[Maybe OT]British Library National Audit of Sound Collections

[Peter S Kirk]

On 20 May 2015 at 6:57, Nick Payne wrote:

> On 19/05/2015 21:09, David Cantrell wrote:
> > In this case the tapes are whatever unsigned bands consisting of 
> > impoverished students could buy in bulk. So cheap crap made out of 
> > swarf and brown paint probably. 
> 
> A friend of mine who spent a couple of decades repairing VCRs once said 
> to me: "Using cheap tapes in your machine is like running a mixture of 
> sandpaper and chewing gum past the heads"...

I'm grateful that in my early years I developed a desire to use quality 
products for anything I considered important. Age 10 first portable cassete 
player I bought in 1972 was an ITT: Stereo record. Always bought BASF 
Chrome tapes, then later Verbatim 5.25 floppies, BASF or Sony VHS tapes etc 
and all still work.

Someone mentioned inexpensive cassete players with easy access to heads, 
transport mech etc. Car radio/cassete players fit the bill, virtually free 
from a breakers yard.