Anyone Running 8 Tracks?

[Rudy]

I wondered if we had an 8-Track thread buried here somewhere. 😁

I bought one back in the mid 2000s just to have a means to play back any tapes I came across. the deck is a Fisher, with Dolby NR, but it never worked right--it needs a mechanical overhaul. I did get some cheap 8-Tracks to go with it (including a few dozen that were still sealed), but as @Ed in Iowa says, the foam pads disintegrated and the foil leader tape's adhesive dried out. That said, I just need to get rid of the entire lot one of these days. I was too young for the 8-Track era and landed right into cassettes in high school, with a Radio Shlock under-dash unit that cost $19.99 on sale.

 

[BobInWi]

Hi. 8-Track tapes are a dime a dozen. Most have the splice gone, The glue just falls apart. If you can open them up you can splice them back and replace the foam pads. Back in 1982 I was in Chicago and picked up a trunk load of auto radio stuff that included several GM under the dash 8-track players. They were about a dozen of them. They sat in my basement till about 2004 when I moved to my new home. The GM ones were very well made. All of them had bad belts and needed a little cleaning and oiling. Belts were available from MCM Electronics for $1.81 each. I fixed up a few of them and took them to auto swap meet's and flea markets. I would set up a table with a working GM 8-track player and speakers. I was getting $50 each. I did the same with the radios. GM stuff (pre 1980) is well made and easy to fix. If you have them playing music they would sell. At one sale one person bought 5 items. All I have left now is one GM 8-track that got stripped of front panel pieces, a early Cadillac AM-FM that's junk, 2 1959 Chevy AM. And a AM-FM-8track from a Buick Rivera. I also have an AKAI CR-83D, record/play 8track in the original box. It sorta works, but I don't have time to look into it. ED

I have a bunch of 8 tracks & a player.
No interest is trying them out. Some of the tapes are still in shrink.

I KNOW they will self destruct & wrap themself around the internals of the player.

 

[Rudy]

That's why I never got into the sealed 8-Tracks I have. Oddly, the only tapes that held up (including the splice) were those very few that had a felt pad on a spring, not a wad of foam behind the tape. Maybe the tapes were just a better quality all around?

It's a cool relic of the past but, I think if I was really serious about keeping something, I'd ditch the crappy Fisher and get a Pioneer.

 

[BobInWi]

That's why I never got into the sealed 8-Tracks I have. Oddly, the only tapes that held up (including the splice) were those very few that had a felt pad on a spring, not a wad of foam behind the tape. Maybe the tapes were just a better quality all around?

It's a cool relic of the past but, I think if I was really serious about keeping something, I'd ditch the crappy Fisher and get a Pioneer.

I had a Wollensak 8 track player/ recorder that I remember as better than most. I sold it to a guy w a band & they were going to use it to make demo tapes. Don't know if they ever landed a gig.

 

[JoeThePop]

@mhardy6647 Welltron?

 

[prime minister]

@mhardy6647 Welltron?
View attachment 88763

What a cool stereo.

 

[JoeThePop]

What a cool stereo.

I know. I have no use for it but I want it.

 

[BobInWi]

$220? I was thinking $49.95 & it includes a coupon for a free Big Mac.

It is a cool little duder tho.

 

[prime minister]

$220? I was thinking $49.95 & it includes a coupon for a free Big Mac.

It is a cool little duder tho.

It might not be a whole lot of Stereo for $220, but you do get a whole lot of cool.
Though I would negotiate hard for a free Big Mac.

 

[JoeThePop]

Yep. Definitely “cool factor” premium has been applied. It’s like silver-faced receivers from the 70s.

 

[prime minister]

Yep. Definitely “cool factor” premium has been applied. It’s like silver-faced receivers from the 70s.

There is some added cost for rarity too. Likely not many of them around, and fewer yet that have been serviced and are working correctly.

 

[BobInWi]

There is some added cost for rarity too. ... fewer yet that have been serviced and are working correctly.

Yup. Maybe just the one.

 

[mhardy6647]

@mhardy6647 Welltron?
View attachment 88763

I had a yellow ones, which I got as a birthday present in my tweens. It actually sounded pretty good (Pioneer fullrange drivers) and served well for many, many years. I lost track of it probably 30 years ago and it wasn't at my childhood house when we helped my father downsize very late in his life. The suction cup base would leave a nasty black ring on some wood finishes.

 

[Ampexed]

My long-gone 8 track. I never tried to stuff it in my car.