c/cassette-tape-swap

13

oscar_hunt61•12h ago

Had the worst week for tape recordings last March

I was working on a mix for a friend's birthday and had three tapes in a row get chewed up by my old Nakamichi deck. One was a rare live recording of a local band from 1988 that I had traded for. The deck ate the tape on that one so bad I had to splice it three times just to get it playing again. What made it worse was I had spent the whole weekend picking out songs and recording levels. Has anyone else had a deck go rogue on a specific tape or am I just cursed with bad luck?

16

sethanderson•2d ago

I used to hate dollar bin tapes until a guy at a record show changed my mind

Was at the Columbus record swap back in March and this older dude had a box of random 50 cent tapes. I walked right past, he called me back and said 'you're missing the weird stuff that nobody else heard.' He handed me a beat up copy of some local church choir from 1983. Sounded terrible but there was this raw energy to it that I couldn't shake. Ever had a cheap tape surprise you with some hidden gem you never would have tried?

2

ivanlewis•3d ago

Why does nobody talk about how warbly old store-bought tapes can actually sound?

I always thought any used tape from a thrift store was going to sound like garbage, like all hiss and no soul. But about 3 months ago I grabbed a Styx album from a bin in Denver for 50 cents just to test my deck. Figured it would be a throwaway but when I hit play the sound was actually warm and full, way better than the digital version I had. The weird thing is the tape had some slight wow and flutter but it added this character I actually liked. Now I'm thinking I might have been sleeping on these mass produced tapes from the 80s. Has anyone else been surprised by a cheap find that sounded legit?

3

thea246•4d ago

The way I used to make mixtapes vs how I do it now is so different it's wild

Honestly, back in high school I would spend hours recording songs off the radio for a mix, trying to catch that one track without the DJ talking over the intro. Now I just rip playlists from Spotify onto a blank tape through my stereo, takes like 20 minutes tops. Anyone else feel like the whole process lost some of the magic or is that just me getting old?

2

andrew916•6d ago

The 50 cent fix for that wobbly cassette hub problem

I spent months dealing with cassettes that had loose hubs, causing wow and flutter on playback. Tried different take-up reels, even bought a new NOS deck, nothing helped. Then an old audio engineer buddy told me to try a tiny piece of felt from a craft store, cut into a strip and wedged between the hub and the shell. Cost me 50 cents for a whole sheet, and it fixed three of my worst tapes in about 5 minutes each. Has anyone else found a cheap household item that solved a stubborn tape issue?

1

clairepark•7d ago

Appreciation post: the 1987 Billy Joel mixtape my dad left in his truck for 15 years

Found it last summer buried under the passenger seat, tape all warped from heat, but after cleaning the pinch roller it plays without skipping - has anyone else rescued a tape that should've been dead?

3

kelly_coleman61•22d ago

My tape deck ate my old 1987 Def Leppard mix this morning and I'm still trying to fish the tape out without wrecking it

I got the tape out in pieces but now I'm stuck trying to splice it back together with some old scotch tape, has anyone got a trick for fixing chewed up cassettes without making them sound all warpy?

2

uma306•23d ago

Why I stopped using type II tapes for recording

I used to only record mixtapes on type II cassettes because everyone said they sounded better. Then I got a deck from 1987 at a thrift store in Portland and noticed my old type I tapes actually had less hiss on it. Has anyone else found that older decks treat type I better than the hype suggests?

2

jessicaw11•25d ago

Walkman finally gave out last week after holding on for years

I was listening to a Siouxsie and the Banshees tape on my old Sony Walkman during my commute Wednesday when it just started slowing down real bad. The pitch dropped lower and lower until it stopped completely. Pretty sure the motor finally gave up the ghost after 30 some years. Anybody know a good place to get these fixed or should I just finally give in and look for a replacement?

21

parker_bailey•27d ago

Serious question about storing tapes in a hot car...

I left a box of my dad's old Maxell XLIIs in my truck for 3 days during that 95 degree stretch last July. It took me about 6 hours of careful rewinding and playing to figure out why half of them were warbly and shedding oxide. Has anyone else lost good tapes to heat damage like that?

5

parkerkim•28d ago

Friend told me my mixtapes had 'no flow' and I finally got it

Honestly, I used to just slap random songs onto a 90-minute TDK tape with no thought. Last month my buddy Dan straight up said, 'Man, your transitions are jarring, you go from death metal to folk with zero warning.' He told me to think of it like building a set, not a playlist. I started grouping by BPM and key, even used a free app to check before dubbing. Now I spend like 3 hours planning a 60-minute mix, and the difference is wild. Has anyone else gotten hard feedback that actually improved their tape game?

10

jessicaw11•28d ago

That thrift store find that turned out to be a total dud

Picked up a copy of the 1987 White Snake album on cassette at a Goodwill in Phoenix last Saturday for 50 cents. Got it home and the tape was all warbly and stretched, sounded like the singer was gargling rocks. Anyone ever have luck fixing a tape that plays slow like that or is it just toast?

1

wade767•29d ago

My Nakamichi deck ate my best 90s grunge mix tape last night

I was just sitting there listening to my carefully curated Nirvana and Soundgarden mix from 1993, and about halfway through the tape just CRUNCHED and stopped. I popped the door open and the tape was all bunched up inside, like the take-up reel just gave up. I spent a good 20 minutes with a tiny screwdriver and some tweezers trying to get the slack back on the reels. Managed to save about 75 percent of it but the middle got wrinkled pretty bad. Anyone know a good way to fix creased tape without making it worse?

