Picked it up at a flea market in Tulsa thinking I scored big, but the tape inside was some 90s country comp someone re-recorded over. The shrink wrap looked factory, but the case had that faint musty smell I should've caught. Anyone else get burned by fake sealed tapes from vendors who swear they're original?
Back in March I was showing off a 1982 Motorhead tape at the swap meet in Dayton and a guy named Walt pointed out that my alcohol swab routine was eating the print off the shell. He said to just use a dry cloth and only touch the tape itself if it plays badly. I used to scrub every find like it was dirty money, but now I leave the patina alone unless it actually skips. Anyone else get told they're too rough with their stuff?
I spent six months rewinding tapes with a pencil like it was 1989 again. Finally broke down and bought a powered rewinder from a local shop in Akron for 40 bucks. It chews through a C-90 in about a minute and my wrists stopped aching. Anyone else hold out on basic gear way longer than they should, or is that just me?
I was stuck deciding between a basic single deck and a used dual deck at a shop downtown. The dual was $40 more but let me copy tapes directly without messing with two separate players. I picked the dual and now my mixtapes for trades come out way cleaner, no more cable guessing. Has anyone else made the jump for copying purposes, or do you stick to one deck and a recorder?
My collection crossed 250 tapes when I bought a stack of 40 used blanks at a garage sale in Cleveland for 8 bucks. I never thought I'd own that many, since half my closet is still full of them from high school. Anyone else hit a number that made them stop and think about what they're actually hoarding?
I've been trading tapes for about 2 years now and I keep getting dubs where the hiss is so loud it drowns out the music, especially on quiet parts. Most decks have Dolby B or C right there, but people act like pushing that button is some kind of betrayal. Is it just me, or should we all be using it when we make copies for swaps?
Found a tape from 1998 in my parents' basement labeled "Drive to Ohio" and popped it in my old Walkman. I made that thing with a dual deck and a pause button, cutting out DJ chatter from the radio. The order was a mess of intent, like starting with something loud and ending with a slow song to match pulling into the driveway. But listening back, every transition hit. No autoplay, no algorithm, just me picking what felt right at 16. My current Spotify playlists are just shuffled chaos compared to that. Does anyone else find the limits of a 90 minute tape made you think harder about every single track on there?
I was digitizing my old tape collection in the basement off of Route 9 in Poughkeepsie, and my trusty Sony WM-36 just chewed up the first 30 seconds of a 1987 mixtape my cousin made for me. The pinch roller felt sticky and the tape got tangled around the capstan before I could hit stop. I managed to unwind it, but the magnetic strip is creased pretty bad near the leader. Has anyone else had luck salvaging a mangled tape with a heat trick or should I just frame it and move on?
Found a guy at the public library in Dayton who had a box of tapes for sale at his garage sale. He heard me mention I collect Jamaican music and pulled out this beat up Kingston Sounds cassette from 1968. Said he bought it at a record shop inkingston after his brother sent him there on a whim, and he wanted it to go to someone who'd play it, not flip it. I still have it, and every time I cue it up I think about how he just handed it over for $3 because I said I liked dub. Anyone else have a trade that felt more like a favor than a deal?
Dad swore recording at half speed then playing back normal made tapes sound 'warmer'. Tried it on a 1987 Maximum Rocknroll mix I got off a forum trader, and now the vocals sound like a choir of gremlins. Anyone else get handed boomer audio wisdom that's just flat out wrong?
Was driving back from a swap in St. Louis last summer. Had a 90-minute tape I recorded off the radio, every song in perfect order. Deck jammed halfway through side B, pulled the cassette out and the tape was a knotted mess. Spent the next hour in a gas station parking lot with a pencil and a lighter. Saved maybe 20 minutes of it, the rest was garbage. Still keep it in my glove box as a reminder to always make a second copy. Anyone else have a tape get chewed up in a bad moment?
Traded some dupes to an older guy at the Rose Bowl flea market on Sunday, and he asked if I'd ever tried recording with a noise reduction unit with the playback deck off. Said it adds a layer of grime that makes the highs sound almost live, so I tested it on a bootleg Replacements tape and it totally worked. Anyone else ever run weird recording tricks like that, or am I just a sucker for his setup?
Had a box of early 80s punk and metal stuff, mostly bootlegs and odd labels. Dude at a flea market in Columbus offered a full case of Rolling Rock for the whole box. I took it. Last month I saw one of those same bootlegs listed for 80 bucks online. I dont even drink beer anymore. Anyone else make a dumb trade they still think about?
