1/2" tape cleaner?

[Al Kossow]

If I had a vacume column drive which floated the tape over the heads
without contact I suspect this would not be a problem :-)

--

Look at what John B. is doing at readtapes.com

Normal heads apply several pounds of pressure from the tape to the
head surface. By using magnetorestrictive heads, you can cut that
to a few ounces.

If you thing about how a normal head works, it closes the loop of
an electromagnet with the oxide on the tape, so it REQUIRES physical
contact to work.