5

kelly_coleman61•29d ago

Found out my favorite 90s mixtape was dubbed at half speed

I was reading a forum post about cassette duplication techniques and learned that some indie labels in the 90s intentionally slowed down the master tape to 1 7/8 ips for certain releases. Turns out one of my most played mixtapes from a small Portland label was dubbed this way, which explains the warmer sound. Has anyone else run into a tape that was slowed down on purpose?

9

nina180•29d ago

Vent: My uncle told me to clean tape heads with rubbing alcohol and it messed up my best mix

So my uncle Bob, who used to DJ in the 80s, swore by using 91% isopropyl alcohol on a Q-tip to clean tape heads. I tried it on my '97 Fleetwood Mac mixtape I got from a garage sale in Denver, and now the playback sounds all warped on side B. Turns out he forgot to mention you need to use 70% or lower, because the higher concentration can dry out the rubber pinch roller. Has anyone else wrecked a tape following old advice like that?

26

tylerr29•1mo ago

Hit 500 tapes in my collection today and it snuck up on me

I was just sorting through a box I picked up at a flea market in Des Moines last weekend and decided to count everything. 500 exactly. Never thought I'd get past maybe 100 when I started 3 years ago just grabbing my old mix tapes from high school. Half of them are probably worthless but there's something about that stack of plastic in my closet that makes me feel like I'm keeping a little piece of history alive. Anyone else ever realize they crossed a random number without meaning to?

26

sagesingh•1mo ago

Best cassette swap day I've had in months

Last Wednesday I traded a box of old gospel tapes for a mint condition copy of The Joshua Tree. The guy threw in a sealed Maxell XL-II for free. I also found a 1987 demo tape from a local punk band stuffed in a goodwill bin later that same afternoon. It was just one of those weird days where everything lined up. Has anyone else ever stumbled onto something like that where the whole day just clicked?

6

daniel511•1mo ago

Spent $90 on a NOS type II tape and it sounded worse than my old Maxell UR

Bought a sealed vintage TDK SA from 1985 off eBay and when I played it the highs were all muffled and distorted. Anyone else had old stock tapes just degrade no matter how they were stored?

18

derek_dixon78•1mo ago

Bought a $50 tape deck off Facebook and it ate my first mixtape

Saw a listing for a Pioneer deck from 1989 that looked clean in the photos. Paid the guy $50 and brought it home. Put in a tape I spent hours making with tracks from a college radio station, and it just chewed the whole thing up. Any tips on checking used decks before buying, or is this just a rite of passage?

14

simontorres•1mo ago

That talk with a vinyl collector at the flea market changed my mind on cassettes

I was digging through a box of tapes at the Raleigh Flea Market last Sunday and this older guy next to me starts saying how cassettes are just "cheap copies of the real thing" compared to his records. He went on about how the hiss and compression ruin the original warmth, and for a second I almost felt dumb for collecting these plastic relics. But then I popped in my worn-out copy of Rumours and the crackle before "Dreams" kicked in felt more alive than any digital stream I've heard - does anyone else get that specific feeling from a well-played tape that vinyl just can't match?

34

coleman.karen•1mo ago

My friend told me my mixtape had too much dead air between songs

I used to leave like 5 seconds of silence between tracks because I thought it gave the tape room to breathe, but he said it made the flow feel broken and amateurish. After he pointed it out I went back and trimmed all my gaps down to about 1.5 seconds and the whole thing just snaps together way better now. What's your rule for spacing between songs on a mix tape, do you prefer tight cuts or some silence?

14

irisw73•1mo ago

Found a pencil trick for fast-forwarding a tape without jamming the spindles

I was in my car last week trying to fast-forward a thrift store find from Goodwill in Nashville and the player kept eating the tape, so I stuck a Bic pen through the reels and wound it by hand for 30 seconds like some kind of caveman and it actually worked perfectly - has anyone else MacGyvered their way through a sticky cassette mechanism?

6

danieltaylor•1mo ago

Hit 500 cassettes in my collection last Saturday and it got me thinking about storage

I was just stacking some new finds from a thrift store in Cleveland and decided to count everything. Ended up at 503 tapes total. Never really kept track before but seeing that number made me realize how fast these things pile up. About 120 of them are still sealed which I guess is cool but also takes up space. Now I'm trying to figure out a better shelving system than the milk crates I've been using. Anyone else hit a milestone count and have to totally rethink their setup?

24

the_olivia•1mo ago

My dad made me rethink blank tape quality after 20 years

My dad was going through my old tape collection last weekend and pointed out that most of my Maxell UR recordings from high school sound way better than my newer TDK SA ones... he said the bias on the SA's was always off for my deck. It honestly made me wonder if I've been chasing the wrong brands this whole time. Has anyone else found an old deck that just works better with cheaper tape?

5

jessicaw54•1mo ago

Met a guy at a coffee shop who called my mixtape "time travel"

I was making a tape for a friend at a cafe in Portland and this older guy sits down, watches me label the J-card, and says "you know that's time travel right there, physical time travel." He then told me he still has a tape his girlfriend made him in 1987 and can't bring himself to throw it out because it sounds like her handwriting. Anyone else have a tape that feels more like a person than just music?