# ac/dc on 8 track.



## Electraglide (Jan 24, 2010)

I was at a yard sale today and among other things bought a case of 8 track carts. 24, from the 70's and all R&R.....no country this time. Best $2 I've spent in a long time. One of them is back in black. I'll have to listen to it sometime.


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## Lola (Nov 16, 2014)

Now your talking! Back in Black on and 8 track, classic!


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## sambonee (Dec 20, 2007)

I bet we could collectively write (just like the telephone game), a full set of lyrics based on that first phrase "back in black on 8 track. ". I used to do this with students in grade school all the time. And it fits perfectly with the syllable count from "for what it's worth"

I had plans for Saturday 
Friday's wage, two bucks was in my pocket to play 
Hit the yard sale, m'woman gives me flack
What a find, Back in black on eight track 


Who wants to take a stab at the chorus ? And other matching verses?

Perhaps a photo of the cassettes would help.


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## Adcandour (Apr 21, 2013)

A yard sale on a friday. My kind of town.

I love garage sales. I'm throwing one some weekend in May. Not sure if it's a good idea to throw one on the long weekend, but our road leads to cottage country, so I want to capitalize on the added traffic. We only have about 6 neighbours, so our garage sale would be shit otherwise.

No 8 tracks, but I will have a 'once-used' Stihl chainsaw and an unused Ninja blender.


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## cheezyridr (Jun 8, 2009)

why would you wanna blend a ninja?


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## Guest (May 9, 2015)

teenage turtle soup?


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## Adcandour (Apr 21, 2013)

cheezyridr said:


> why would you wanna blend a ninja?


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

I have several boxes of 8-tracks. Wild and wonderful stuff. More Zappa on 8-track than vinyl, cassette or CD. Miles Davis, Van Morrison, Nils Lofgren, Stephanie Grappelli, Steve Hillage, Giorgio Moroder, you name it.

Hate the medium and the mechanics of it, but love finding stuff on 8-track that one would never expect.


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## butterknucket (Feb 5, 2006)

I got rid of my 8 track player back in November.


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## Lincoln (Jun 2, 2008)

I've got "Woodstock" on 8 track. It's a set of four tapes.....and they all still work......or at least they did about 30 years ago. Any of the ones I played a lot didn't survive.


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## Electraglide (Jan 24, 2010)

adcandour said:


> A yard sale on a friday. My kind of town.
> 
> I love garage sales. I'm throwing one some weekend in May. Not sure if it's a good idea to throw one on the long weekend, but our road leads to cottage country, so I want to capitalize on the added traffic. We only have about 6 neighbours, so our garage sale would be shit otherwise.
> 
> No 8 tracks, but I will have a 'once-used' Stihl chainsaw and an unused Ninja blender.


Around here they now start on Thurs. and some on Wed.. Surprisingly there's not a lot on Sundays. There's also quite a few that are 10 am to 3 pm on Fri. and 9 am to noon on Sat. Had one on the May long weekend a few years back. At the time we were on one of the main routes to the Farmers market. It was a bust.


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## Electraglide (Jan 24, 2010)

butterknucket said:


> I got rid of my 8 track player back in November.


I think I have 8 maybe 9 8 track players. That includes 2 recorders and some blank tapes. I keep looking for some radio quality 30 and 60 second ad tapes. Do a few loops.


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## Electraglide (Jan 24, 2010)

sambonee said:


> I bet we could collectively write (just like the telephone game), a full set of lyrics based on that first phrase "back in black on 8 track. ". I used to do this with students in grade school all the time. And it fits perfectly with the syllable count from "for what it's worth"
> 
> I had plans for Saturday
> Friday's wage, two bucks was in my pocket to play
> ...


What you've written is more blues than protest.

"There's something happening here,
What it is ain't exactly clear,
There's a man with a gun over there,
Telling me I've got to beware:
And it's time to
Stop children what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down
Now....."

