Cassette woes

[Knucklehead]

Have no fear, you'll be able to play this.

This is a tape released in the European market and not released in the U.S. Hence "European".

It was also professionally manufactured, meaning either that the guy was using a "pro cassette deck" or he paid someone to do it. (As opposed to using the microphone on a tape recorder while the music is played on a stereo.) It is essentially a term describing the quality. Hence, "pro tape".

[Diana]

Have no fear, you'll be able to play this.

Thank you, counselor. Googling this did nothing for me because "European Pro Tape" is apparently a product for athletes.

In the meantime I went ahead and spent €6000 preordering the digipack and t-shirt combo, so I'm gonna let the cassette go for now. But I am grateful for the info.

[melkor]

You can click the numbers to show other pictures

[Diana]

You can click the numbers to show other pictures

Exactly. That one looks completely normal. I don't know why that first shot looks like a square. I didn't want to plunk down the $50 shipping if I had to grease it with vaseline and hammer it into my Hello Kitty cassette player

[melkor]

Well I've been having the same problem with my old cheap JVC twin deck at home... deck A sounded all shitty but deck B sounds great. Tried cleaning deck A but it didn't really help. Well, fine, I still have ONE deck; I'll just use B. The only problem is that deck B makes this strange mechanical clicking sound. Well, my smart ass decides to try and fix the clicking. It turns out that this cam follower had a spring that was a bit loose which was causing it to overextend and then snap back. I fashioned a rubber band around it which solved the clicking... but in the process somehow I nerfed the reverse mechanism. Well shit, now I have ZERO decks. Really not wanting to open the thing up again and deal with reattaching shitty belts on shitty wheels, I decided to make it my life's sole goal and purpose to clean deck A until it sounds perfect.

It turns out that you have to clean these things a really (really!) long time. I spent a good 20 minutes with about two dozen q-tips and denatured alcohol (kept in my bar's jigger... remind me not to blind myself later) rubbing down (:oops:) the head, capstan, and pinch roller. Even when there was no more deposit coming out on the q-tip, I kept rubbing. I rubbed until I was all out of rub. ONLY then did I stick the ol' trusty "Fit fer Fight" in and let 'er rip. What glorious crunchy treble and pounding bass! Moral of the story: if you ain't persistent, yer just pissing in the wind.

[Moloc]

Bought a Danzig tape today for six dollars. Can't play it because my machine is in the shop (going on two months now).

[MS_39455]

Bought a Danzig tape today for six dollars. Can't play it because my machine is in the shop (going on two months now).

What shop did you take to? Didn't realize that there are still places that will work on cassette players? Just slammed dunked a Technics deck that I picked up a few years ago right back into the dumpster after almost as many years of tinkering and unsuccessfully trying to find parts to revive it.

[melkor]

i dunno about any shops but my nak lx-5 is still ox strong.

[Moloc]

Bought a Danzig tape today for six dollars. Can't play it because my machine is in the shop (going on two months now).

What shop did you take to? Didn't realize that there are still places that will work on cassette players? Just slammed dunked a Technics deck that I picked up a few years ago right back into the dumpster after almost as many years of tinkering and unsuccessfully trying to find parts to revive it.

A place called Audiolab. It's at the top of the perimeter. I can't say I can recommend them yet since they still haven't finished working on it.

[melkor]

Bought a Danzig tape today for six dollars. Can't play it because my machine is in the shop (going on two months now).

What shop did you take to? Didn't realize that there are still places that will work on cassette players? Just slammed dunked a Technics deck that I picked up a few years ago right back into the dumpster after almost as many years of tinkering and unsuccessfully trying to find parts to revive it.

A place called Audiolab. It's at the top of the perimeter. I can't say I can recommend them yet since they still haven't finished working on it.

the one in doraville?

actually I do remember inquiring somebody in roswell about tuning up my nak. i never followed through, though. http://aminaaudio.com/service.html. i’ve heard reputable things.

[Moloc]

What shop did you take to? Didn't realize that there are still places that will work on cassette players? Just slammed dunked a Technics deck that I picked up a few years ago right back into the dumpster after almost as many years of tinkering and unsuccessfully trying to find parts to revive it.

A place called Audiolab. It's at the top of the perimeter. I can't say I can recommend them yet since they still haven't finished working on it.

the one in doraville?

actually I do remember inquiring somebody in roswell about tuning up my nak. i never followed through, though. http://aminaaudio.com/service.html. i’ve heard reputable things.

Doraville, yes. I just talked to them. It should be finished by the end of the week, they said. It's going to cost a couple hundred dollars in the end to fix my Nakamichi bx-300, which isn't too bad considering that I got it for free.

[zla vydra]

I just dumped a bunch of cassettes at Criminal Records yesterday. Head over there if you've been wondering where you can get a cassette copy of Helloween's Judas or a whole bunch of other 80s/early 90s stuff.