Quote:
Originally Posted by Ted Kendall
Wrap, height and face tilt are the points you need to watch. Replacement original heads would usually be fine without adjustment of height or tilt, because the manufacturing tolerances were held to tight limits. The head is retained by a single screw, so wrap has to be correctly adjusted - the gap should lie in the centre of the wrap.
To check these points, apply some felt tip pen or engineer's blue to the head face and run a (dispensable) tape. You should see a rectangular contact patch with the gap in the middle. If there is, clean up, adjust azimuth, job done. If the patch spreads at top or bottom, the face tilt is out. Be careful with adjustment so that you don't lose track of where you are and can't return to the original state. If the height is out, the patch may miss parts of the head core, but this is unlikely.
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Hi Ted. That all sounds fairly straightforward but I think I need to explain myself better. I do have a spare block, it too has worn heads but I do not think it worthwhile putting the replacement heads on this one. I may just as well mount them on the one currently in the machine. The spare block though is good to practice on, which I have been doing this afternoon. I do have a couple of questions.
When I remove the worn heads on this spare block they are enclosed in a two part 'shroud'. Within this 'shroud' there are two lengths of black plastic rod (it is solid, not hollow tube). They dropped out when I separated the two parts of the shroud so I'm not sure how they sit within the it. It looks obvious that they sit behind the head either side of a 'fence' arrangement but I'm not certain and there are no instructions in the SM. I'm attaching a photo which makes it clear (I think). Am I right in thinking this?
Second question. My spare heads have numbers on the top 023 on the Record but I have two kinds for Playback 027 & 029. What would be the difference between the two playback heads? Would you know? I haven't yet taken the machine apart so am not aware of what's already in there but, for warned is for armed.
And finally, as you suggest I've checked the brass guide and it doesn't look as though it has been tampered with. It's mount is held on with two machine screws and the brass nut on the top is locked with red lacquer which looks as if it has never been touched.
Very grateful for any advise as I am uncharted waters here.