Otari leaving marks on tape

[King Arthur]

Greetings fellow tape tudors

I've got a lovely Otari MX5050 MKIII. I've just had it serviced and it appears to be running and sounding wonderful.

I have noticed however the tape looks a little odd. There are darker lines, some narrow and some wide on the tape (please ignore my greasy mitts)



Doesn't appear to be any residue left on the heads after using it.

Is this anything to be concerned about...any advice welcome.

Thanks

[docb]

Looks like the burnished stripes are from running against a fixed part of the tape path. You might thread up a sacrificial tape and look at the deck from the side as the tape runs through to see if it looks skewed anywhere as it passes over the guides and heads. Most likely suspects on a 5050 are a bent tension arm or worn tape lifter.