O/T Restoration of an Old Cassette Tape

[DrGregC]

I know this is off-topic, but I also know that this group represents a wide diversity of background and interest is music reproduction.

A friend of mine just told me that he has in his possession a cassette tape from 1971 that contains a live performance of music from a band comprised of our friends at that time. He has been transferring to digital all of his old tapes. This particular tape broke years ago and is unusable in its current condition.

Does anyone know of an individual who can repair the tape and transfer it to a digital format for a reasonable price?

Thanks.

[Retrograde]

Repairing the tape should be pretty easy. I'm sure you can still buy a repair kit for the tape. I've done it before with a kit I bought at Radio Shack, but it was loooong time ago. The kit had a clamp to hold the tape straight while you cut a clean break that can then be taped back together on the backside. You lose a small part of the audio tape, but it does work. If the cassette case is broken, I'd open it up and put the reels into a good cassette case after repairing the tape as needed. Some cases have screws, some just pop apart.

Hope that helps

[DrGregC]

Anyone have any experience with,

http://www.audio-restorations.com/cassette-repair/

Apparently they do all types of repair, restoration, and transfer. Reasonable pricing as well.

[coyote]

It's just a *cassette*?! I recommend someone you know who is mechanically inclined. Nothing could be simpler; I've been disassembling and splicing tapes since I was 5. The largest problem will be if it is a cheap cassette which does not have screws. Then you'll have to carefully pry it apart at the seams with a jeweler's screwdriver and glue the corners when reassembling. There are usually no more than 4 removable parts inside a cassette, besides the tape and reels themselves, so it's a pretty simple thing to do yourself. Personally, I wouldn't waste my money sending such a simple thing to someone else to do.

[Wolfe]

It's just a *cassette*?! I recommend someone you know who is mechanically inclined. Nothing could be simpler The largest problem will be if it is a cheap cassette which does not have screws. it's a pretty simple thing to do yourself. Personally, I wouldn't waste my money sending such a simple thing to someone else to do.

It really isn't that hard. I fixed lots of cassettes back when I was using them. Just make sure you use real splicing tape, like you can get at Radio Shack, and make sure you accurately line up the ends you're splicing, so the tape doesn't start running seriously off azimuth.

[DrGregC]

It's amazing how two people can give you essentially the same answer; one like a gentleman and one... not.

I may not have started at 5, but I worked in my uncle's TV-radio repair shop growing up and I am certainly capable of performing a clean splice on a cassette tape. There are two problems that are being overlooked.

Radio Shack no longer sells splicing blocks or tape. The only sources I found sell 1200" (!) of ⅛" splicing tape for $9.95 and the splicing block for $33.95.

http://www.tapecenter.com/tapecare.html

I am also looking for restoration of an almost 40 year tape. I have tried using Audacity and similar software in the past with variable results. I was hoping that a professional could solve both of these issues at a reasonable price.

[phonojim]

Since you already know how to splice and repair cassettes, that takes care of all of the advice so far. If you are steady enough, you can splice the tape by hand using scissors or a razor blade and Scotch tape. Overlap the ends as you would in a splicer and make a clean cut through both layers to give yourself a clean splicing point. Then, unless you are a lot steadier than I am, you will need to devise a clamping system to hold the tape in place while you apply the splicing tape. Cotton swabs, popsicle sticks, toothpicks, etc. are all useful for this purpose, along with more scotch tape. A piece of glass makes a good working surface. Since you only plan to use the tape once or twice to digitize it, you don't need to make an archive-grade splice. The scotch tape will work fine. If there is any tracking error at the splice, it should only be momentary, then the tape will realign itself in the guides after the splice passes them. BTW: be sure to fully demagnetize any steel tools you will be using so you don't get additional noise or partial erasure at the splice.

I have never used Audacity, but I do use Magix for recording, editing and cleaning. It works well, but it does have its limitations. Generally I try to use as little filtering as possible and I usually apply it manually (and gradually) rather than automatically. It is easy to overfilter and create something worse than you started with. Just as is the case with photo-enhancing programs, there is only so much anyone can do within the limitations of your source material. I also always work from a copy of the original digital file so if I mess things up too badly I can just chuck everything, make a new copy and start over. If you have the time and patience, you can probably get the best copy that your original will allow by doing it yourself.

Hope this helps.

Jim

Feel free to PM me if you think I can be of any further help.