  Magneto-optical current reconstruction has been used for detailed analysis of
the local critical current density (Jc) variation in monocore Bi-2223 tapes. We
find, even in high quality tapes with bulk transport Jc ~ 40 kA/cm^2 (77K, 0T),
that there exist local regions which possess current densities of more than 200
kA/cm^2. Overpressure processing at 148 bar significantly improved Jc to 48
kA/cm^2 by improving the connectivity. For the overpressure-processed sample we
find that the current distribution is more uniform and that the maximum local
current density at 77 K is increased almost to 300 kA/cm^2.
