Cassette Recorders

['LIVEWIRE?']

Sometimes tight cassettes can be freed up by 'slapping' them down on a flat surface 2 or 3 times. This seems to loosen up the tape, and, if the cassette is then fast wound in both directions it usually plays OK afterwards.

[ben]

Personally I wouldn't advise that. Cassettes are actually more fragile than you'd think, and it is easy to break off parts of the shell inside which can cause yet more problems. I've seen a few damaged that way. What often happens is the area that keeps the spool(s) centred breaks off, and the spool(s) slide around inside the housing. Sometimes the little rotary guides (inside, just after the pinch roller gaps) can break off too.

[Ekcoman]

I acquired an SL50 cassette player a month ago made by ITT KB which believes preceeds my treasured ITTKB SL55 by a few years. I think it dates about 1968. Super quality. Strangely they dropped the KB when the SL55A was released. Didn't know of existence as never come across it before. Unfortunately seem unable to upload the picture.

[Mike Brett]

I tried the quick fix idea and squeezed the tapes as suggested, it worked on one of the tapes, but only for a while then it jammed again .Trouble is the cassettes are not the clear plastic type so its difficult to see what's actually happening. Looks like I will have to try and spool the tapes onto a spare cassette case.Thanks for the suggestions anyway.
Cheers Mike

[reely reely]

Its possible its wrapped up the thin plastic films each side of the reels, had that happen years ago, ended up breaking it open and putting the reels into a different cassette shell.

[Ekcoman]

Cassette tape construction did vary quite considerably with one of the best being TDK which always ran trouble free. One of the worst was Memorex as I remember with sponge rubber instead of sprung pad to hold the tape against the playing head. They frequently jammed and sound became poor as the sponge lost its spring.

['LIVEWIRE?']

Another good Cassette brand, IMHO, was the BASF 'SM' range. I still have a number of these that are by now maybe 20 years old. They've never given me any trouble and have been played in all sorts of machines over the years. THe 'SM', btw, stood for 'Special Mechanism'. The cassettes incorporated a couple of spring loaded levers which kept the tape tension even throughout the running time.

[Mike Brett]

Hi all
I have been after a Philips N2214 for some time as it was the first cassette recorder I ever brought. Hunting on the internet I came across a Hornyphon EK3241 in Austria that looked identical apart from the name. I have now got this recorder from Austria but am a bit concerned about plugging it into the UK mains. It came with a figure of eight mains plug with a two pin plug on the business end. On the inside of the battery compartment it has the voltage marked as 220 v 50/60 Hz 5w . Would it be al right to plug this into our mains ,I believe this to be 240 / 250 v. This recorder may well be made for our market as all the wording on the controls is in English, I do not have a manual unfortunately.
Cheers Mike

[Nickthedentist]

It will be fine, but I'd get into the habit of unplugging the mains when you're finished using it, to stop the transformer getting too hot.

Nick.

[ParcGwyn]

Originally Posted by Ekcoman

One of the worst was Memorex

I agree with that, Memorex tapes were given away with petrol in the '80s I recorded albums on them to play in the car and the seemed to deteriorate quite quickly, I always thought it was due to being kept in the car.

Dave
GW7ONS

[ricard]

Originally Posted by 'LIVEWIRE?'

The cassettes incorporated a couple of spring loaded levers which kept the tape tension even throughout the running time.

I don't think they arms were spring loaded, but they did at least attempt to guide the tape from the right and left hand idlers in the cassette to the reel hubs.

[Nickthedentist]

Yes, I think those arms were passive rather than spring-loaded. I never quite understood how they worked, especially in a horizontal mechanism.

N.

[ricard]

They basically just lie there, passively guiding the tape.

If you search for 'basf sm cassette' on Youtube, there are a couple of videos demonstrating the function. This particular one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P619wyGCtKk shows an SM cassette with half the shell taken off, running in a tape machine.

[camtechman]

I must admit, Memorex cassette tapes were rubbish but the strangest problem I had with cassette tapes were with some BASF ones. These were specifically released to coincide & celebrate the Munich Olympics.

At the time, I was working in an electronics shop and one day the rep came in and showed us the new tapes, each length C60, C90 & C120 were different colours and to promote us buying them, if we bought a minimum quantity of each, we were given a BASF/Munich Olympics Beer Stein. So we snapped them up.

Unfortunately, some time later, customers who'd bought them from us were bringing them back complaining that they "Squeaked" or as another customer described "Shrieking" as they played a recording.

Eventually the trickle of complaints about this problem turned into a torrent of complaints. I had bought some of these for myself but, as I hadn't even used them, I hadn't experienced the problem.

So, over the next few weeks, I made several recordings on each C60, C90 & C120's and, to cut a long story sideways, eventually I got the same audio shrieking when playing one or two.

Moreover, I then noticed, not only did they shriek when played back but at that very point, the shriek was 'recorded' onto the tape !

Only a couple of years ago, I found one of these tapes in my cupboard and played it back and, sure enough the problem occurred again, so I dumped it.

I wish now that I kept it !

[Andrew2]

I always avoided Memorex cassettes for my own personal use after experiencing multiple probs with them at work. They were quite noisy (mechanically) in operation, producing a kind of shuffling sound which to me meant 'friction'. Some transports were not happy winding/rewinding them either.
The BASF SM ones with the 'tusks' worked nicely but I often wondered about the extra drag.

[ben]

Memorex did have problems with their early shells, particularly the ones with the sponge pressure pads.By the mid 80s they were majking respectable budget ferrics.

There's a good set of images here

The ones made before about 1986 with the sealed shells and the glued in pressure pad sponge are pretty terrible; the later ones like dBs-I/dBs+ are usually ok entry level tapes. Memorex seemed to source their product from all over, hence the inconsistencies in quality; many if not all later ones from 1992 onwards were SKC (Korea) as were Fuji, Akai, later BASF.

Attached are the ones to be wary of.

[ianhumph]

Originally Posted by ben

There's a good set of images here

This is incredible. Spending just a few minutes on that site brings back some memories I can tell you!

[Ekcoman]

Some of those images of Memorex Cassettes send a shudder down my spine . Guess at least we could back then and now salvage tape by canabalising. I remember an article in a newspaper where a guy had transferred all his records, tapes and cassettes onto the "new" indestructible recordable CD format. They all turned blue and he lost the lot after getting shot of his originals. A voice in my head many years ago told be to always keep the originals.

[camtechman]

Does anyone remember the Memorex storage unit for their cassettes?

The main frame was made of annodised alluminium that housed hinged, drop down acrylic trays, into which you put the cassettes. The units were in blocks of 6 (I believe) and could be linked together.

[Mike Brett]

Many thanks to Ben for posting the thread to the Audio Tape Guide. I have been delving into the different types and makes of tape available in the past and this guide is an invaluable source of information.
Mike