Save your Blank Cassettes
 

I've been pretty cavalier, reaching into my supply of high bias 90 minute TDK and Maxell tapes while dubbing old rock for my honorary nephew who has a working tape deck in his beater Subaru. Decided I'd go online and look at today's replacement costs, since my stash is decades old stuff, bought for around $1.25 each according to a price tag still attached to one pack.

HOLY MARTHA! I had no idea. So, I'd advise anybody with a stash of high bias stuff to use it carefully. It'll cost you to replace...around $10.00 each.

https://www.amazon.com/Maxell-XLII-Minute-Audio-Cassette/dp/B003NQ01HK/ref=asc_df_B003NQ01HK/?tag=bingshoppinga-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid={creative}&hvpos={adpositio n}&hvnetw=o&hvrand={random}&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt= e&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl={devicemodel}&hvlocint=&hvlocph y=&hvtargid=pla-4583657823593475&psc=1

VHS tapes are pricey too.

I have a few old blank TDK cassette tapes, not many though. Still have a LOT of audio cassettes. There is a tape player in the 914, and I have a bunch of mixed tapes from when I was doing the music for our college parties. Listen to that stuff in the garage on the old water resistant Sony cassette deck.

SX-70 film is costly, too.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1562171823.jpg

I gave up on cassettes tapes 20+ years ago. CDs are cheap, and it is easy to make a full quality "mix-tape" on CD. I finally gave up on that, and put everything I own on a thumb drive, and put that on random. Play. Done.

I can skip a track in 1/2 second.

I have gone away from tapes, and am not missing the cassettes anymore than I miss 8 tracks.

To each their own...when I'm in a mood to simply relax. I don't head for the CD's or my Ipod...I'll go to my tapes. Have many of them from the days when friends would swap & lend LP's. Place one in my old Nakamichi deck, kick back in the recliner...ahhh. Nostalgia...memories hooked to many of those old tunes. Once in a while I'll pull old LP's off the shelf as well, but the tape is easier with 45 minutes to a side. Maybe it's my old ears, but to them, tapes I made decades ago still sound damned good.

My Sony deck started eating tapes after I'd had it gone thru with new belts. Not sure what is the cause. I'm debating if I'll have it looked at or not.
As it is, my reel to reel is still working so I use it instead.

The price of typewriters are going up too.

'Guardians of the Galaxy' Becomes First Soundtrack in History Without New Songs to Land No. 1 Spot

https://www.thewrap.com/wp-content/u...Mix-Vol.-1.jpg

I was primarily a TDK guy. A group of us would buy them by the case.

Cassette tapes - even unused ones, have a shelf life. So hoarding them doesn't work well!

I do have some nice quantegy 60s and 90s for sale if anyone wants them.

I was a Maxell guy...new albums were recorded, and two college buds trusted me with their's ;). Last played in the 911 mebbe 17 years ago...still sounded good.....for tape :(.

DAT be different....save yer DATS ;)!

Tape is tape....

Some of you may get this...

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1562182763.jpg

...or this

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1562182903.jpg

My niece ended my 8-track collection...pulling the tape out of most when she wuz 3-4....fortunately...the 80s were here by then!

the price is high because there is little demand and little on offer.
so those who have some sit on it waiting for the occasional demand.

It's not gold and won't be any time soon

I have investments...not hanging on to them as investments, but to use. Surfing the web has me believing that there is a group out there that was born in the CD era that are flocking back to analog...going ga-ga over tube amps, $$$ turntables and vinyl, and yes..tape. To each his own.

Gogar, the old tapes play okay in the Subaru tape deck...and sound good in my old Nakamichi home deck. Probably my old ears having a limited range...Home unit is played through reconed JBL speakers...

(edit) But from now on, I'll use my Nakamichi deck to record directly from the LP instead of using my cheap double well Pioneer deck to dub. Although I doubt my honorary nephew will be able to hear the difference as he rolls that old Subie along...

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/jVoSQP2yUYA" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

I tossed a few cases of Maxell UDxl II's.....

I grab blank vhs at rummage sales and garage sales all the time. Sell them on ebay 10 or so at a time. They sell well

I only used Maxell. Remember this poster/ad?


http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1562204219.jpg

I have one of the give away cases that hold 15 in my office right now.

I made a bunch of CD's to play in the Miata, they go bad in a convertible though, need to burn a few new ones

Blank? They're full of the Allman Brothers, Cream, Led Zeppelin and all that other stuff I was listening to in the 70s.

some day soon if it has not already happened

the last 8-track will die

I used to have a ton of cassettes, and even after I started buying CDs still had lots of cassettes so I could record to those and play the CDs in my cars. For a looooong time, I had a really nice old Akai deck, I am 99% certain that it was this model

https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8502/8...765683e8_b.jpg

I've since sold that and no longer have anyway to play any cassettes, but I did save something like 75-100 cassettes for nostalgia reasons.

I still have this beauty. Approx $60 for a tape.



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"flatbutt"... Reel to reels are considered the best analogue source by far. I'd hang on to that.

Nice video..I loved the ending comments. Why fool around with tape? No need to...but for fun, like many other things humans do.

I just recently sold my Tandberg 200 recently 4 channel sound on sound. It had issues with the belts and rollers and I knocked it over at some point and broke the spindles. I had it for maybe 30 years.

Than found boxes of recorded albums and a dozen blanks. ost all were Maxells.

Than Cases of Maxell VHS tapes from my days in the security biz.

They were all sold off but one (my brothers band) and now looking to get that copied over to a CD.

Sold pretty well and quick.

Terry

My first year in college I lived in a dorm on campus.

Second year too - it was school policy back then (1972).

So I had a roommate - he was from Tampa and his parents had the Lafayette Electronics store there. He brings in this super nice reel to reel and sets it up on our dresser along with a couple of those huge wooden speakers - Criterion 4X models.

Our room wasn't all that big, mind you. Listening to Emerson, Lake, and Palmer with the lights off and black light on was pretty insane!

I've never owned a reel to reel myself but will never forget how almost perfect the sound was.

Cassette tapes?? then you HAD to have the Nakamichi rx-202. No auto reverse, it was uni-directional and rotated the actual cassette. Something about the direction of the metal pieces embedded in the tape. :D

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1562284364.jpg

"tdw28210" That's one of the most sort after Naks in existence.
With a bit of luck you may be able to find a front door on Ebay!

I own a Nakamichi BX-125. 2 head, no auto reverse... Still sounds great from the mid 80s. SmileWavy

I think the idea was a way of controlling the azimuth error of the tape moving across the head, if I remember correctly.

We did a few threads about that ad!

It made me go buy the original chairs.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1562296728.JPG

This is always amusing: the wood cases shown here are Napa Valley brand. They pretty much made all the wood cases back in the day. They sell easily on eBay for $50-75. These were at a flea market today. Not for sale, just holding the 10-cent cassettes :D There's a thrift store I go to once in a while with about 50 of these cases screwed to the wall. Again, cases not for sale, just holding the cassettes ....

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Hanging in my garage, courtesy of HughR.....

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Have one of those racks above...it's full.

That Nakamichi is fantastic. I should have saved my Sony audio tape deck/ tuner. It came with an external amp and crossover. I stupidly threw it out. But I kept my Concord HPL 550.