Ahh, you have one of THOSE capstan setups, aye? I've heard horror stories about these, but my SXs' were never 'fortunate' enough to have this. This was included in 'higher end' models to improved the gripiness between the pinch roller and the capstan, since those pitiful excuses for rollers cannot do their job on their own when paired with that mechanism. This would ultimately improve the wow/flutter for the length of the rubber's usefulness. The problem with this is there is no way to find a replacement, unless you somehow make one, and you'd have to be pretty crafty (pun intended) to do this. You could get a lower end SX without the rubber and simply swap the capstans. The lower end units have a sanded metal band on the middle of the capstans. Your pinch rollers are surprisingly fresh looking BTW.
As far as I can tell, it has been used very little; a gift from a business trip in Japan. The exterior is also basically mint. Anyway the reverse capstan bands just disintegrated with a minimal friction using a cotton swab soaked in alcohol; as did the original belts, and the clutch ring, and maybe the gear under the main flywheel ... definitely a reliable transport ! Without the bands it plays the same way - not good. I'm done with the RQ-SX serie, if I want a Panasonic I will look for a "lesser" RQ-S or RQ-X. There is no point in trying to fix the unfixable, I'm quite sure that even with different flywheels it would sound the same, there is something wrong with this unit.
