Magnetism... we all are concerned about it and the damage that magnetized
heads can do to our tapes. How many of you that have the old steel capstans
check them for magnetism? You should. I check every one that comes through my
shop. Some have very little some have a fair amount. Tonight I checked one that
really surprised me. Using a magnetometer it on it revealed that it was
substantially magnetized... more than ten time worse than the tape heads, and
they were in severe need of demagnetization. Unfortunately, using a cheap
demagnetizer isn't going to solve the problem, but it is one that all of you
must consider. You can demag your heads every day, but a magnetized capstan can
seriously degrade your tapes.
Magnetometers are not very expensive. They are handy to have and can tell
you how well you demag your tape heads, and can show you where else magnetic
fields are in the tape path. I recommend that every serious Mellotron owner
should get one. Also, if you don't have a demagnetizer capable of draining the
magnetism from your capstan, there are commercial facilities that can do it for
you.
Frank