Cassette Playing Backwards

[19Seventy7]

Hi, I have an old cassette player (Sanyo RD 4260) which works fine, however I have one tape with 1960s songs on, I think the cassette is called 20 Rock N Roll greatest hits, but I am not sure, all I know for sure is that the tape was released in 1992, so it is old. However, it plays fine, apart from a section on either side of the tape where the songs start to play backwards, same place on either side. I was just wondering if anyone knows how I can fix this or if it was an issue with the recording.

I have a link to a discogs page with the same track list but it is on compact disc, i cannot find it on tape however.

https://www.discogs.com/Various-20-R...master/1188981

Thanks.

[Dave Moll]

Tapes and cassettes are not really my thing, but one possible way to achieve this is if the tape has become twisted and the section from the other track is now being read from the back of the tape. Have you tried ejecting the cassette at the point where it begins (or ends) playing backwards and physically inspected the tape at that point?

[TIMTAPE]

Dave's suggestion sounds probably right. It's possible to undo the fold(s) in the section of tape and flip the tape section back correctly. You may need to take the casing apart to do this though. It's fiddly but possible.

[emeritus]

That does sound like the reason: I sometimes had to fix cassettes that had this problem when we used to get talking book cassette sets from the public library for long car journeys. After identifying and pulling out a loop of the damaged tape, a pair of sharp-pointed tweezers was useful for uncreasing it, followed by pulling the straightened damaged tape over the edge of the pocket clip from the plastic cap of a a Bic crystal ball point pen to flatten out the creases, pressing gently but firmly against the edge with a finger while pulling it through.

[llama]

I wonder if the bulk duplicator got out of sync such that some of the tapes reversed before others. Maybe this particular tape had been wound-on a little before being put in the duplicator. Another idea: the duplicator recorded all 4 tracks (stereo, twice) in one pass and therefore one pair of tracks would have to be reversed to be recorded. Maybe a recordist wasn't concentrating and swapped the upper and lower pairs.
Enough rambling
Graham

[19Seventy7]

Thanks for all the replies!

I found out that the cause was that the tape had folded over itself, and i have unfolded and straightened as best as i could. now i have a second issue, the tape has tangled badly, i had to pull the tape out pretty far as there were multiple folds. Now its like this... Any ideas, i really do not want to throw away.

[sp10mk11]

you are not going to do this tape much good, but carefully wind the tape back in by hand, find a suitable pen/pencil to insert in the hub so you can turn the hub draw the tape back in, you will need a lot of patience, it will take time but you should be able to do this.
Good Luck
Gary

[emeritus]

Agreed, it can be done but patience is required. A Bic Crystal pen is the right size for the hubs, and several passes over the Bic pocket clip may be required to deal with the folded parts. There will always be a slight drop in sound output at the damaged parts.

[paulsherwin]

This tape is never going to play well though. The creasing will cause all sorts of unpleasant dropouts as that section plays. Cassettes were often damaged in this way by cheap and faulty players and mishandling, especially in cars.

[Richard_FM]

I remember this happened to a tape of mine, & I had to cut it up & resplice it back together as the fold was so sharp.

[camtechman]

Glad you've found the cause.

But get this...…….I have an undamaged, hardly used cassette tape (not home recorded) of classical music.

The last track, the 1812, has "Our House" by Madness playing underneath and backwards !!!!! Go figure...……………………. I have to admit it's a budget brand MFP (Music For Pleasure)

[19Seventy7]

Just a quick update, I was fixing it when the tape snapped. It had been sitting for almost 30 years, I tried fixing the snap with some tape, as a temporary arrangement, but its gone for good. Not going to chuck it away, it will just be a collection piece.

[paulsherwin]

If you don't have any proper tape editing facilities or splicing tape, you can make a repair with Scotch Magic Tape. Just join the two ends, and carefully trim the edges with sharp scissors. It won't be a perfect repair but it will work. Don't use ordinary Sellotape as the adhesive deteriorates and spreads gunge all over the place.

Beware of secondhand cassette tapes released in the 1990s. They do benefit from technical advances like HX-Pro, but cassettes had become very downmarket by then and anyone buying tapes was likely to be playing them on some pretty ropey gear.

[Dave Moll]

As an addendum to what Paul says, you will probably need to make a clean cut which matches between the two halves before you can make a successful join. Inevitably, this will lose a little of what is recorded, resulting in a "jump" in the playback.

The type of tape is also known as "invisible mending tape". As well as having superior adhesive, it is much thinner than Sellotape.

[barrymagrec]

Originally Posted by llama

I wonder if the bulk duplicator got out of sync such that some of the tapes reversed before others. Maybe this particular tape had been wound-on a little before being put in the duplicator. Another idea: the duplicator recorded all 4 tracks (stereo, twice) in one pass and therefore one pair of tracks would have to be reversed to be recorded. Maybe a recordist wasn't concentrating and swapped the upper and lower pairs.
Enough rambling
Graham

For large scale cassette duplication they used a four track one inch loop master that ran continuously feeding a bank of recorders (Gauss) running a pancake of tape - the recorded pancakes (each containing dozens of copies) were broken down and loaded into the final cassette so a reversed recording could only occur if the master was recorded wrongly, which would show up on every tape recorded.

Small scale duplicating plants used different systems, hard to say what could have happened there.

[Richard_FM]

Originally Posted by camtechman

Glad you've found the cause.

But get this...…….I have an undamaged, hardly used cassette tape (not home recorded) of classical music.

The last track, the 1812, has "Our House" by Madness playing underneath and backwards !!!!! Go figure...……………………. I have to admit it's a budget brand MFP (Music For Pleasure)

I've heard of at least 1 per-recorded tape where somehow the output of 2 different duplicators were mixed together on the final product.

One example is mentioned in the Vox Record Hunter by Tony Rees, I can't recall the artists concerned at the moment.

[dseymo1]

I believe that some commercial cassettes were made using a system which brought the master into contact with the duplicate under pressure, with no electronics (in 'our' sense) involved. Can't remember the details though.

[19Seventy7]

my tape had tangled and had snapped within that tangle as I was fixing, it was only a small tangle too. However, I cut the tangle off as tape had knotted too, goodness knows how, but I cut the tape and luckily it was on the pause between two songs.

I have found another copy on Ebay, and yes it was released in 1992, but its 3 pounds, im willing to risk it, after all, it's highly unlikely it ill be worse than my original copy.

[Dave Moll]

Originally Posted by InsertNameHere

I cut the tape and luckily it was on the pause between two songs.

Presumably, that is only true for one track. I assume there will be a less conveniently-placed break on the other track. At least you're not dependent on the results if you've found an inexpensive copy to buy from elsewhere.

[dseymo1]

Originally Posted by InsertNameHere

my tape had tangled and had snapped within that tangle as I was fixing, it was only a small tangle too. However, I cut the tangle off as tape had knotted too, goodness knows how, but I cut the tape and luckily it was on the pause between two songs.

I have found another copy on Ebay, and yes it was released in 1992, but its 3 pounds, im willing to risk it, after all, it's highly unlikely it ill be worse than my original copy.

At worst, if it is damaged elsewhere you could in theory splice in that section from the other one (that will test your skill - good luck!)