We're well into 2020 and i still listen to audio tapes on a daily basis, not sure how many out there that still actively so it but there is still folks out there who keep them going!

I'd like to mention how professional and well spoken you are in this video. I typically go through several videos when searching for help for a situation due to many being hard to understand or just plain frustrated to follow. This is much appreciated.

I realize it’s been 10 years since you posted this video, and not sure if you’re checking comments still, but just in case...thank you very much!!! I just purchased my first tape deck (an early 90s Sony TC-WR700), and there was a lot of noise on playback. Cleaned as best I could with the 91% alcohol, and used a Marphar Head Demagnetizer I bought on Amazon for $20. Playback sounds great now!! Only the slightest bit of normal tape hiss is detectable. Very helpful video. Thank you again. Cheers!

Thank you very much for this guide. I've used Walkmans for a long time but just bought a Technics last week, very thorough and well explained - very surprised you're still helping people out on this video after 10 years!

Good thing I see this now. I haven’t demagnetized my Cassette Deck in 20 years.

Thank you. To me this is still very educational. I have been an audio/hi fi/video hobbyist since 1959. I am actually more interested in demagnetizing the tape heads. I have two rather old cassette decks that I am using to burn my cassette tapes onto CD's so this helps.

Very valuable info. You can still buy brand new tape recorders and tape from Bush in the UK at Argos and Sainsburys in 2021 so this info is still useful. I recently got a 2nd hand Sony TCM-939 portable and have been following these instructions (it's been so long I forgot how to do it) but I never demagnetized the heads in the 80s and 90s.

This is great info presented in an excellent, easy to understand, yet not overbearing manner. One thing I would add is to perform any demagnetizing far away from any prerecorded tapes. Thanks for this!

You've provided a lot of good information here. I recently picked up a Technics M63 three head cassette deck and found the capstan was covered with a rather heavy coating of oxide. It looked almost like it had rusted, it was so bad. I used alcohol and a Q tip and was going nowhere fast when I decided to use my fingernail to scrape the brown oxide off. That worked very well and the cleaning process went much quicker. I then went over the capstan with the alcohol and Q tip to get any small particles I missed. I have an old TDK demagnetiser cassette I used on the head, but I really should demagnetise the capstan, like your video showed. This deck now sounds very nice and works very well. Regards, Tom

You can achieve different sound color or texture with a tape recorder. Especially if you let it distort a bit, it gives a different sound then digital distortion. You can use it for instance to record a song on a computer then run the final recording through a tape machine so you get that tape coloring that most times is better then the digital emulations and then record that back into the computer again.

Nice to see someone who knows their stuff for a change. I repair consumer electronics for a living and its funny but also sad the bad info out there.

Yes. As long as the tip of the probe is covered with rubber there's no chance of damaging the heads. Some older demagnetizers have metal probes that would scratch the heads if they came in contact while they were energized. JC

The original cassette player in my older volvo just started playback with a much muffled sound. Your explanation was very helpful to me, and I thank you for a superb tutorial. It is authors such as yourself that make you tube a valuable learning tool.

R.I.P. RadioShack

Outstanding video, my brother! You're clear, concise and precise!

i have been into finding and collecting,and refurbishing cassettes with 80's style "boomboxes" and this channel kick ass in helping me to better understand my newly found hobby. Thanks for the info🖒

This is a good intro to tape transport care - besides the comment about issues with using head cleaner on rubber parts mentioned elsewhere, the other thing I'd add is professional cleaning swabs are NOT a waste of money. They are longer for better reach, have lower lint/are wrapped more tightly than q-tips and you need to keep them in the bag they come in to keep them clean until you use them and avoid touching the tip you are going to use to clean the transport. Getting dirt and oil from your skin on something you are going to use to clean delicate equipment is not a good idea and using cleaning solutions designed for the job is a good idea.

