Bad tape or dirty heads?
 

I just picked up a Sony SuperBetamax SL-390 to capture my wife's home movies from growing up. I need to adjust the tracking more than 3/4 to the left in order to get the cleanest picture possible. But it still isn't perfect. Would some of you guys be willing to look at my sample file and tell me if this looks to you like an issue with the tape or an issue with the play heads? I have already cleaned the heads once with paper and rubbing alcohol, copying a method shared on youtube often. But it made no change.

Thank you.

That looks like the heads to me, Tape problems are more coarse not sharp lines like those, Try another tape and let us know.

Agreed, heads most suspect.

Thanks guys. Same problem on all tapes, although not quite as bad on some.
Tried cleaning the heads again and no change. Would that possibly mean the heads are toast?

I also wondered if alignment might be an issue. I turned an alignment knob and slightly improved tracking.

This clip is about as good as I can make any of the tapes. That horizontal line on the upper 1/3 is there on every single tape.

What would you experts advise?

Admittedly.. I'm not an expert.

You have stripes in the overscan area, and the problem is not moving vertically. The noise is stationary.

A different speed tape might be helpful to discern if it is a head problem or just a tracking problem.

If it is a head problem the lines should increase in number with a faster tape.

It still say heads.
But worst case is you capture with noise, restore out some/most/all noise later. Results can vary.

Ya my heads must be very dirty (The SLP/LP head) as I get those lines on those speeds....... (SP is OK for the most part)

I gotta take it off but I dread doing it,its gonna be hard to unhook it and all.......

My friend said he would clean the heads for me...... I just gotta unhook it! (uugghh)