The first step of maintenance should be cleaning the tape path, which removes the fine dust shed from tape and any residue from the tape lubricants. The most frequently used tools are a cotton swab dipped in a little isopropyl alcohol.
Once you are done cleaning the tape machine you can begin demagnetizing. It is important to get a demagnetizer that is powerful enough. Be careful not to come in contact with the tape machine head or guides because they can become scratched. Also be aware not to bring the demagnetizer too close to any of the VU meters.
Aligning the replay head first is essential in getting your recordings at the right levels. The first step is to set the levels to 0dB. Then, align the replay head's azimuth, height, wrap and zenith.
Once the replay head has been aligned, the bias and record heads are next. These heads are typically adjusted while tones of 1 kHz and 10 kHz are being recorded. Both the heads are aligned to 0dB, as well.