The amazing part is I don't know a word from black is back (Can I say that) but I can remember all the words to "For What It's Worth". 
I also remember most of the words to "Black Is Black" but I think that's a different song.

_Hand me my guitar child, I thinks I'm gonna play now._

chorus:
Now m'woman's allright,
She tinks that i'm super
'cause in all these tapes
there's at least one by Trooper.


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## Electraglide (Jan 24, 2010)

Lola said:


> Now your talking! Back in Black on and 8 track, classic!


This is the song, right?
[video=youtube;aGeFf_rIAVQ]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGeFf_rIAVQ[/video]
Why didn't you say, I remember it well. 1967 was a good year.


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## sambonee (Dec 20, 2007)

I was referring to the phrase tempo. Is that called cadence? 

I matched the syllable count to "for what it's worth". Helps to force structure.


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## Electraglide (Jan 24, 2010)

sambonee said:


> I was referring to the phrase tempo. Is that called cadence?
> 
> I matched the syllable count to "for what it's worth". Helps to force structure.


Cadence is for marching. 
"*I know a girl who live by the shore
She ain't nothin but a 2 bit score
sound off....one, two
sound off.....three, four*
Cadence 
Forced structure is stilted and straight.

In my mind I hear what you wrote played and sung by Muddy Waters or Sonny Terry and Brownie Mcghee.

"I had plans for Satday, 
Friday's Wage.
Two bucks in my pocket
So I could play.
Hit the yard sales a hummin'
M'woman gives me flack
And what do I find, 
Back in Black on 8 track.

I been walking around,
worn some holes in my shoes
and all that I've got
is these old 8 track blues.

Back in Black's good for some folks,
So they say,
But it sure ain't somethin'
that I would play.
_With Sonny Terry etc. this is where the harmonica solo would kick in._


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## sambonee (Dec 20, 2007)

Electraglide said:


> Cadence is for marching.
> "*I know a girl who live by the shore
> She ain't nothin but a 2 bit score
> sound off....one, two
> ...



First class stuff.


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## dcole (Oct 8, 2008)

butterknucket said:


> I got rid of my 8 track player back in November.


Of '82? My old man had Black Sabbath on 8 track but 8 track left our home early on. I didn't know CD's existed till I was 16 as I grew up in the rural prairies. Cassettes ruled my world.


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## Electraglide (Jan 24, 2010)

dcole said:


> Of '82? My old man had Black Sabbath on 8 track but 8 track left our home early on. I didn't know CD's existed till I was 16 as I grew up in the rural prairies. Cassettes ruled my world.


I grew up in rural B.C.. AM radio ruled along with vinyl, 1/4 inch tape and 4 and 8 tracks. Had a Muntz 4 track in the truck then upgraded to an 8 track. Didn't get a vehicle with a cassette player until the late 70's. The wife at the time insisted on it.


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## Guest (May 10, 2015)

the thing I hated about 8-tracks was how the music would 
fade out prior to changing tracks, then fade back in after.

when I was 17, my friend's older brother gave me a unit for my car. one 
channel was shot and so was the the channel selector switch. one day, 
while in Canadian Tire, I seen the same player in their display cabinet.
it was the only unit they had of that model ($120, big money back in '79). 
I bought it, took it home, swapped out the casing and returned the 
buggered up unit. I received a refund because it was a demo and they 
had no replacement. they tried to talk me into another one, but, I refused, 
saying that I had my heart set on that particular unit.


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## LanceT (Mar 7, 2014)

I love how music I first heard or listened to primarily on 8-track, I still wait for and in my mind's ear, listen for the 'ca-chunk' as the song switched mid way through to the next track. Trooper's Hot Shots album comes to mind first but there was any number of songs and artists.


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## Electraglide (Jan 24, 2010)

laristotle said:


> the thing I hated about 8-tracks was how the music would
> fade out prior to changing tracks, then fade back in after.
> 
> when I was 17, my friend's older brother gave me a unit for my car. one
> ...


