Lisa's case makes me wonder which method she uses more these days.

Classic when the fix is something that simple after all that hassle. Had a similar thing with an old cassette deck last year, kept getting this weird hiss only on playback. Spent ages cleaning heads and checking belts, turned out the RCA output jack had a tiny crack in the solder. Wiggled the cable and the sound cut in and out. One reflow later and it was perfect. Felt kinda silly but also weirdly satisfying.