Maybe it's just me, but I keep seeing folks flexing their 120-minute TDK or Maxell tapes and acting like that's the peak of collecting. In my 20 years of swapping at the Ann Arbor record fair, those thin 120s snap way too easy and the sound quality drops off after the first 45 minutes. I'd rather take a solid 60-minute Type II any day, especially for live recordings or mixtapes. Am I the only one who thinks the extra length just isn't worth the risk?
I had a pile of my dad's old mix tapes from the 80s stacked sideways in a crate for like 6 months. When I finally popped one in to listen, the whole right channel was warbly garbage. Happened to at least 4 of them before I looked it up - the weight of the stack presses the reels uneven and messes with the tape alignment over time. Now I keep them upright like books and it's way better. Anyone else lost a good tape to sideways storage?
I used to just throw songs on a tape in whatever order felt right, no real thought to pacing or energy. Then this guy at a flea market in Des Moines bought a few of my mixes and gave me some harsh feedback... said my B-sides felt like a dead stop after the first side. He told me to think of it like a setlist, where the last song on side A should lead into side B's opener like a bridge. So now I always end side A with something a little quieter, then kick off side B with a banger to pull you back in. I tried it on a 90-minute TDK I made last month and it honestly flows way better. Has anyone else gotten specific mix tape criticism that actually changed how they sequence stuff?
I always shoved the J-card in the front clear pocket of Norelco cases thinking that's where it went. Then last month a guy at a swap meet in Portland pointed out the back slot is actually for the artwork and the front just holds the tape itself. I've been doing it backwards since like 2012 and never noticed. Anyone else have that moment where something so basic just clicked way too late?
I mean, I've been collecting cassettes for about 5 years now and mostly stuck with Type I ferrics because they're cheap and everywhere. But last month I grabbed this 90 minute Sony UX from some lady's basement stack. Popped it in my deck to record a Cure album off vinyl and the clarity on the high end was insane. No hiss at all. Now I'm kicking myself for ignoring premium tapes this whole time. Anyone else have a moment where a tape format surprised you?
I got into a heated argument with a guy at a record show in Detroit about 6 months ago. He saw me stacking my cassettes flat in a plastic bin and told me I was destroying them over time. I told him he was being dramatic and that I had been storing them that way for 15 years without issues. Well last week I pulled out a few of my favorite 80s metal tapes from the bottom of that bin and the shells are warped. Three of them have playback issues now with the tape getting dragged weirdly. The guy was an older collector named Frank who ran a booth in the back corner. I wish I could find him again just to say he was right. Has anyone else had tapes get messed up from stacking them flat for too long?
Last week I was digging through a thrift store in Akron, Ohio and found a blank Maxell tape with just "ROAD TRIP" written on it in sharpie. I popped it in my deck and the first song was polka, then it jumped to death metal, then some random car commercial from the 80s. The rest was 45 minutes of someone recording their own snoring. Has anyone else found a tape that made zero sense?
I had this old mix tape that kept wobbling in my deck, sounded all warpy. I tried cleaning the capstan, replacing the felt pad, nothing worked. Then a guy at a record shop told me to cut a tiny strip of paper towel and stick it under the tape pack in the shell, just to add a little tension. Figured it was a dumb idea but I gave it a shot. Worked perfect. The tape plays steady now. Anybody else got a random hack like that for saving a tape that seems toast?
I always kept my cassettes standing up like books on a shelf, until a guy at the flea market in Portland pointed out that the weight of the tape pack can sag the reels over time. He said to store them flat, like records, to keep the pressure even inside the shell. I checked a few of my old 1980s tapes and sure enough, three of them had that wobbly wobble sound when playing. Has anyone else dealt with this and found a good way to fix the sagging reels?
I was digging through a forum post about weird tape deck history and stumbled on the Sony Walkman SRF-42W which had a built in FM transmitter and suction cup mount, has anyone ever actually seen one of these or used it for road trips?
Back in the 90s, I was super picky about using TDK SA or Sony UX for every mix I made. I thought anything less sounded muddy, especially for recording off the radio. But about 5 years ago, when I started collecting again, I realized those nice tapes are getting expensive and hard to find in good shape. Now I just grab any decent looking Type I from Goodwill for like 50 cents each, and honestly with a good deck and some EQ tweaks they sound fine for casual listening. Has anybody else noticed the prices on sealed SA-90s going crazy online lately?