Why, that's outrageous! Not only did they try to make you take another unit but they probably wanted their Canadian Tire money back too. Or did you use the CT money to buy more 8 tracks.


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## Electraglide (Jan 24, 2010)

LanceT said:


> I love how music I first heard or listened to primarily on 8-track, I still wait for and in my mind's ear, listen for the 'ca-chunk' as the song switched mid way through to the next track. Trooper's Hot Shots album comes to mind first but there was any number of songs and artists.


Hot Shots isn't in this batch.....Thick as Thieves is tho. I have Hot Shots on vinyl. That's why I don't like the digitally remastered modern versions of the music I grew up with. There's no background sound associated with it. The fading and 'ca-chunk' of an 8 track, the background hum of an am radio, the sounds made by a record player.....things like that.


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## Guest (May 10, 2015)

Electraglide said:


> Or did you use the CT money to buy more 8 tracks.


saved them up for when I went to the States.
they 'somewhat' know about our funny money.
I told them the scottish guy was our first prime minister.


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## Electraglide (Jan 24, 2010)

laristotle said:


> saved them up for when I went to the States.
> they 'somewhat' know about our funny money.
> I told them the scottish guy was our first prime minister.


True story....when I was in Vermont years ago we went to a ''collectors'' store. There in a case along with some 1958 Canadian $2 bills were some CT money and some Pay and Save Gas bills.


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## dcole (Oct 8, 2008)

LanceT said:


> I love how music I first heard or listened to primarily on 8-track, I still wait for and in my mind's ear, listen for the 'ca-chunk' as the song switched mid way through to the next track. Trooper's Hot Shots album comes to mind first but there was any number of songs and artists.


I know what you mean. I had a Rage Against the Machine vinyl that skipped at the same part in one song but it was a single skip so I let it be. I always wait for that skip to come in the song when I hear it on CD or the radio and its kind of weird when its not there.


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## Electraglide (Jan 24, 2010)

dcole said:


> I know what you mean. I had a Rage Against the Machine vinyl that skipped at the same part in one song but it was a single skip so I let it be. I always wait for that skip to come in the song when I hear it on CD or the radio and its kind of weird when its not there.


One of my old turntables has a quarter, a nickle and a penny taped to the tone arm, just as it should be. When I listen to Inagadadavida on line I miss the tick tick tick in the opening bars that are there on the record.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

Electraglide said:


> One of my old turntables has a quarter, a nickle and a penny taped to the tone arm, just as it should be. When I listen to Inagadadavida on line I miss the tick tick tick in the opening bars that are there on the record.


Ahem, it _should_ be just a quarter, affixed with plasticine. Clearly, there was something amiss with your turntable to have required that much currency. Either that or your album had gotten warped from being left in the sun, and you needed the "traction" to ride out the hills and valleys.


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## Electraglide (Jan 24, 2010)

mhammer said:


> Ahem, it _should_ be just a quarter, affixed with plasticine. Clearly, there was something amiss with your turntable to have required that much currency. Either that or your album had gotten warped from being left in the sun, and you needed the "traction" to ride out the hills and valleys.


(EG pulls forelock and scuffles dirt with toe of shoe.). The grand daughters stuck the plasticine on the window of their room. The wife scraped it off and into the garbage it went. The record player is the Eatons M756, from around 1951 I think. The nickel and the quarter are newer so they are a lot lighter than the old ones and the nickel and the penny about equal the weight of the plasticine (I think the new plasticine is lighter than the stuff we used in grade 1). You also have to factor in inflation. 
Led Zepplin's Black Dog is in pretty good shape but Inagadadavita is well played. But, it still sounds good after almost 50 years of being played fairly often. I know, I know....I should be using a quarter the same age as the records but you use what you have. Mea Culpa. I use the Eatons record player because it has a small two tube amp built into it. The really bumpy records I play on the 1951 Chisholm. The tone arm is fairly heavy so it only has 4 pennies and a dime on it. It has a 5 tube amp.


