transport and heads should be cleaned before use.

swab surfaces of tape contact with clean Q-tips soaked in denatured alcohol before use.

Tape heads and tape guides build up magnetism which can partly erase high frequencies and add hiss to your recorded signal. Magnetism can be removed by using a tape head degausser or demagnetizer with a protected tip to avoid scratching the recorder's heads. The basic procedure is as follows:

remove any tapes from the recorder and store away from the equipment.

make sure the recorder is turned off as the degausser will induce a strong alternating current in the heads.

plug in the degausser while it is at least three feet away from the recorder.

slowly bring the degausser tip towards the part to be demagnetized until it touches the part.

after the degausser has touched the part, slowly remove the degausser until it is at least three feet away from the recorder.

It's very important to move slowly when performing these operations. If the degausser tip is moved too quickly its strong magnetic field will actually magnetize the parts of the recorder more than before!