remove erase head?

[themildbunch]

hi -

I have an A80, Sony APR 5003 and a couple of Tascam BR20's.
I don't record and wonder what the issues are around removing heads?

I'd guess tape tension would need to be adjusted say if the erase head was removed but what else could happen or would need to be done to keep the tape path stable?

I've seen mention of ferrite dummy heads on this site but wouldn't no head be a better solution if possible?


thanks

adrian

[docb]

The issue is whether removing the head will affect the tape wrap on an adjacent head. If there is a guide (a surface guide, not just an edge guide) between the two heads then it's probably not a problem to remove the head with out installing a dummy. If there is not guide between the two heads the wrap could change on the remaining head and affect the performance.

[ironbut]

Another problem with just removing a head is the length of unsupported tape within the tape path should be kept as short as possible. This is particularly important when the head you're thinking about removing is adjacent to the playback head (with nothing in between).
I've often wondered about replacing record and erase heads with scrap flutter filters rather than dummy heads.

JFR can do any of the mentioned headblock work and if you need to have your heads checked out anyway, it might not be a bad idea.