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## Lola (Nov 16, 2014)

I have Black Sabbath's Paranoid vinyl. It has a million scratches on it but it still plays on my parents Sears Hi Fi unit. You know those units that were made to look like they were part of the furniture. That thing got a beating when my parents went to the Legion on a Friday night. I would crank it up until the speakers were buzzing. After all the abuse I gave it, it still works today. I have some old 45's Beatles, Rolling Stones(Heart of stone), Dave Clark 5, Monkees. If my dad only knew what I put his beloved hi fi set through!


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## Lola (Nov 16, 2014)

My hubby and I inherited a huge vinyl record collection from the family estate. Amongst them were some cool 78 shellac records. You could do some very serious damage to someone or something with those. Anyhow this is what I came across!


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## Electraglide (Jan 24, 2010)

Lola said:


> My hubby and I inherited a huge vinyl record collection from the family estate. Amongst them were some cool 78 shellac records. You could do some very serious damage to someone or something with those. Anyhow this is what I came across!


Be careful playing the 78's on a modern turntable. They'll screw up the needle and the needle will screw them up, unless it's made for 78's. Find an older record player. If you're going to clean the 78s, just use room temp water, carefully. I have that 45 and one on the Odeon label. My collection contains 78's, 45's, 33 1/3 and one 16 2/3 rpm (it's a "talking" book for the blind, part of the bible) You'd be surprise at some of the songs on the older '78s, pre 1920. Very politically uncorrect.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

I don't still have any 16-2/3 discs, but plenty of the other formats. Years ago, when open mic nights at comedy clubs started, I thought it would be a funny bit to depict what Led Zeppelin would sound like on 78. Not _playing_ a 33-1/3 disc at 78, but dividing the track up into segments the way they'd have to be on 78. I have (or maybe had...been a while since I looked) a symphony on 78. It was split over 12 sides, because nothing could last longer than maybe 2:20 on a 78.

The sound of the needle going "ccchhhht...ccchhhht...ccchhhht...ccchhhht..." while you raced over to lift the tone arm up is something not many are familiar with anymore. Reminds me of a Lone Ranger 45 I got 55 years ago (and still have). Side 1 ended with: "He lowered his rifle, aimed at Crazy Wolf, and fired...ccchhhht...ccchhhht...ccchhhht...ccchhhht...ccchhhht...ccchhhht...ccchhhht...ccchhhht..."


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## Lola (Nov 16, 2014)

Electraglide said:


> You'd be surprise at some of the songs on the older '78s, pre 1920. Very politically incorrect.



Never mind the records but look at the cartoons of yesteryear. This is a way before my time but I can recall some of the Flinstones episodes as being politically incorrect
My, how times have changed!

[video=youtube;8p_SABG3SPk]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8p_SABG3SPk[/video]


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## Guest (May 13, 2015)

[video=youtube;25vrq90d1eU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25vrq90d1eU[/video]

_Say Jasper, 'taint no use
talking, even though you talk from now 'til noon
Don't try to tell me, Mr. Know-It-All, a **** is up in the moon!
Why, a n*****, with his brown figure 
certainly darkens up the silvery moon
Wake up! You're dreaming with your eyes aglare
You great big foolish ****!
If the man in the moon were a
****, ****, ****
What would you do?_


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## High/Deaf (Aug 19, 2009)

There are whole sections of IMDB and wiki dedicated to 'racist' cartoons, especially WB / Bugs Bunny stuff, and mostly from the 2nd WW. I think they started banning them in the '60s and '70s (when we became kinder and gentler??) but the banned 'toons have since made a comeback via DVD re-releases.

- - - Updated - - -



dcole said:


> Of '82? My old man had Black Sabbath on 8 track but 8 track left our home early on. I didn't know CD's existed till I was 16 as I grew up in the rural prairies. Cassettes ruled my world.


