1. A system for operating a magnetic read/write head comprising: a read/write region to read data from or write data to a magnetic tape; an effector region to impose a potential on the magnetic tape; a sensor region to sense the potential on the magnetic tape; an effector circuit to determine a potential difference between the sensor region and the effector region and adjust the potential applied to the effector region to control the voltage difference using a transfer function; and two tape bearing surfaces, wherein a first tape bearing surface is disposed in the direction of tape motion before the read/write region and a second tape bearing surface is disposed in the direction of tape motion after the read/write region, wherein the tape bearing surfaces are configured to be in direct contact with the tape and to facilitate the smooth motion of the tape across the read/write region.