Warpage Repair

One problem often plaguing old reel-to-reel magnetic tapes is tape warpage, which is one cause of tape dropout.  Tape dropout is observed as a periodic loss of signal, especially in the high frequency portion of the audio spectrum.  You can easily note if warpage is the source of the problem by observing the tape as it glides over the playback deck tape guides.  If the tape moves evenly over the guides, then the source of the dropout may be lost magnetic coating.  However, if the tape moves unevenly (wobbles) across the tape guides, the probable cause of the audio dropouts is tape warpage.  The reason for the dropout is that the magnetic tape surface does not maintain good physical contact across the playback head thereby lengthening the magnetic coupling pathway (and increasing the magnetic reluctance) of the system. There are two solutions for curing this problem at the transfer stage of your project.  If you have an old cheap tape recorder that used pressure pads, it will do a better job of transferring such a tape compared to a pro-machine which does not employ pressure pads.  But, if all you have is a professional / high-grade machine, you can create your own homegrown pressure pad for the transfer.  Follow these steps: