I have had good success with baking cassette tapes suffering from SSS and
the brands are random.  Keeping the heads clean is paramount.

Like Steve, re-housing the cassette can help along with renewing the slip
sheets.  As a matter of course I check the felt to make sure it's intact.

Happy Easter!
Marie

On Sun, Apr 1, 2018 at 8:23 AM, John Haley <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> I am not recalling exactly what I paid for the Nak Dragon, but it was
> something like $1100.  I bought it on Ebay and got lucky--it is in flawless
> condition.
>
> The Nak Dragon is missing one desirable feature--there is no speed
> control.  But it is rock-steady with moving the tape--probably getting rid
> of the tiny bit of friction of the tape pulling past the pressure pad
> helps.  It has a piece that pushes back the pressure pad so it is out of
> the way, and tape tension against the heads is provided by the closed loop
> dual capstan design.
>
> Best,
> John Haley
>
>
>
>
> On Sat, Mar 31, 2018 at 1:57 PM, Steven Smolian <[log in to unmask]>
> wrote:
>
> > If I remember correctly, the NAK draws the tape away from the pad,
> > bypassing
> > it.
> >
> > For what it's worth, I've found the slip sheet inside the cassette
> housing
> > will exhibit signs of sticky shed.
> >
> > One answer is to rehouse each cassette into a new shell.  I've done that
> > many a time.
> >
> > Steve Smolian
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Association for Recorded Sound Discussion List
> > [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Lou Judson
> > Sent: Saturday, March 31, 2018 1:02 PM
> > To: [log in to unmask]
> > Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Sticky shed - clogged heads?
> >
> > Dragon is the gold standard, the Rolls Ryce of cassette decks. Wish the
> > project I have could make it affordable! :-)
> >
> > Maybe I don't want to know what you had to pay for it. ePay shows $1200 -
> > 3200 today.
> >
> > I got my lesser Naks for around $400 each. one needed service, the other
> > was
> > perfect.
> > <L>
> > Lou Judson
> > Intuitive Audio
> > 415-883-2689
> >
> > On Mar 31, 2018, at 9:35 AM, John Haley <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> >
> > > I recently bought a Nak Dragon, which automatically sets the azimuth
> > > and keeps monitoring and resetting it as the cassette plays.  And I
> > > recently dubbed a cassette in which the felt pad was missing.  It
> played
> > fine.  The
> > > sound quality is astonishingly good.   It really beats my Tascam unit.
> > > Best,
> > > John Haley
> >
>