Thrift Store Cassettes . How do I judge condition ?
- Thread starter zebra03
- Start date
KevinJS
Lunatic Member
Good question. About the only thing I could think of is to avoid those that are uneven on the reels. Of course, that might not be any indication of tape quality but it’s my rule of thumb. I’ve picked up quite a number of cassettes at GW, both prerecorded and blank. I snag any CrO2 and Metal tapes I come across.
Maybe buy a beater cassette deck to test dubious media before allowing it near your main system?
Maybe buy a beater cassette deck to test dubious media before allowing it near your main system?
For the price of Goodwill tapes how much are you risking... ? Take em home and play em. If they play well, great. If they don't toss em. The only tapes I stay completely away from is filthy dirty shells. Figure if they were left out to get that dirty some of that made it inside the shell and on the tape. Can't beat Goodwill, garage and tag sales.
I always watch out for beat up cassettes. Mainly the cassette itself, as the case is there to take the beating. There is no guarantee on condition until you have a listen, but I cannot remember the time I got a bad one at a thrift. And as MRL states, at .99 cents, oh well.
dr*audio
Fish fingers and custard!
It's easy to check the condition on cassette tapes. Look in the opening where the heads go at the surface of the tape. The tape should be flat, not cupped, with no grooves, scratches or vertical lines in it. Chrome tapes should be shiny. Bring along a Bic pen to stick in the hubs and turn them. The tape should turn very freely. Damage usually occurs near the beginning of the tape, so turn the tape until you get to the beginning and look at the tape. There can be vertical lines in the tape near the beginning from the slot in the hub where the tape is attached, but these should stop after a few turns of the hubs. If not, the take up tension on the deck may have been too high. I bought lots of tapes at garage sales this way and got very few rejects.
UncleBingo
Super Member
Make sure there is a felt pressure pad under the tape. It should be at the very center of the opening when looking at the magnetic tape.
Also look for wrinkled tape through the tape housing window.
Also look for wrinkled tape through the tape housing window.
I wouldn't worry about the felt, er pressure pad, too much. Can easily be replaced but good to check before you put it into your deck unless it's certain Nak's and then it's push from the equation. I usually smack the tape on my hand with these older cassettes because the glue holding the pressure pad on it dried brittle and old. If it sticks I am good to go. If not I use Elmer's to glue them back in position. My two cents.
Buy a decent Nak and pressure pad isn't a worry, since they have the lifter built in. BTW, my GW's locally have resorted to NOT selling tapes, instead shipping them to a central location for destruction or shipping them off. My local thrift with tapes is the ARC (GW type). All tapes are 69 cents, even the sealed blanks, I find a keeper every once in a while.
Actually , I have a Nakamichi CD 1 deck I bought brand new . This is the deck I am trying to not "eff" up with bad tapes . haha
Yep, as I indicated.
They're a quarter in the Goodwills around here...
M-D-Z
Member
Here in NYC, they are $0.99 to $2.99!
I always prefer tapes made from the late 80s & up.
Dark color shiny tape, nice and flat, not sun/UV faded, dull, scratched up.
Also, I know a recording is most likely going to sound good if it says HX-Pro, Digalog, SR, Dolby, Type II, and has a clean tape and housing, I avoid dirty heat warped shells and trashed cases.
There were many excellent advances implemented to prerecorded Compact Cassette production during that period, presumably a full bore (read desperate) attempt to stay in the game against the onslaught of CDs.
Quadman2
Lunatic Member
Two things that sometimes will work.
1. Give the cassette a couple of raps...but not too hard.
2. Run it all the way through fast mode, and reverse it at the same speed.
This may hold off the turf for a while, but if it's been played a lot, they like the 8 tracks have their point of no return.
Q
1. Give the cassette a couple of raps...but not too hard.
2. Run it all the way through fast mode, and reverse it at the same speed.
This may hold off the turf for a while, but if it's been played a lot, they like the 8 tracks have their point of no return.
Q