@localdummiesguy I'm glad the video helped. Please let me know how the machine does after a good cleaning. :) JC

@olderngod I'm glad you found the video useful. If you are not having any problem with your machines and you're not allowing them to be close to anything putting out a strong magnetic field then you most likely don't have to worry much about degaussing the heads. I mainly do it when I get a used machine and I don't know where it's been. After that, I do it maybe once in five years, if that. :) JC

Back in the day, I would carry a head cleaning cassette w a small bottle of alcohol with my cassettes. I wouldn't put one of my cassettes in someone's car deck without cleaning it first. I used Q-tips on home decks. I still have cassettes of old progressive rock radio shows from the 60's and from my all time fav Jazz radio station, KRE in Berkeley, which I play every year at X-Mas to keep them in good shape. I have transferred many to digital. Good radio stations come and go; WSHE, WRVG, KFAT, ETC. Some once great stations were neutered by AOR like KSAN & WEBN for instance.

I've never heard of this procedure before. Traditionally, you bring the demagnetizer tip in slowly with it turned on. You sweep the head(s) or metal parts back and forth with the tip for five seconds without touching anything. For each piece you do, you back away from that piece to like a meter away before you shut off the unit. Rinse & repeat for each piece you demag.

Just got an ad for Nickelodeon... I don't really think younger kids will be watching this 😂

Nice tutorial on cleaning cassette decks. My hat is off to you sir. Back in the day we never thought of cleaning them wirhout the cassette tape for cleaning heads. Thank you.

A much easier way to de-mag the heads is with a TDK HD-01 cassette head demagnetizer. You have to change the battery every few years but it is simple. Just pop in the cassette shaped demagnetizer, press play and a little light will go on when done. I've had my HD-01 for over 35 years and it works.

thank you so much my dad gave me this old tape recorder and i have been using it for about a year and i could never get good sound out of it but after this video i gave the heads a good clean and now it works wonderfully

@hohum83 That myth about the alcohol damaging the pinch roller just doesn't have a leg to stand on. Alcohol won't damage rubber unless you leave it to soak for a long time. You should clean until the swap comes back clean. It really takes a lot of juice to properly demag,. I don't know if the cassette kind generates enough power to get the job done... Anything is better than nothing, though. :) JC

2022 here. Listening to my tapes on my old Sony yellow Walkman. Bahaha. Love old school and went power goes out I get my radio going. It all works. Thanks for the vid. I’m one the few who never cleaned and now it’s eating my tapes 😢

My cousin put a fridge magnet inside my grandmother's tape deck when we were kids. Me and him lived in town but it took a month and a half for my uncle to be there for Christmas and figure out why her tapes were getting so weak and staticky

@Mico284 The tape has either gotten overheated and is damaged or the transformer in the amp partially erased it with its magnetic field. There's not much that you can do to fix it but you should try playing it back in as many decks as you can get your hands on and which ever one gives the best image should be used to get a copy of the tape. :) JC

Your video was very informative and very thorough. Well instructed and very easy to follow along. You sir... are a man who knows how to teach and for that. I THANK YOU. Great GREAT instructive video.

Nearly 15 years alter and this is still a great video. Would you consider doing a follow up/sequel and actually show us how to use a demagnetizer in video form and not just stills?

Thanks for the incredibly thorough video....

I got the Audio brand head demagnetizer 400 and it still works after I plugged in. I demagnetized these heads on both reel-to-reel tape recorders including my Akai 1721W and my Concord 220T and it does the job done since I moved slowly to demagnetize the recording and erase heads without getting it touched, so that it won’t damage any of the heads. I have to leave the machine off or unplug while I’m demagnetizing the heads.

in 2017 radio shack no longer exists. sad.

