Show us your vintage cassettes!

[restorer-john]

Speaking of old cassettes, my buddy recently got an old Mercedes sedan. He wants to preserve the original look of the car interior, which means keeping the factory stereo with its tape deck. I found an old tape deck on eBay, had good luck calibrating and measuring it, so it's ready to go. But the car's old deck didn't play a test tape properly, so this weekend he's pulling the factory stereo so we can get it working again. If we are successful, he'll be rocking out in full vintage 1980s style while he cruises.

Now all he needs to find is a well-priced source for decent cassette blanks: TDK SAX, Maxell XLIIS, BASF Reference II, etc.

How did you go with that deck?

 

[MRC01]

How did you go with that deck?

I got the Denon DRM-540 deck working to specification. Not so lucky with the old Becker deck in the Mercedes. The tape didn't play. When we dissected it, some critical metal parts used in the transport and auto-reverse were broken. That was a disappointing surprise, as I expected to be a simple belt swap. Not repairable unless we could get parts. My friend wasn't willing to get into that, so we put the Becker back together and he just uses the radio. I sold the DRM-540 deck on eBay to a local musician, so it's being put back into service. Overall, that was 1 for 2. I hate not being able to fix old stuff, but sometimes we have to be pragmatic.

 

[restorer-john]

I got the Denon DRM-540 deck working to specification. Not so lucky with the old Becker deck in the Mercedes. The tape didn't play. When we dissected it, some critical metal parts used in the transport and auto-reverse were broken. That was a disappointing surprise, as I expected to be a simple belt swap. Not repairable unless we could get parts. My friend wasn't willing to get into that, so we put the Becker back together and he just uses the radio. I sold the DRM-540 deck on eBay to a local musician, so it's being put back into service. Overall, that was 1 for 2. I hate not being able to fix old stuff, but sometimes we have to be pragmatic.

Send me a picture of the Becker? I've got a few decks in a box someplace.

 

[Valhalla]

I'm pretty sure the only one that probably would recognize these old cassettes is Amir
Mohammad-Reza Shajariyan is among the most famous Iranian traditional/classical music in entire history.

 

[restorer-john]

I'm pretty sure the only one that probably would recognize these old cassettes is Amir
Mohammad-Reza Shajariyan is among the most famous Iranian traditional/classical music in entire history.
View attachment 174589

Is that your collection? Impressive artwork on some of them.

 

[pseudoid]

I had to dig deep down inside the garage for a box that I had not opened for at least 30 years.

2 HarmanKardons continuously ripping content from WNEW-FM (NYC).
Most all on TDK SAs, as TDK MAs just were destined to wear the heads, and was especially tough on car tape-decks.
Someone will probably correct me but those ^&*$ TDK-MAs were a pain to calibrate for.

 

[restorer-john]

I had to dig deep down inside the garage for a box that I had not opened for at least 30 years.
View attachment 174610
2 HarmanKardons continuously ripping content from WNEW-FM (NYC).
Most all on TDK SAs, as TDK MAs just were destined to wear the heads, and was especially tough on car tape-decks.
Someone will probably correct me but those ^&*$ TDK-MAs were a pain to calibrate for.

Awesome! Sealed SA-X100 too! A couple of head grinding cleaning cassettes. The Sony DAT head cleaner is a dangerous thing.

A TDK man like me.

 

[pseudoid]

Sealed SA-X100 too!

I have a case of them (sealed): Are they something that are in high demand?
I don't even know why I keep them around, anymore...
When the DATs came out; I thought it was gonna be the "wave of the future" and bought into the whole Sony catalog of pro-sumer hardware, like the recorders, and the portables, ... not accounting for the Shenanigans that the HooliganB*st*ards would resort to assassinate dat media, on its tracks.

 

[restorer-john]

I have a case of them (sealed): Are they something that are in high demand?

A sealed box of 10 could be worth a lot. Open it and the value drops, but you'd still get $400+ for it.

 

[MRC01]

Send me a picture of the Becker? I've got a few decks in a box someplace.

 

[ThatM1key]

Before the current "Cassette comeback", the tapes were super cheap. My father bought a 100 pcs lot of "FUJU Type 1" 60 min cassettes, all new for $20 on eBay. Even came with its OG box.

