remember the old 8 track tapes they sounded good at the time but the thing i remember most was how to fix them you would get ahold of tape and give it a pull and it would whind itself backup...i was just a child then but can remember it so well for some reason
They were a fact of life for a while. Rewinding them was an exercise in patience. My main beef with them was during "Freebird", the track had to change before the guitar jam began. Just bad timing. x
We would splice them back together with Scotch tape. We also had 4 tracks, much better sound but held less music. These looked like 8 tracks but were missing the wheel inside the cartridge. It would pivot up out of the player to drive the tape. And of course they only had 4 tracks instead of 8. My first unit was an open deck 4 track. Haven't seen a 4 track for 30 years but 8 tracks pop up all the time at flea markets.
You can fix that. What you do is open up the cartridge then cut the tape near the center of the wheel, then remove the wheel being careful not to let the tape come off the wheel! now spray the cartridge under where the wheel was with WD40 and wipe off the excess being careful not to let the WD40 get on the rubber roller or pads. now put the wheel back in and pull some of the tape from the inside of the reel until it no longer gives resistance usually no more than 3 feet. Now splice the tape back together with a piece of scotch tape, being careful not to twist the tape upside down. Now thread the tape back over the roller and pads then pull the tape form the inside of the reel until it is tight against the roller and pads. Now it should play again! With practice you'll get good at this, trust me. Also be sure to wash off any oils that may be present on your hands before working on your tape as the oils on your skin will adversely effect the sound quality of the tape, and always try to handle the tape as little as possible.
I had "Electric ladyland" on 8-track and I remember it would switch tracks in the middle of Voodoo chile... I listened to it so much, it seemed weird when you heard it off the record and there was no " ka-chunk" at the place your brain always expected it. That big, fat tape was really a high quality consumer medium, at the time. Other than breakthroughs in Dolby, 8track tapes were much higher fidelity than cassette without as much cross talk... until the heads got out of alignment. Remember the old match pack wedge fix for that?
I was helping my father clean out his storage shed last week and found a box of old 8 track tapes..... it cracked me up.
Yes, I remember them well. So proud we were to have portable music. lol I recall when I moved back home from San Diego to Los Angeles. Borrowed the parents Datsun, bought some acid, dropped said acid and drove to Hollywood - listening to an 8 track of John Denver. Because it was all that was in the car. Talk about surreal.
Yes I have spliced some of mine with scotch tape also... (Nazereth - Loud'N'Proud) I have trouble opening them.... Sadly I have lost more than I have been able to fix 8 tracks are goregous sounding (If the source if straight analogue and it was done right) They can be quite high maintenence though!!
when i got out of the air force, and my adult life began, in the early 70s, 8-traks were the thing. you could get receivers and amps with them build in, and even recorders for them. and even reel to reel recorders had an 8-trak recording slot built into the side. that was how i bought moody blues, jefferson airplale, jethro tull, and carlos' sonic seasonings. cassettes came later.
mine got left behind somewhere over the years in my migrations from place to place. not sure where or when. i probably don't still have any. last time i remember having them was when i moved from bed spring acres to ashland. that's probably where they got left when i moved to eugen, sometime around 80 or 81
Still Got My Player / Recorder.....An "Akai GX-82-D.....Still Got All My Old Tapes......Yes They Could Give Problems ......But I Built A Setup Where I Could Actually Make Tapes. I Bought 1/4 ''Long Play Tape In Bulk...... And Wound It Into The Cartridge......Thereby Giving It Playing Time That No Standard Cartridge Could Give You. Actually Made A Few Dollars Repairing Them for Peeps As To A Lot Of People They Were A Complete Mystery As To How They Worked After Years Of Nothing But Cassette Tapes..... Cheers Glen.
I have always wondered Glen (If you know) WHATS THE LONGEST A TRACK COULD BE ON AN 8 TRACK?? The longest one I have right now is 20:16 per track .. Whats the longest possible?? Speaking of Moody Blues.... I found my SEVENTH SOJOURN cartridge @ salvation army.... I couldnt believe 1) Someone would get rid of THAT ONE and 2) Some other 8 track lover hadnt swiped it before I saw it...That was the BEST one in that lot that day @ salvation army!!
4 tracks were held together by screws. 8 tracks plastic pins, you have to push them to the side to open the case. Here's an old Muntz open deck four track and tape
I had an 8 track player/recorder I bought in 1975, similar to the one below, wound up selling it cheap with all my tapes in 1980 just before the technology got discontinued. I'd borrow someone's vinyl and record it in exchange for recording them one of my albums. Seemed like a great cheap way to add to my music collection. I later switched to cassettes, and a few years ago I sold all my vinyl and cassettes and now I only keep CDs.
