[Mooly]

Its many many moons since I aligned a VCR but for a totally messed up deck and machine the procedure I used went something like this...

1/ Make sure the ACE head (I was a Beta fan... the audio control head) is at least basically vertical with no tilt. Hopefully that has never been altered. X distance and azimuth don't matter at this point.

2/ Observing the lower drum, adjust the entry and exit guides such that the tape just contacts the lower edge. Observe by looking for changes in visual reflections on the tape itself as it contacts and exits the lip. That puts the tape in at least the approximately correct position.

3/ You now have to get the machine to be compatible with itself. Do a recording and then play it back. Centre the user tracking control and now adjust the preset tracking to give max RF on the scope.

4/ Now set the compatibility using a test tape. At this point adjust the user tracking control for max FM and adjust the entry and exit guides for correct alignment using the scope and monitoring the RF.

5/ Centre the user tracking again and now slide the audio control head forward or back to give max FM.

6/ Perform audio azimuth adjustment if needed.

Any adjustments to the head tilt will affect the tape path alignment. Make sure the pinch wheel is good as that is a prime cause of problems on any machine.

If by chance the ACE head alignment is totally wrong and the head is tilted then a good trick is to remove the head completely and adjust the entry/exit guides as above using reflections. With the head refitted it can be adjusted to vertical by ensuring the tape run remains true. Hopefully the audio head has not been twiddled.