One caution about demagnetizing erase heads. If your machine has an electrically energized erase head, then yes, demagnetize it like you would a play or record head, guide, capstan, etc. HOWEVER... Some consumer machines, especially portables, use a permanent magnet erase head. The mechanism moves it into contact with the tape only in Record mode, and retracts it away from the head otherwise. DO NOT demagnetize this type of erase head. Otherwise, you will no longer be able to erase a tape prior to recording on it. The ways to tell are to look for wires connected to the erase head, and observe the movement of the erase head when transitioning from Stop to Play or Record.

Just a few additions: 1. When demagnetizingdegaussing make sure that you are nowhere near speakers, audio equipment, credit cards or anything else that can be affected by the magnetic field of a demagnetizer (take your wallet out of your pocket, and leave it in another room!) 2. One should run the demagnetizer over the transport mechanism in one direction (the direction of travel of the tape)..... 3. Tape cleaning fluid can dry out the rubber roller - specific cleaners are available.

I never cleaned my 4 track before and oh my god there was so much gunk on the pinch roller and heads. Thank you for this video.

@MrChroissant Sounds like a mechanical issue. You'll have to pull the player out and open it up to see what's going on. The cleaning process s the same for car players. It's a bit more of a pain, though, since you have to drag the whole thing out of the dash to get to it. You can use a wet cleaning tape to maintain it but you gotta yank it and really clean it once in a while. :) JC

@neantradical Since only one track is giving you trouble, I would say the heads are very dirty or there is a misalignment between the erase head and the record/play head. Demagnetizing is a good thing to do but I don't think it will solve the problem. Heavily magnetized heads have a tendency to add noise to tape and can actually partially erase a tape after several plays... They ordinarily do not prevent a machine from erasing tape completely. Clean the heads and see if that helps. :) JC

Nice, never really understood how to de-mag the heads properly, good video :-)

I like this one... I got it from MCM Electronics. Radio Shack used to make some nice one's too. I see them on eBay every now and then but the new ones are relatively cheap and one like this should last you a lifetime. :) JC

Joe, you are the man ! All hail JC ! Hereinafter to be called Sir JC.

Thanks! The Sony would be a good choice as long as the noise level is low enough. Sometimes you'll get hum or buzz in the signal from portable machines. If you have access to more than one cassette machine, I'd plug them all in and see which one sounds best. A mono player would be good if your family tapes were recorded in mono... There are a few mono portables on the market now that you can get for cheap. You may want to consider getting one of those. :) JC

@JDTV1995 Cleaning never hurts. Your recording issue is most likely a mechanical or electronics problem, though. :) JC

Distilled water would not dissolve the binder that comes off of the tape. You must use a solvent to get that to move. :) JC

Thanks for this video , now I know exactly how to use my newly acquired wand demagnetiser.

*winding the tape around them. I was worried it might be a bad belt which is something I had no idea how to fix, but thanks to you I'm pretty sure I just need to clean it... My radio hack ca

@MacPhantom You can get a wet system cleaning cassette to do regular cleanings. That way, you'll only have to open up the deck every once in a while to clean it. That's how I maintain the tape deck in the car. :) JC

thanks, very professional, and you cleared up questions I have had for 30 years.ty

Very nice demo, very useful information. I need to get a head demagnetizer I gave mine away many years ago.

@airconguy1 You can find kits with an assortment of belts on the web. Replacing the belt is probably your best option. :) JC

Thank you for this video. I would like to note that isopropyl alcohol has a limited shelf life and if a really old, opened container of it is used, it might be something more like acetone than alcohol.

August 2021 and I use and love audio cassette tapes, I record all my "old school of heavy metal bands " (end of the 60s to middle of the 70s) and N.W.O.B.H.M. bands (1979 to 1985) onto cassettes and they sound great and loud (too bad for my neighbours).