My first 8-track was Sabbath Volume 4, a new release at the time. That changed my life (the message, not the medium).

- - - Updated - - -



Electraglide said:


> I think I have 8 maybe 9 8 track players. That includes 2 recorders and some blank tapes. I keep looking for some radio quality 30 and 60 second ad tapes. Do a few loops.


I'm not sure if you are referring the broadcast cart format, but they aren't compatible. The cart player had a pinchroller that extended from the player into the back of the cartridge and pinched the tape tightly onto the capstan, so the cartridges had a hole in the bottom - it didn't rely on just the pressure of that spring-loaded wheel. But you could always take an existing blank 8-track apart, splice it to size and re-wrap it.


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## Electraglide (Jan 24, 2010)

mhammer said:


> I don't still have any 16-2/3 discs, but plenty of the other formats. Years ago, when open mic nights at comedy clubs started, I thought it would be a funny bit to depict what Led Zeppelin would sound like on 78. Not _playing_ a 33-1/3 disc at 78, but dividing the track up into segments the way they'd have to be on 78. I have (or maybe had...been a while since I looked) a symphony on 78. It was split over 12 sides, because nothing could last longer than maybe 2:20 on a 78.
> 
> The sound of the needle going "ccchhhht...ccchhhht...ccchhhht...ccchhhht..." while you raced over to lift the tone arm up is something not many are familiar with anymore. Reminds me of a Lone Ranger 45 I got 55 years ago (and still have). Side 1 ended with: "He lowered his rifle, aimed at Crazy Wolf, and fired...ccchhhht...ccchhhht...ccchhhht...ccchhhht...ccchhhht...ccchhhht...ccchhhht...ccchhhht..."


Unless you place the tone arm right that's the sound you get at the beginning of the record before it hits the music. The 16 2/3 is recorded on both sides with most of the label in braille. You can get a lot of sound on one side but because it's the bible it's part of a 16 disc set.


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## Electraglide (Jan 24, 2010)

Lola said:


> Never mind the records but look at the cartoons of yesteryear. This is a way before my time but I can recall some of the Flinstones episodes as being politically incorrect
> My, how times have changed!
> 
> [video=youtube;8p_SABG3SPk]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8p_SABG3SPk[/video]


I remember that one. One thing to look for on the re-issued cartoons is the absence of cigars, smokes and alcohol.....check the hands. A lot of them have been censored too, Betty Boop and Fantasia come to mind. [video=youtube;Doy5q6EUwT0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Doy5q6EUwT0[/video]


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## Electraglide (Jan 24, 2010)

High/Deaf said:


> There are whole sections of IMDB and wiki dedicated to 'racist' cartoons, especially WB / Bugs Bunny stuff, and mostly from the 2nd WW. I think they started banning them in the '60s and '70s (when we became kinder and gentler??) but the banned 'toons have since made a comeback via DVD re-releases.
> 
> - - - Updated - - -
> 
> ...


4 track tapes have the hole/pinch roller set up, 8 tracks don't. http://i1000.photobucket.com/albums/af129/Electraglide49/4-track_vs_8-track_zps1ggofawq.jpg . CJIB in Vernon used both formats...4 track mostly for ads and 8 track for a lot of pre recorded music shows. Mom worked there in the 60's and got me a "job" for a while. I did the Sat night and Sun morning shifts. I used to record my own tapes for the truck having both a 4 and an 8 track player. They did have commercially made 30 and 60 second 8 track ad tapes, Ampex I believe. I've made my own 'short' tapes as well as repaired broken ones.....I have some where the metallic mylar splice tape is gone. When I find some I'll fix them and probably make some 'loop' tapes but re-wrapping the tape can be a frustrating bitch.


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## High/Deaf (Aug 19, 2009)

Yes, I was referring to the 4-track/2-track broadcast version. But you are well aware of the differences so I'll stfu now! 

