Bought a $60 "professional" tape rewinder and it ate my rare Smiths bootleg

Waited 3 weeks for shipping from some UK seller, first use it chewed up the whole side B. Stuck with a mangled tape and no way to fix it, plus the seller won't reply to my emails. Anyone else have luck with those vintage hand-crank winders instead?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_nina4d ago

Felt that gut punch just reading this. Sixty bucks for a tape rewinder that destroys a rare Smiths bootleg? That's insult to injury right there. Hand crank winders are usually way more gentle on the tape itself, less torque to snatch the spool. I'd go for one of those old Panasonic or Sony models from the 80s if you can find them, they're built like tanks and treat the tape right. Hope you find a way to salvage that bootleg, that's a painful loss.

elizabeth_gonzalez4d ago

Built like tanks and treat the tape right" - @the_nina nailed it, those old Sony hand cranks are way gentler. Heard from a collector friend that the mechanical ones have less sudden torque, so they're less likely to eat your bootlegs.