Thank you very much for this video! I’ll have to clean my tape deck (a Technics from a small stereo system "SC-HD 350“), and now I know how to do it. I hope it’ll work, because the tape deck sounds VERY muffled (there’s no more treble in the sound). The deck, however, is closed up and it has like a slot-loading interface, so I’ll have to open it up…

@btown2011 Acetone was recommended for some early recorders that had all metal parts in the tape path bu8t it will eat a modern machines plastic parts. You really don't need to demag for each recording. Once a year is plenty. :) JC

2009 Radio Shack still had a lot of neat stuff, nowdays my Radio Shack is getting rid of a lot of things it's not the same store anymore since Sprint took them over.

@1Kchess Turning off the demagnetizer while it's close to the heads or pulling it away very quickly will leave a magnetic charge that you might not be able to get rid of. This defeats the purpose of demagnetizing completely. :) JC

Thanks for the demagnetizer tips! I was always a bit concerned about how to do it properly... Do you have any brand/model suggestions?

Very good tutorial in a field of very bad information. Thank you so much.

@Vinylrecordsneverdie No! Acetone is way to corrosive for tape heads! It's fine for pulleys and other parts but heads are delicate and acetone will deform and permanently etch the relatively soft plastic parts in most erase heads. Nail polish remover is also loaded with perfumes and other additives... Pure or 91 % Isopropyl is best. It's your machine but I strongly advise not using acetone or any other strong solvent on the heads... :) JC

Im sadly reminded that Radio shack is gonnne Great video thank you!

Sounds like a good plan. I don't know how effective those Rad Shack demag tapes are but it's better than nothing. :) JC

@neantradical Aliening erase heads is tricky... I'd just start looking for a new machine because if it constantly slipping out of whack that's an indication of a mechanical weakness in the system and it will just keep doing it. :) JC

Thanks for the video. I bought a boom box on eBay identical to one I had as a kid out of pure nostalgia. The decks work, but the pinch rollers were sticky and were win

vinyl is a trend right now but im sure tape will have a strong comeback in the near future

You pretty much have to work the mechanics by hand until it will let you get the tape out. The tape gets pretty well eaten up in the process so I doubt you'll be able to use that tape again. :) JC

Thanks! It fixed my Yamaha K-60 cassette deck that was eating tapes. The rollers were pretty ugly but they cleaned up well.

You don't want to use alcohol on rubber capstan rollers, since it will dry out the rubber. Look for special capstan roller cleaner. Also, if you can still find one, get a DC (battery)-powered demagnetizing cassette for cassette players. It works better than an A/C-powered demag. unit.

Your Teac machine used AC erase and AC bias but the deck you used for your demonstration uses DC erase and DC bias, making demagnetising pointless. During record the DC erase head magnetically saturates the tape thus erasing it, the DC bias (with audio signal superimposed) applied to the record head takes the tape out of magnetic saturation while adding the audio signal, that's why the polarity of the connections to the record head (using DC bias) was important, if the polarity was reversed you would get poor or no audio playback. Magnetised heads are usually microphonic if tapped with something non magnetic or when cleaning with a Q-tip.

Quite right, but I just thought I'd mention it anyway: wouldn't want someone blaming your tutorial for recking their cassette player!

Thank you for this demonstration. I am elderly and have a hearing problem, and I appreciate your perfect diction. So few people know how to speak these days. I have several tape decks and have always maintained them with the denatured alcohol cleaning and the cleaning cassette. They sound fine. If i'm having no problems, is there any need to demagnetize? I have a bit of a tremor in my right hand and would be scaared of doing more harm than good with a demagnetizer!

I usually use the Scotch brand head cleaner, or rubing alcohol with a q-tip.I have a Radio Shack cleaner/demagnetizer than I run through the machine. Then I do the thorough cleaning.

So pleased I don't have to take the machine apart like my VHS players!

Good vid. Usefull info. I have an echoplex EP3 I need to do this to. I found the exact demagnetizer you have for $9 on Amazon.

Thanks for the info. That's why they pay the pros the big bucks

I have two reel-to-reel tape recorders including my Akai 1721W and my Concord 220T and it plays great, and the heads are getting low and very hissy. But I don’t have my head demagnetizer yet, but I will someday.

