Old Cassette Decks

[david henman]

...i have been buying up old cassette decks. i currently have two sonys and two technics, all single well. wonderful devices, with stereo mic ins and vu meters. they are great for "instant" recording - i keep one in the bedroom for late night inspiration.

however, none of them plays back at concert pitch - all of them play back a little fast (or, perhaps, they record that way). i have some thirty hours of ideas and sketches recorded, but can't play along because of the pitch difference.

can i : 1/ take these to a tech to have them calibrated to pitch or, 2/ is there a device, like a voltage regulator (expensive?), that i can buy to adjust the tape speed?

thanks!

-dh

[keefsdad]

Even if you play it back on the same machine?
I have seen older decks with "pitch control" so you can vary the speed.

[Beatles]

I'm surprised that all 4 are not in pitch. As far as I know there is nothing you can buy that will adjust the pitch. I don't think that its necessarily a calibration problem, but it could be either that you need a new capstan or pinch roller, if they are belt drive, could be that they need new belts. I picked up a great Teac mastering deck for 10 bucks off ebay. Just needed to replace the belt. You may want to consider picking up an older Tascam (or equivalent) porta studio. They can be bought really cheap. If you need to correct the pitch, let me know I can re do your tapes and bring them to pitch if you're stuck.

[Xanadu]

my tape deck has pitch control.

[david henman]

...i think a cassette portastudio with pitch control is the way to go. anyone have one for sale?

-dh

[Yerffej]

I have the tascam. Not for sale, but I recommend it very highly. I have had the same problems as you with single track cassette decks, but this 4 track that I use now has been great to me

edit: mine cost like $150 new from the guitar store, and I have seen them on musiciansfriend and similiar sites

[Chito]

I have a Tascam Portastudio 414mkII that's just sitting in storage in my basement. If you're interested David send me an email at chito at spillback.com

[lolligagger]

I have a Yamaha cassette player exactly like the one below...I paid a lot more than $11.51 for this unit 20-some years ago.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Yamaha-KX-300U-Natural-Sound-Stereo-Cassette-Deck-Dolby_W0QQitemZ9737433679QQcategoryZ4784QQcmdZView Item

What else do I need for creating my own backing tracks with my acoustic guitar?

[bolero]

you may be able to find some software that will do that...are you transferring the stuff to your PC after it's recorded?

[lolligagger]

hey bolero,

Are you talking to me? I don't necessarily want to hi-jack this thread. I don't really plan to transfer files to my CP, but who knows. This thread just got me thinking about a use for my old Yamaha cassette player. What I might do is try running an RCA line from my kids Karaoke machine to the cassette player just to see how well it works. This idea is kind of fizzling out, now that my co-worker lent me his 4-track recorder.

[gerald guerrero]

http://www.geocities.jp/freak_audio/cassette.htm HeyDood. These old cassette machines are some of the finest live music recording equpiment ever made-much butter sounding then digital-sweeter and warmer.Tapes are still being made, but they've discontinued making the very best of them, so you have to hunt around for them, like on ebay. There are still forums and places to get them serviced. the best of the Cassete decks still go for big money.Also, you aren't going to be able to multi-track, its just one take, so thats cool too-its gonna have that live feel.For multi-tracking, Reel to reels like the Teac 3304 4 track and Fostex 8 tracks are the way to go. Again, you gotta hunt them down and its a difficult proposition getting one thats fully functional-Caveat Emptor! ....Digital sucks, but who cares anymore nowadays. I still do; Ive got quite a collection of these highly sought after older top of the line cassette decks, but digital is just so much more conveienient and all, and for all practical commercial purposes thats the way to go. I still hate digital though-cold, lifeless and sterile.