And yes, they are a pain to re-wrap. It was hand-craft though, once a person had the touch it wasn't that bad. That touch has long since left me. I couldn't even respool a cassette now.


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## Electraglide (Jan 24, 2010)

High/Deaf said:


> Yes, I was referring to the 4-track/2-track broadcast version. But you are well aware of the differences so I'll stfu now!
> 
> And yes, they are a pain to re-wrap. It was hand-craft though, once a person had the touch it wasn't that bad. That touch has long since left me. I couldn't even respool a cassette now.


Most people wouldn't know what we are talking about High/Deaf. No problem. If your lucky when your 8 track unspools you can swiftly pull the side away from the pinch wheel and the tape will re-spool. The last one 
I tried had the splice tape come undone. I have splice tape but no mettalic splice tape. Standard scotch tape just doesn't work.


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## High/Deaf (Aug 19, 2009)

It'll work (hold the tape ends together) but it won't automatically switch tracks. Which is maybe what you want in a short loop?


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## Electraglide (Jan 24, 2010)

I've used scotch tape before. It holds for a while but not a long while, depending on how long you play the tape. A switchable loop could be an interesting option.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

Electraglide said:


> Most people wouldn't know what we are talking about High/Deaf. No problem. If your lucky when your 8 track unspools you can swiftly pull the side away from the pinch wheel and the tape will re-spool. The last one
> I tried had the splice tape come undone. I have splice tape but no mettalic splice tape. Standard scotch tape just doesn't work.


Correct. I think I still have some of the metallic splicing tape around here. It was the sort of thing you'd buy at Radio Shack.

It worked by briefly birdging a gap between two contacts, which would actuate a solenoid to move the tape head over a bit, to read the next pair of tracks over.


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## Lola (Nov 16, 2014)

mhammer said:


> Correct. I think I still have some of the metallic splicing tape around here. It was the sort of thing you'd buy at Radio Shack.
> 
> It worked by briefly birdging a gap between two contacts, which would actuate a solenoid to move the tape head over a bit, to read the next pair of tracks over.


I actually learned something today! Thanks mhammer!


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## Electraglide (Jan 24, 2010)

mhammer said:


> Correct. I think I still have some of the metallic splicing tape around here. It was the sort of thing you'd buy at Radio Shack.
> 
> It worked by briefly birdging a gap between two contacts, which would actuate a solenoid to move the tape head over a bit, to read the next pair of tracks over.


Which is why you get the ca-chunck when the head switches. I haven't been able to find a similar tape for a few years. Not too sure if there is a place around here that deals in that type of stuff. I've found out that 1/4 in. foil pin stripping doesn't work, doesn't trigger the heads.


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## Guest (May 14, 2015)

[video=youtube;Bvt8skgm2l8]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bvt8skgm2l8[/video]


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## Electraglide (Jan 24, 2010)

Nothin' to do with nothin' except maybe I've got the T. E. F. original on 78. Anyway I'm watching the vid laristotle posted and one thing led to another and this is where it ended up
[video=youtube;J2aqvKY6zLc]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2aqvKY6zLc[/video]


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## Lola (Nov 16, 2014)

Is that Tal Wilkenfeld on bass?! I love her! She is an amazing guitar player! I have seen her in concert before!


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## Electraglide (Jan 24, 2010)

Lola said:


> Is that Tal Wilkenfeld on bass?! I love her! She is an amazing guitar player! I have seen her in concert before!


[video=youtube;ErGzSAv3K94]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErGzSAv3K94[/video]
Yup, but, she's a bass player. I've got no problem with that.


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## Lola (Nov 16, 2014)

Why would anyone have a problem with that? Just curious!


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## Electraglide (Jan 24, 2010)

Lola said:


> Why would anyone have a problem with that? Just curious!


Don't know. some might say that bass players are not really musicians lol.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

Electraglide said:


> Which is why you get the ca-chunck when the head switches. I haven't been able to find a similar tape for a few years. Not too sure if there is a place around here that deals in that type of stuff. I've found out that 1/4 in. foil pin stripping doesn't work, doesn't trigger the heads.


