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Advice on selling pre recorded reel tapes

Lazarus Long

Lazarus Long

Super Member
I’m not asking for pricing or attempting to sell anything through this sub forum..

Does anyone here actively sell pre recorded reel tapes? If you do, do you play grade them somehow? I have a few somewhat desirable tapes that I got in a lot of stuff. What’s considered acceptable as far as playback? Example, The Who, Whos Who. 3.75ips. Sounds decent, but there are some highs that sound slightly muffled or just not so crisp. Compared to a really nice sounding 7.5 ips tape, which I would call 10/10, this one would probably be about a 6.5-7/10. It’s fine for casual listening.. Is this considered pretty normal for these 3.75 ips tapes?
 
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I don't know why 3 3/4" R2R tape gets such a bad rap It's still twice as fast, and twice as wide, as cassette tape. And there's a lot of great sounding cassette decks/tape.

And sorry. That didn't address your original question.
 
The issue is that most folks including me want 7.5ips. for the reason they do sound a lot better in a system with high resolution. Then there is the age/storing issue with some older tapes so brittle they cannot stand any tension and break all the time. I am very leery of buying pre recorded tapes when the buyer states he has no way to test them and have stopped buying them altogether. FWIW
Regards,
Jim
 
Lazarus Long said:
I’m not asking for pricing or attempting to sell anything through this sub forum..

Does anyone here actively sell pre recorded reel tapes? If you do, do you play grade them somehow?
Click to expand...
I used to sell some on ebay. I didn't use a grading scale but I did note if the tape was aceate or polyester, and if acetate if it was brittle or warped or not. I also noted if there appeared to be any extreme tape saturation from the duplicating process, splices, damage of any kind etc.

I also always leadered the heads and tails.

Lazarus Long said:
I have a few somewhat desirable tapes that I got in a lot of stuff. What’s considered acceptable as far as playback? Example, The Who, Whos Who. 3.75ips. Sounds decent, but there are some highs that sound slightly muffled or just as crisp. Compared to a really nice sounding 7.5 ips tape, which I would call 10/10, this one would probably be about a 6.5-7/10. It’s fine for casual listening.. Is this considered pretty normal for these 3.75 ips tapes?
Click to expand...

The issue here is that the slower the tape speed, the more critical azimuth becomes and the more audible the errors, which show up as dulled highs. It's quite possible the tape has full highs (or as much as a 3.75 ips tape duplicated at high speed can have) but your deck is just off slightly enough to degrade them. If you switch your preamp to mono and the highs degrade even more, that's a sure sign of an azimuth mismatch. So unless you're a really persnickety person like me who doesn't mind playing with head azimuth and zenith, it can be hard to tell if the issue is the tape or the setup.

When I sold tapes, I always included a CD I made of the tape from my deck, with proper azimuth. It gave the buyer a yardstick to what the tape sounded like under ideal conditions, and gave them something to play in the car or use elsewhere.
 
ehoove said:
The issue is that most folks including me want 7.5ips. for the reason they do sound a lot better in a system with high resolution. Then there is the age/storing issue with some older tapes so brittle they cannot stand any tension and break all the time. I am very leery of buying pre recorded tapes when the buyer states he has no way to test them and have stopped buying them altogether. FWIW
Regards,
Jim
Click to expand...

which is why I’m asking the question… trying to grade actual SQ is hard. Visually grading albums is one thing. Visually grading the tape is another. I can have two tapes that look like they are in great condition. But one might sound better than the other.. What are you looking for as far as a play grade? I’m Leary of assigning grades to how something sounds. I don’t want to over grade. I also don’t want to under grade by too much. I guess I can make up my own scale..
10 - Master quality.
9 - EX, worthy of critical listening.
8 - VG+, critical listening could reveal minor flaws, but overall SQ is very good.
7- VG, some minor flaws present during playback.
6 - VG-, could have some slight hiss, some muffled highs. Still acceptable for casual listening.
5 - G, mediocre sound quality.
Less than 5, you’re buying the box.
 
empirelvr said:
I used to sell some on ebay. I didn't use a grading scale but I did note if the tape was aceate or polyester, and if acetate if it was brittle or warped or not. I also noted if there appeared to be any extreme tape saturation from the duplicating process, splices, damage of any kind etc.

I also always leadered the heads and tails.



The issue here is that the slower the tape speed, the more critical azimuth becomes and the more audible the errors, which show up as dulled highs. It's quite possible the tape has full highs (or as much as a 3.75 ips tape duplicated at high speed can have) but your deck is just off slightly enough to degrade them. If you switch your preamp to mono and the highs degrade even more, that's a sure sign of an azimuth mismatch. So unless you're a really persnickety person like me who doesn't mind playing with head azimuth and zenith, it can be hard to tell if the issue is the tape or the setup.

When I sold tapes, I always included a CD I made of the tape from my deck, with proper azimuth. It gave the buyer a yardstick to what the tape sounded like under ideal conditions, and gave them something to play in the car or use elsewhere.
Click to expand...
I did play that tape on another deck. I would say it improved from a 6.5 to a 7.5. And I’m probably being too picky, and under grading a bit. This is the problem I want to avoid. Saying that a tape has certain qualities during playback, and then the buyer has a deck that isn’t set up properly…
 
Artie said:
I don't know why 3 3/4" R2R tape gets such a bad rap It's still twice as fast, and twice as wide, as cassette tape. And there's a lot of great sounding cassette decks/tape.

And sorry. That didn't address your original question.
Click to expand...
The biggest issue is most were duplicated at such a high level, extreme tape saturation and distortion were very common. Even late production 7.5 ips tapes often suffered from this.
 
Honestly, the open reel tape market is so nuts right now, you can likely list them for sale as-is, untested and just show lots of pictures. They'll sell regardless.

Don't try assigning a numerical value to the tapes. Just list any specific faults or damage and unload them.
 
Lazarus Long said:
which is why I’m asking the question… trying to grade actual SQ is hard. Visually grading albums is one thing. Visually grading the tape is another. I can have two tapes that look like they are in great condition. But one might sound better than the other.. What are you looking for as far as a play grade? I’m Leary of assigning grades to how something sounds. I don’t want to over grade. I also don’t want to under grade by too much. I guess I can make up my own scale..
10 - Master quality.
9 - EX, worthy of critical listening.
8 - VG+, critical listening could reveal minor flaws, but overall SQ is very good.
7- VG, some minor flaws present during playback.
6 - VG-, could have some slight hiss, some muffled highs. Still acceptable for casual listening.
5 - G, mediocre sound quality.
Less than 5, you’re buying the box.
Click to expand...

I think on 3.75 ips tapes it comes down to Tape Box and Tape Condition. i.e. are the leader tapes there, are the tape clips there and are the liner notes etc. included? Some just collect them, but others like myself buy them to play them. However all of the above speak to whether they were cared for and enhances their overall value to everyone.
Regards,
Jim
 
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