Hey thanks a lot! My music doesn't sound like it's being played under water anymore.

great video, thanks for the info. Great voice/narration too.

@snarzdar I'm glad it helped. :) JC

Nice demonstration how to clean a cassette tape head and erase mechanism. Thanks very much.

Thank you! I got mine from MCM Electronics for under ten bucks. :) JC

May 2022 and still watching

@BadEditPro. I went back and demagnitized for a longer period of time. Seemed to do the trick. Now my recording sounds good. Thanks! :)

I have a loud buzzing noise on my old JVC boombox. Tried the cotton swab and alcohol. Looks like I will have to try with the demagnitizer now, as the problem is still there.

allright i'll look for a new one, thanks a lot JC! Ben

True! I have a Sony like that.... Thanks for the reminder. :) JC

Might be worth mentioning that cheap decks which use a magnet as an erase-head will be permanently damaged by a demagnetiser, for obvious reasons.

great info JC. At work we repair data recording tape drives. Most of them currently use a ceramic hear with iron or ferite cores. Theses are seriously tiny. Wuold this help with high error rates? Also, could a tape deegousser be used to demagnatise the read write heads?

I did not realise this was a 12 year old video

Allied Electronics is still around, a BIG outfit that has all kinds of great stuff, better than Fry's. Also, try 'Dick Smith' electronics, they are out of Australia but u can get many kits, and tools to fix about anything. I have a few of his kits and they are great.

Who on EARTH uses computers these days? They persuade people to go to websites, look up things they hate, and make offensive comments about them.

Hi joe, thank you for your video. I cleaned my YAMAHA MT4X Multitrack Cassette Recorder with hopes that it would fix the "high pitch buzz" (not feedback) sound that exists when I playback any and all cassette tape. A high frequency sits slightly louder than the music being played back. Unfortunately, cleaning my heads didn't fix my issue. I recently bought this 4track mixer from eBay... Please tell me I didn't get duped! Ha Much thanks, JW3

I know that this video is 10 years old now but still... Like you, I'm a tape head too. Yet, I'm more in the studio multitrack recorders. However, I want to do some experiments with cassettes. Can I use my HAN-D-MAG demagnetizer for demagnetizing the heads of a cassette recorder too or is it possible that the HAN-D-MAG is too strong?

hi joe, hope you read this and could help me. since I'm a 25-year-old dummy, and just starting to learn and collect cassette tapes which is why I don't know much about it. I've bought a portable cassette player and had the brilliant idea of cleaning it, (after changing belts and cleaning it). anyways, I've cleaned the pinch roll and the head with alcohol 70% (thinking it was 99%) and also cleaned a cassette tape with all the q tip and rewind technique, and now that cassette tape (and only that one) plays at a fluctuating speed, iv tried other cassettes and the same player and the speed is constant, but the one wich cleaned wrong doesn't, it even gets stuck sometimes. I hope you could help me fix this problem since is an important tape that my mom gave me from her younger age stuff. and sorry for the bad English, I'm still learning it.

I used to have one of those demagnetizing cassettes, you just insert and press play.

Sir it is realy great and informative thanks a lot l have a double cassette Deck and even now l am using it very comfortably

@ICUC007 Thank you very much! :) JC

alcohol is not the best at dissolving the tape oxide,its ok for light cleaning of surfaces that have minimal residue Top Recording studios around the world cleaned their equipment with a Hexane solution,it does a great job of dissolving the residue without harming heads or rubber components . the only caution is to use sparingly,and have common sense as with any cleaners,like a well ventillated area, and avoid spills or leaving the bottle open.

Thanks a lot. This was very helpful information.

You are actually touching the head with the demagnetizing tool? I have a 3 head Akai, and the same demagnetizer. Seems like the instruction said don't touch the head but rather hover and move the tool in a circular motion. AKAI 870-D. I'm confused.