Scored a tascam 122B mk1 best way to calibrate without test tape?

[Zachary sterman]

i cant find one anywhere. any way i could do this? if anyone has the test tape, id be happy to pay a stupid amount for one that's absolutely going to work.

but for now-
tips?

i know youre out there...



PS- i cant believe the sound quality of these with a cr02 tape...holy cow

 

[wkrbee]

There is no way to cal. playback without a playback alignment tape. You can do the record side cal. but tapes made this way may or may not play back with the same fidelity on another deck.

 

[SkywaveTDR]

Many other ways to place heads into position might be different than an alignment tape such as the M300 gauge but that really only gets you on physical position- that is about a $300 jig.
The alignment tape is still needed no matter what for azimuth alignment and Genn Lab makes them on a reel deck fitted for making these kinds of tapes. As far as I know this is the only place making professional cassette deck tapes. There can be some old Teac tapes going around but old might also mean chewed up. If one is new in a sealed box then it could be $90. When I got the tapes at Teac they were not shrink wrapped so tricks like that can be things to watch out for. I hear all the time people doing alignment starting in the middle of the process and so at that they are shooting in the dark. They will not be making their deck better as they are just lieing to themselves. The same result can be had with a magic wand.