Re: [ARSCLIST] The worst cassette tape years

[Tom Fine <tflists@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Yes, those were terrible but my father used those to tape his lectures for a course he taught at NYU 
(super-tough Panasonic tape recorder on the table in front of him -- plenty of table resonance to 
tune out for better audibility). They sat for about 15 years in a box in semi-damp basement before 
my brother decided to copy them to CD. They have all played just fine so far, and he's about halfway 
through the box.

So, bad quality on Day 1 for sure, but they seem to be durably bad.

-- Tom Fine

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Miriam Meislik" <miriam+@xxxxxxxx>
To: <ARSCLIST@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Monday, June 04, 2007 4:12 PM
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] The worst cassette tape years


> Hmmm, Certron comes to mind.  Three noisy rattling tapes for a buck. I used to use them to tape 
> things off the radio in the 1970s.
>
>
>
> Terry, Kopana wrote:
>
> > The 70's and 80's had a few years that weren't very kind in the world of
> > cassette tape manufacturing. Those crappy years have come back to haunt
> > more than one of us as time has gone on. If you had to pick the year(s)
> > that saw the most poorly manufactured cassette tape, what would it
> > (they) be? In scouring the ARSC archives I've seen two brands mentioned in
> > particular that seem to be more prone to crappiness than others: 3M and
> > Scotch. Is one worse than the other? Are there other brands that are
> > even worse? Many thanks for your opinions,
> > Kopana
> >
> >
> > Kopana Terry
> > Sr Image Management Specialist
> > Preservation & Digital Programs
> > University of Kentucky
> > M.I. King Library, rm 105
> > Lexington, KY 40506-0039
> > office (859) 257-3210; fax (859) 257-6311
> > klterr0@xxxxxxx ; http://kdl.kyvl.org
>
> --
> Miriam Meislik
> Media Curator
> Archives of Industrial Society
> University of Pittsburgh
> 7500 Thomas Blvd.
> Pittsburgh, PA 15260
> (412)244-7075 voice
> (412)244-7077 fax
> miriam@xxxxxxxx
>
> http://www.library.pitt.edu/libraries/archives/archives.html
> http://digital.library.pitt.edu/pittsburgh/index.html
> http://images.library.pitt.edu/pghphotos
>
>
> When your mouth drops open, click the shutter.
> --Harold Feinstein, November 11, 2001