Probably not all that exciting in comparison to what's going on over in the Chicago Quadio thread (you kids with your organic free-range blu rays, and your quinoa instagram selfies) but these are my latest Q8s:
What's the Latest QUAD TAPE Added to Your Pile? Q8, Q4
- Thread starter Quad Linda
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Steely hey love the Cat Stevens stuff...........not that Snood has any 8 tracks............but just curious, how much are these things costing (or are you finding in thrift stores, etc) and how well overall do these things play (percentage wise)?
I'd go further than that - the three Four Tops quad mixes are some of my favourite quad mixes of all time. They'd make killer SACDs, not only because the quad mixes are great, but also because they're basically unavailable in any digital format. 'Keeper' was briefly on CD as part of a 2-fer in the 80's, and the other two ('Main Street People' and 'Meeting Of The Minds') have never had digital release of any kind, CD, download or otherwise.
I'm not sure if it's because the tapes are missing (as supposedly lots of the ABC/MCA tapes are) but there were at least tapes of some sort available as of 2001 because a number of tracks from these albums appeared on the 4CD 'Fourever' box set. Whether they subsequently perished in the 2008 Universal vault fire, I don't know. Keep hope alive until there's reason not to, I say.
I'm not sure if it's because the tapes are missing (as supposedly lots of the ABC/MCA tapes are) but there were at least tapes of some sort available as of 2001 because a number of tracks from these albums appeared on the 4CD 'Fourever' box set. Whether they subsequently perished in the 2008 Universal vault fire, I don't know. Keep hope alive until there's reason not to, I say.
Hey Snood,
The cost of the tapes really varies, but how much you pay really depends on how patient you are and how much searching you're willing to do. For me part of the thrill of the hunt is getting good bargains on the tapes I buy, unless it's a really rare tape and I feel like it's worth battling for on eBay because I may never see another copy again. To answer your question specifically, the 9 tapes in the picture above cost me about $45 + shipping which I felt was a really good deal because I've seen that Guess Who GH v2 tape go for $30 on it's own.
So basically what I have is a lot of patience - I think my collection of Q8 tapes numbers somewhere between 175 and 200, but the number of tapes on my wantlist is nearer to 400. The majority of them I could probably either buy-it-now or bid for on eBay, but I'd probably be paying $15 for average tapes, twice that for good ones, and $50+ for rare ones. Just to give you an example, I'd really like to get Rick Derringer's All American Boy and Spring Fever but every time they've shown up for auction in the last year All American Boy has gone for about $75 and Spring Fever for $50. For me these tapes are about the actual music on them and not the rarity, so I try to remind myself that they're kinda crummy sounding 8-track tapes and no tape is worth $75 to me. I'd rather have ten $7.50 tapes than one $75 tape.
So aside from not going in to battle on eBay a lot, I do a lot of googling for specific catalog numbers to see if anything shows up on the web, and also looking at bulk lots of tapes as well - most people don't even know quadraphonic tapes are a thing any different from stereo tapes, so if you do enough searching you can sometimes find groups of stereo tapes that have quad tapes mixed in with them. That's how I got that Carpenters UK Q8, it was in a bulk lot with 6 other Carpenters tapes so I wrote the seller and asked if she'd sell me that one tape seperately and she said sure.
I've also had good success just by being a nice and friendly person in email exchanges with people - there was one seller I bought a couple of tapes from, and I wrote him and explained that I collected quad tapes, and if he had any more that I'd be willing to buy them as a bulk lot. He wrote me back saying that yeah, he had another 30 or so, and I made him an offer that amounted to something like $6 a tape, with the caveat that he could probably get more selling them one at a time but that this way he'd save himself the time and energy it would take to list 30 tapes seperately. He seemed to appreciate the fact that I was honest and not trying to scam him and accepted my offer. I've had some similar success with other people I've bought tapes from by doing the same thing, so I always make a point of asking if they have more tapes that they want to sell.
As far as the percentage that play, I think playing an old 8-track tape if you haven't serviced it is a bit like winding an antique watch without having it cleaned - it may work for a while but eventually it's going to go south on you. One of the first tapes I ever got about 15 years ago (Buddy Rich's Greatest Hits, I remember it clearly) I had it open so I could replace the splice, and I dropped it on the floor and the whole tape unspooled off the hub in a tangled mess. After about 10 minutes of freaking out I resolved to fix it, and after looking at a bunch of pictures of how 8-track tapes were supposed to wind I began the process of winding it back on to the hub. Bearing in mind that if I did it wrong it could be either backwards, or the tape could be inside out, or both, after about an hour I finally got it done and much to my relief it played properly which verified I'd wound it correctly. That was a real learning experience for me, and I think if you collect 8-tracks you need to know exactly how they work (which isn't that complicated actually) so you can repair and maintain them. Now when I get new tapes I have a standard procedure before I play them - gently open the case (popping the tabs without breaking them is an acquired skill), spool the tape by hand to the splice, and tug on it pretty firmly to see if it comes apart and replace the sensing foil, replace the foam pad, and close it up. I think if you have a well maintained player and well maintained tapes, the odds of having a tape jam, or break, or accordion is pretty low.
