What was the best tape head?

Not really sure what Tandberg heads were made of, but on my 3014A the heads were made by Canon.

GX heads Im told used to crack (fissures) around the head gaps causing problems with the playback. The glass itself may reduce were, but with these cracks it made the head useless. So the design wasn't as good in longevity as they thought.
 
Some of the better Sony R2R with the F&F heads sounded superb, and were easily in the same class sonicaly as my B77, and TD20A.

Would you put the Sony TC-788-4 into that category? I also have a TC-558 (the six header), which I'm assuming would not fall into the "better" category. Come to think of it, there are some inop TC-650 and -651's around here some where too.... Those I'd also assume are not in the "better" category.

-Erik
 
The 650s and 788-4s are great sounding machines, but these all use Sony's soft permaloy heads which wear-out quite quickly (making them not sound so great when worn). The 558 uses the F&F heads and is a really great sounding machine with heads that last.

Of those you listed, I prefer the 558 and the 788 because these both have a four-position bias and EQ switch, which make these able to better record a wider variety of tapes without recalibration.
 
The 650s and 788-4s are great sounding machines, but these all use Sony's soft permaloy heads which wear-out quite quickly (making them not sound so great when worn). The 558 uses the F&F heads and is a really great sounding machine with heads that last.

Of those you listed, I prefer the 558 and the 788 because these both have a four-position bias and EQ switch, which make these able to better record a wider variety of tapes without recalibration.

Hmmm, good to know. I bought the 788 from its original owner, and it has seen very little use. I need to get that put back together and into service. Sounds like I should frankenstein the two -65x's and get one working there too.

Really glad to hear that about the 558, most of all, since that's up and running. It has a scratching sound behind the right reel, like something rubs on the way by, which I should open it up and address. Other than that, the heads look brand new. I guess that was one of my better $10 investments.
 
I know many JRF heads are made out of Mewmetal which is a softer metal.
MuMetal is just another name for permaloy. As far as I know, most of the Nortronics replacement heads were made out of permaloy. I'm not sure what the other varieties of heads that JFR sells are made of.
 
If we are speaking about longevity....I would say the Akai Glass heads. I have seen many old grungy tape decks in pawn shops, flea markets, etc. that always had new looking heads. I don't know anything about whether they compared well sonically though.
 
If we are speaking about longevity....I would say the Akai Glass heads. I have seen many old grungy tape decks in pawn shops, flea markets, etc. that always had new looking heads. I don't know anything about whether they compared well sonically though.
The problem is that most ferrite heads will look perfect to the naked eye. It takes a microscope to see the wear which actually occurs on the gaps.
 
Akai glass heads are overrated on longevity. And they wear too. And not relappable. Ampex pro heads will wear as long and you can relap em too.
 
Head Q?

Hi I have a Technics rs-631 Q? is if I record with this deck ,then play it back, it has next to no hi's at all..but dam good bass...but take that tape and play it on another deck it sounds great! ? My Q? is can it be my head worn..cause I am using the same head to record...?
 
I'd say the best was ferrite, best sound by far of those I've ever tried (amazing high end, really low distortion) and also I've never found one that wasn't in great shape. But I've only seen 3 decks with them so far in my entire life so it's not exactly a common thing to find...

my Lo-D (rebadged as Realistic) SCT-3100 3 head deck has ferrite heads.
are they also hitachi d900?
 
Akai glass heads are overrated on longevity. And they wear too. And not relappable.

Kent - I know that John French at JRF Magnetic Sciencies relaps GX heads and one of the members over at Tapeheads.net has also relapped this type of head with good results (see the link below).

http://www.tapeheads.net/showthread.php?t=59415&highlight=ferrite

The condition of the heads is obviously an important factor in determining whether performing this process will provide good results.
 
Last edited:
Who made the Marantz cassette decks through 1976? I have a 5020 with the permaloy head and I had a 5220, one step up with a couple added functions that I think ad a ferrite head. I thought the 5020 with the permaloy head sounded better. After restoring the 5220 I gave it to my son. The 5020 I kept is still in use and the head looks like its holding up very well.
 
My GX head own lapping: pretty hard stuff but doable...

So, please do tell. How did you do that yourself, what equipment did you use (and how did you control and maintain depth and contour in doing the relap? (If you have super $$$ equipment, your answer won't be so exciting, but if you did this yourself w nothing but a protractor and an emery board, we will all up to you!!
 
I really wish I could freely disclose what's involved on this and you almost gue$$ed it...
I do this professionally so it would not be any good for the time being.
 
Lo-D is Hitachi. Hitachi made plenty of Realistic's decks, many of them identical, just rebadged. I remember buying spare heads from National Parts when at Tandy for my decks (sct- 31/33/3000/3100/27 etc) There is still a new F&F head sitting in its plastic bag someplace buried deep in my storeroom, along with a pile of idlers, arms and random parts I bought really cheap when they were clearing old 7-10 year old parts back in the day (1987/90).

National Parts used to keep parts for 7 years, then virtually give them away or chuck them. Ah, the good old days. Most of the belts will have turned to black goo by now..
 
Back
Top Bottom