If youre happy with the outcome of your sound, that's great. Sounds like you have something like and old technics which are good sounding deck. It would be nice to fetch another deck to add with your existing system.., with manual bias selection for sound experiment and flexibility..
I've rescued, rebuilt...brought back to life a lot of tapes over the years. Started as a kid ( 7/8 years old). My mum had a knack of getting them jammed and would leave them on the table all busted up. I'd get quizzical and take them in bits and then rebuild. I've always been like that with everything though. I like to fix things.
This whole thread is just a testament to why LPs rule cassettes, except for the stuff you can't get on LP.
Thanks for the info VWL. I play all my chrome tapes in the normal bias position because I like a sparkly high end
To each their own man. Vinyl is a pain in the rear to clean, and you can’t repair it once it’s worn out like you can with a tape. Don’t get me wrong, I do like me some records, and they can sound awesome but again cleaning sucks, they’re too fragile, and I will take a little hiss over pops and crackles.
A JVC-KD-V6, two of them lol. Sounds great, and doesn’t have Dolby hx-pro. I could shim the auto type triggers to experiment but don’t feel the need. Took the screws out from the sides of the lid for easy access to the inside to adjust levels and bias as needed. Doesn’t bother me any that it’s not on the face.
I have the 2 years earlier version of that which is the KD-55j. I love it..! It sound phenomenal on the JVC dynarec, Fuji and scotch master II and III (ferri-chrome) I'll never get rid of it. I also have the next year after which is the KD-A55. Same sound and characteristic but pro-logic. The only burden I went to it is when I changed all the belts and serviced. It totally spun my head but I got it done the right way. There was a guy at Tapeheads site and he wanted to do a complete service. When he was right there, he changed his mind... LoL.. I wont blame him. It took me 3.5 hours to figure it out. Not like the earlier and the later version are easy. Bottom line those JVC's are great sounding machines. Mine doesn't have much power on the pre output, I could probably change the op chip but hey.. its all about the amp too right? Au revoir....
They really are great sounding machines, JVC seems to have been overlooked in the past. I’ve bought at least 5 cassette decks in the past 6-7 years since I got my first KD-V6, and it’s the only one that has been always reliable, sounds the best, and is still going.
Currently redoing Def Leppard’s Hysteria from their original cd release to some type ii tape I sacrificed from a Memorex HBS ii and adjusted bias accordingly. The original tape was chromium dioxide, set at 120 uf as well. The auto tape type is set to normal as the sacrificed tape is now inside the original shell. Honestly, amazing quality recording using 120 uf to type ii so apparently your results may vary.
Yenno, it can be a daunting task to work on these machines sometimes. All part of the hobby though. Best thing you can do at a minimum is replace the power supply caps! The deck you see on top I did a full recap, total pain but it is peace of mind and sounds phenomenal. Haven’t gone through the bottom one yet since it’s just playback and sounds basically identical. Apparently JVC used good caps in these machines so can’t complain one bit!
Oooooohh... Ooooh ...Ooh. Oh - Oh.............. Love the album man. I like it better than Pyromania. I saw Joe Elliott and Phil Collen in 1988. They rock!
Is that yours?? I’ve always wanted that model! The destroyer dt-555 or something or another isn’t it?
No its not mine. But I have an 82 banez destroyer II with single humbucker. Along the way I bought a DT555. For looks the 555 is better. But I like the sound of the lower version. and another one that blew my mind is the 70's iceman with an unusual bucker.. I had one and I sold it. damn.... Ill trade my Gibson studio signature for a good one of these....
Another guitar that I'm raving for is a original Lukather guitar. The only thing that's stopping me is the tremolo. I couldn't find a good replacement. As you know they will never get close to a real Floyd. But I played one of these. Damn!
I can't say I've ever bought new leader even though I've had cassettes opened before. Lots of old tapes to volunteer parts. If the connection to the reel snaps, you can just slide out the pin or chuck that most hubs have, and shorten the existing leader. With leader, you also need proper adhesive tape, and a slicing block for trimming. On this old style that I had decades ago (Realistic 44-214), you slide the black plastic carriage on the hinged arm between "slice tapes diagonally" and "trim the excess splice off the side" mode. Here's ten minutes of leader tape in a cassette - nonsensically a cassette that doesn't appear to have screws (so you don't get a free housing also): Cassette 1/8'' Leader Tape I've both re-recorded from CD onto quality tape trimmed to the correct length and put it in the original housing (which has to be cracked and then re-glued) to make an original-looking cassette better than factory, and transplanted messed up prerecords (perhaps with a bad felt pad etc) into a blank tape housing. Particular to consider is that the design of the hub may be different, needing a re-wind onto the correct parts. Both are redundant activities for over 30 years.
I did keep the jacket of a number of damaged LPs, which I hold and read the tracklist from, while I listen to the falc files I got to replace it, but that as crazy as I get. If that's his idea of a restoration, by all means let him keep enjoying that !
I once bought a Kiss cassette and there was no tape inside the shell. Upon returning it, the seller told me that had the shell been held together by screws instead of glue, he wouldn't have refunded my money (for obvious reasons)
Well I got some but still looking for an actual reader. I have 1/4 for the reel besides its thicker and wider. Not gonna work. 1/8" Cassette Leader Tape - Clear
I'm listening to some of my 1986 recordings from a brand new album. Is always nice to have a well made cassette recordings. Original vinyl is probably history by now but the cassette lives on with the same sound it was recorded from day 1. And if there are any scratch sound, its not gonna multiply.
