than a (much cheaper) cassette type demagnetiser?
Any advice appreciated.
pd
I purchased a wand demagnetiser after getting my first mono lunky cassette recoeder. It has served me well throughout the decades. A cleaning cassette will not take care of the degausing. It might claim to be a demagnetiser, but only a cassette cartridge that has a power source will do a good jobe at demagnetising. A plug in cartridge will only work on that cartridge type. A wand can be used for VCR, cassette, 8 track, reel to reel, and any other thing with a magnetic reader head. Some cotton swabs and isopropyl alcohol cean heads nicely, and you can purchase a cleaner for the belts that helps relieve slipage.
The wand types tend to be stronger and last longer than the cassete-type, and you can also use them on the capstan(s). Whether that actually makes them better? I don’t have that answer.
Definitely get a wand-type demagnetizer. The cassette-shaped ones are useless. If you have never used one before, there is a certain way you have to demag the heads. Turn the deck off. Open the tape drawer. Plug in the demagnetizer, and aim it in at the head and go into the tape compartment in a straight line. Rub it back and forth on the head, then move it over to the erase head and repeat, then touch any of the metal posts inside, and the capstan. Then pull it out in a straight line, and have it far away from the deck when you pull the plug, otherwise it will create a big magnetic field which may magnetize the heads again! If you do this every few months (depending on usage), you’ll never have a problem with the heads.
You must not rub the wand against the head. You go as close as ypu can, but do not rub it on the head.
I am assuming that the wand has a plastic guard on the end. It hadn’t occurred to me that you could buy one without it.
When I played with tape equipment on a regular basis back in school (way, WAY back), we had a demagnetizer that didn’t have a guard.
We still used it, we just put a piece of splicing tape over the end of the prongs, and the tape acted as a scratch guard. Seemed to work fine, and I never scratched a head or anything else.
Thanks for all your advice 'dopers. I’ll be following your instructions carefully.
pd