The only one I've used was a VM-D865LE (I think VM-D865LA (and D965LA) would be the NTSC equivalents, and there are a few more D8 ones) so that's the only one I can say for sure. There are some very Hi8 and Video8 ones too with similar externals including the time base corrector labelling so those may be similar (I have a Hi8 one but it's dead). I don't know much when it comes to their older models.
EDIT:
This was the audio mute modification I mentioned, seems it was on a sony hi8 VCR. (I think this vcr will blue screen still though.) Don't think it would be doable on a newer camcorder like the Sony or Hitachi ones as they have like everything in one IC. The video covers tapes with alignment issues though, which it seems is not the issue in your case.