Worse comes to worse, you cut a small piece of aluminum foil and use scotch tape to hold it in place at the junction. There is a minimum length the exposed metallic surface has to be in order to bridge the two contacts, but as long as the material used to hold the conductive surface in place is pliable enough to turn the requisite corners, you'll be okay.

Look at us, trying to remedy 8-tracks. I feel like I'm conspiring with someone on how we could resurrect the political hopes of Herman Cain. LOL


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## High/Deaf (Aug 19, 2009)

LOL

"In tomorrow's Tech Flashback Friday, we will be discussing these quaint old electronic devices called vacuum tubes." 

Oh wait, that's what most of us are here for in the first place.


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## Electraglide (Jan 24, 2010)

mhammer, where I work we use the same aluminum tape as they use in duct work. It works but isn't very pliable. I've used the scotch tape/foil trick over the years. Unless you tape the two ends together first and then tape the foil piece on, there's nothing to hold the two ends of the 1/4" tape together. It will snag and come apart again....learned that very early on. The foil piece should be around 1" in length. _Hopefully no one asks who Herman Cain is_
http://i1000.photobucket.com/albums/af129/Electraglide49/ux 201 b_zpscwvysy1w.jpg
UX-201-B for a battery powered radio....I have 2 such radios from the 30's. On the "to find" list, along with the foil splice tape, the counter top juke box and another old record player that has the potential to become a guitar amp, I will be looking for some 45 volt batteries....wet or dry. I have an inverter from the 50's but would like a "portable" radio.


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## GWN! (Nov 2, 2014)

Electraglide said:


> I've used scotch tape before. It holds for a while but not a long while, depending on how long you play the tape. A switchable loop could be an interesting option.


You can get metallic splicing tape in small quantities here and other bits and pieces to repair 8-tracks. i have never ordered from them.


http://www.katestrackshack.com/sensingfoil.htm


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## Electraglide (Jan 24, 2010)

GWN! said:


> You can get metallic splicing tape in small quantities here and other bits and pieces to repair 8-tracks. i have never ordered from them.
> 
> 
> http://www.katestrackshack.com/sensingfoil.htm


Thanks, I bookmarked the site. The sensing foil strips look like the ones from RadioShack. I'll have to look deeper into the site and see what else they have.


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## Lola (Nov 16, 2014)

High/Deaf said:


> LOL
> 
> "In tomorrow's Tech Flashback Friday, we will be discussing these quaint old electronic devices called vacuum tubes."
> 
> Oh wait, that's what most of us are here for in the first place.


Please explain what is a vacuum tube and how it works. I am very interested! Knowledge is power!


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## High/Deaf (Aug 19, 2009)

Don't know how they work, but I do know they're filled with special invisible smoke. I know that because when the smoke becomes visible and leaves the tube, it quits working.


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## Lola (Nov 16, 2014)

[video=youtube;UM3av6moJd4]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UM3av6moJd4[/video]


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## greco (Jul 15, 2007)

Lola said:


> Please explain what is a vacuum tube and how it works. I am very interested! Knowledge is power!




From Wiki...this will get you started: 
( full article here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vacuum_tube )


Diode: electrons from the hot cathode flow towards the positive anode, but not vice versa​

