[ARSCLIST] Nakamichi tape deck problem

[Al Quaglieri <alcue1@xxxxxxxxx>]

Randy, I used to have one of those decks with the exact same problem. What's
happening is your tape's azimuth starts slipping soon after it starts
moving, and gets worse with time. When you stop, everything goes back to
zero, so to speak, and it starts all over again when you hit "play."
Although it's been many years and I no longer have the manual or the deck, I
recall tracing the problem back to a tiny (less than .5"), screw-mounted,
u-shaped tension spring that mounts somewhere near the r/p head and is
designed to keep the tape hitting the head at the right pressure and angle.
Although I ordered the part from Nakamichi, I never got around to installing
it, as it required the near-total dissembling of the transport mechanism.

There's a place in the UK that still stocks Nakamichi cassette deck parts
and can probably identify this part if you describe it per above. Email them
with your query at spares@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Hope this helps,

Al Q.
NY

> Hey folks...I've got an old Nakamichi 480 2 head tape deck that has
been >giving
me some grief of late.  I've noticed that on some tapes I play the
> sound will start out nice and clear and slowly get quieter and muddier
> over the course of several minutes or more.  After getting several songs
> into something I'll realize how awful it sounds and stop it, but as soon
> as I hit play again it comes back in clear as a bell again, and then sort
> of repeats.