The luckiest find was a new Maxell? Type 4 Metal Tape 120min that I found at the my local thrift store for $1. If I find the cassette, I'll send over a picture.

As a above 20 year old, I grew up with cassettes unironically, I saw them as any other format. I am just tried of these hipsters playing around cassettes like its a novelty toy.

 

[Vini darko]

Some low end ones that aren't on the list.

 

[pseudoid]

A sealed box of 10 could be worth a lot. Open it and the value drops, but you'd still get $400+ for it.

Get out of town! Really?
Ummmm... maybe a brand new Gustard is in my future.

 

[Chr1]

Damn, this thread kinda makes me slap myself upside the head!
Back in the early noughties I threw out about four large banana boxes of cassettes. (Mainly mix-tapes, TDK SA90s.) Probably numbering in the thousands... As, at that time even charity shops didn't want them.
I had already given away my vinyl due to lack of space (yes, Doh again), and was shifting over to CDRs and minidiscs.
Anyway, having recently found my head- demagnetiser and manual tape winding tool thingy in a box in my loft, I now regret this rather stupid move hugely.
Somehow a playlist is not the same as a carefully compiled analogue mix-tape... Doh.

 

[anmpr1]

A sealed box of 10 could be worth a lot. Open it and the value drops, but you'd still get $400+ for it.

That is either very depressing, or very funny. I used to buy cassettes by the case from the mail order outfits, for give-a-way prices. If I ever ran out and was in a hurry, I'd go to the corner 'drug store' and buy a 'two-pack' of whatever (they had them all on a rack: LN, Hi-bias, Metal) for a dollar or two more.

My two big mistakes in life: should have bought Bitcoin when it first came out, and should have invested my life savings in UDXL II. LOL

 

[Neddy]

Ok, this is inspiring.
> Still seem to have a number of new unopened cassettes...shows how fast they became obsolete!
I haven't read the complete thread yet - any suggestions about who/how to 'dispose of' NOS (or old mixes!) cassette tapes to folks who'd actually find value in them? Hate to just junk it all....
>Black Box - 70s cassette subcription to poetry/'new audio' radio type show...they did some very innovative stuff with mics and 'live' locations, etc.
> 1974 live recording of Mingus using a 'pro' Sony 152SD recorder w/stereo condensor mics up my sleeves.!

No idea where I recorded Bill Dixon from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Dixon
but Cecil Taylor lived in the same apartment building (penthouse, though - he was a music professor there at the time)

Mingus was Oct 1974, I see.
Bunch of 'original' Memorex cassettes, which I also had the aluminum rack housings for (long since tossed)

Example of just how OCD I was about listing and printing labels for mix tapes (this one was from FM broadcasts in Philly).
Jeeze, I must've wasted nearly decade on getting that stuff 'right'!!!
I have (still) about 50 of those mix tapes, which represent at least 4 different computer OS's and at least that many different printers, and at least as many different recorders!
Some of them are good enough to re-create as playlists today - and double check to make sure I still have copies of all those in CD or digital format (all my LPs were stolen years ago).

I really enoyed making mix-tapes, and matching mood, tempo, instruments etc for the best segues (hah!).

Next I'll have to fire up the 3-head Sony deck and see if it's still working, and then see if I can 'rip' anything to files.
Nice project to finally get started on during a quiet winter!

Thanks for the inspiration(s)!

 

[pseudoid]

Damn, this thread kinda makes me slap myself upside the head!

Hey, now! Don't beat yourself up... especially in public.
I bought (and got ASR tested) a polk center speakers and as was suggested by an esteemed member, now I just use it as a door-stop.
But the bright side is that I feel I am breaking even, now that the FizzyHair from the GoldCoast told me I can sell all my NOS TDKs ...and still keep the door-stop.

 

[ThatM1key]

I found my maxell metal tape

 

[usersky]

 

[pseudoid]

Is this to be considered OT??
Not to be confused with Alesis ADAT system.

I still have the Sony home and portable recorders for DAT.
HooliganB*st*rds tried all the shenanigans they can to prevent DAT from getting in the hands of consumers... and they won.

Anyone have any miniDisc media laying around for a photo shoot?