Holy Sheeeeeeeeeeeeeet Steely - did not expect that much in depth reply, but thank you :banana:
Read the whole thing and was like this is awesome
Thank You very much :snoodhug:
Dave, what's the country of manufacture on the Carpenters' Singles Q8? Although it was released in the US, the spine label has a "top wrap" rather than a "bottom wrap" AND the shell isn't the standard US blue A&M cartridge.
All The Four Tops Quads are great, Simon. There's a few of them (Meeting Of The Minds, Main Street People & Keeper Of The Castle.. off the top of my head, there may have been more I dunno?) good conversions 'out there' too.. I really like that phase of their career - its interesting and kinda ironic ex-Motown acts like The Four Tops and The Miracles went onto other labels and then had Quad releases, whereas if they had stayed at Motown they probably wouldn't have had Quad releases.. well maybe The Four Tops might have had one on CD-4 in Japan or something possibly if they'd stuck with Motown but The Miracles definitely not and it's such a shame as The Miracles' second-to-last last album for Motown "City Of Angels" has the HILARIOUS "Ain't Nobody Straight In L.A.", the glorious "Love Machine" and the plain daft "Night Life" on it (lyrics including; "Night Life in the big city, it is my cup of tea, it's for me.." sheer bloody poetry.. haha..
) oh how I would dearly love to hear that "City Of Angels" album in Surround, its a hoot!
Philip Spinner
1K Club - QQ Shooting Star
Looks like that Four Tops cart is an H which means that the channels may not be swapped.
Much like me, it's Canadian.
It's interesting, the blurb on the back says it was manufactured by A&M Records of Canada Ltd. but the shell is clearly the RCA style (just struck using gold plastic instead of their usual red) with the rivet in it so I assume RCA Canada probably did the actual manufacturing. RCA Canada also did the manufacturing of the United Artists Q8's in Canada (also in gold shells) and they sound considerably better than their US counterparts in the black and white shells. It looks as well like the final run(s) of the RCA Canada UA Q8's were Dolby B encoded as well (big dolby logo on he front of the tape) which would mean they sounded even better. I'd love to get my hands on some of these but they're really difficult to find.It is an 'H' cart indeed. My tape deck is out of commission at the moment, but when I get things set up again I'll report back.
Dave = HE DA MAN.
Better get some extra bananas in at this rate, Snoodykins!
Trooooooooooooooo Dat Freddypoos :banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana: All for Dave
quadsearcher
1K Club - QQ Shooting Star
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BOC, Secret Treaties. Sounds very good on the Akai.
Where do you get sensing foil? Is it stick-on with its own adhesive? All I've got is autoreverse reel foil that needs to be spliced, and I don't want to risk making the tape pack loose.
Where do you get sensing foil? Is it stick-on with its own adhesive? All I've got is autoreverse reel foil that needs to be spliced, and I don't want to risk making the tape pack loose.
Hi. All
I have found on ebay another Mantovani Simulated Quad R to R tape. something to avoid.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/25241963263...XX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1436.l2649#ht_2101wt_920
I have found on ebay another Mantovani Simulated Quad R to R tape. something to avoid.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/25241963263...XX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1436.l2649#ht_2101wt_920
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Yes, the sensing foil has an adhesive back. You can find it on Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/TME-Aluminum-Sensing-ACFOIL-54-Removable/dp/B00NLWE5K0
IMHO, BOC's best Quad and best album on any format. I wore this one out on Q8 in my car as a new release. Kept playing it over and over and over... With over 200 Q8's and lots of Q8 homebrew mix tapes, I had lots to listen to.
BTW: the Q8 was mounted on a slide mount bracket and alternated with an auto-reverse cassette deck, also mounted on a slide mount. Hottest car fi for its' day. Later, I had a dbx cassette, then a DVD-A in my two convertibles. The current one has a video screen and a nav system.
BTW: the Q8 was mounted on a slide mount bracket and alternated with an auto-reverse cassette deck, also mounted on a slide mount. Hottest car fi for its' day. Later, I had a dbx cassette, then a DVD-A in my two convertibles. The current one has a video screen and a nav system.
Thanks for the warning! What BS!! Nothing like truth in advertising, and these markings are nothing like truth! OK, I guess the tape has four discrete tracks, BUT it is anything but a discrete mix.
My latest pile of Q8 acquisitions:
I'll be picking up the following on Monday:
Jose Feliciano - Compartments
Tower of Power - Ain't Nothin' Stoppin' Us Now
Mountain - Flowers of Evil Tape 1 (Blue Label/Blue Cartridge - woohoo!!)
Eddy Arnold - My World & Best Of (Both Still sealed)
Also pulled the trigger on a buy-it-now today at lunch the Ford Quadraphonic Demo with the big, multicolored "8" on the top label. Been dying to know what's on it. And for $10, I wasn't even worried!
All I need now to finish off the Feliciano Collection are his first Album "Feliciano!) and Tape 1 of Live at the Palladium.
Jose Feliciano - Compartments
Tower of Power - Ain't Nothin' Stoppin' Us Now
Mountain - Flowers of Evil Tape 1 (Blue Label/Blue Cartridge - woohoo!!)
Eddy Arnold - My World & Best Of (Both Still sealed)
Also pulled the trigger on a buy-it-now today at lunch the Ford Quadraphonic Demo with the big, multicolored "8" on the top label. Been dying to know what's on it. And for $10, I wasn't even worried!
All I need now to finish off the Feliciano Collection are his first Album "Feliciano!) and Tape 1 of Live at the Palladium.
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