Triode: voltage applied to the grid controls plate (anode) current.​
​
A vacuum tube consists of two or more electrodes in a vacuum inside an airtight enclosure. Most tubes have glass envelopes, though ceramic and metal envelopes (atop insulating bases) have been used. The electrodes are attached to leads which pass through the envelope via an airtight seal. On most tubes, the leads, in the form of pins, plug into a tube socket for easy replacement of the tube (tubes were a frequent cause of failure in electronic equipment, and consumers were expected to be able to replace tubes themselves). Some tubes had an electrode terminating at a top cap which reduced interelectrode capacitance to improve high-frequency performance, kept a possibly very high plate voltage away from lower voltages, and could accommodate one more electrode than allowed by the base.
The earliest vacuum tubes evolved from incandescent light bulbs, containing a filament sealed in an evacuated glass envelope. When hot, the filament releases electrons into the vacuum, a process called thermionic emission. A second electrode, the anode or _plate_, will attract those electrons if it is at a more positive voltage. The result is a net flow of electrons from the filament to plate. However, electrons cannot flow in the reverse direction because the plate is not heated and does not emit electrons. The filament (_cathode_) has a dual function: it emits electrons when heated; and, together with the plate, it creates an electric field due to the potential difference between them. Such a tube with only two electrodes is termed a diode, and is used for rectification. Since current can only pass in one direction, such a diode (or _rectifier_) will convert alternating current (AC) to pulsating DC. This can therefore be used in a DC power supply, and is also used as a demodulator of amplitude modulated (AM) radio signals and similar functions.
Early tubes used the directly heated filament as the cathode. Many more modern tubes employ indirect heating, with a separate electrically isolated "heater" inside a tubular cathode. The heater is not an electrode, but simply serves to heat the cathode sufficiently for thermionic emission of electrons. This allowed all the tubes to be heated through a common circuit (which can as well be AC) while allowing each cathode to arrive at a voltage independently of the others, removing an unwelcome constraint on circuit design.
The filaments require constant and often considerable power, even when amplifying signals at the microwatt level. Power is also dissipated when the electrons from the cathode slam into the anode (plate) and heat it; this can occur even in an idle amplifier due to quiescent currents necessary to ensure linearity and low distortion. In a power amplifier, this heating can be considerable and can destroy the tube if driven beyond its safe limits. Since the tube contains a vacuum, the anodes in most small and medium power tubes are cooled by radiation through the glass envelope. In some special high power applications, the anode forms part of the vacuum envelope to conduct heat to an external heat sink, usually cooled by a blower.
Klystrons and magnetrons often operate their anodes (called *collectors* in klystrons) at ground potential to facilitate cooling, particularly with water, without high voltage insulation. These tubes instead operate with high negative voltages on the filament and cathode.
Except for diodes, additional electrodes are positioned between the cathode and the plate (anode). These electrodes are referred to as grids as they are not solid electrodes but sparse elements through which electrons can pass on their way to the plate. The vacuum tube is then known as a triode, tetrode,pentode, etc., depending on the number of grids. A triode has three electrodes: the anode, cathode, and one grid, and so on. The first grid, known as the control grid, (and sometimes other grids) transforms the diode into a_voltage-controlled device_: the voltage applied to the control grid affects the current between the cathode and the plate. When held negative with respect to the cathode, the control grid creates an electric field which repels electrons emitted by the cathode, thus reducing or even stopping the current between cathode and anode. As long as the control grid is negative relative to the cathode, essentially no current flows into it, yet a change of several volts on the control grid is sufficient to make a large difference in the plate current, possibly changing the output by hundreds of volts (depending on the circuit). The solid-state device which operates most like the pentode tube is thejunction field-effect transistor (JFET), although vacuum tubes typically operate at over a hundred volts, unlike most semiconductors in most applications.

Cheers

Dave


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## GTmaker (Apr 24, 2006)

Lola said:


> Please explain what is a vacuum tube and how it works. I am very interested! Knowledge is power!


must be so frustrating to keep making funny jokes and no one gets them...
don't get discouraged....just keep on rockin...

G.


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## Electraglide (Jan 24, 2010)

greco said:


> From Wiki...this will get you started:
> ( full article here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vacuum_tube )
> 
> 
> ...


Between this and your vid, you now have some knowledge. Confusing knowledge but knowledge non the less. High/Deaf's explanation is knowledge too. It's a vacuum tube so it needs a vacuum to work. Loosely put a vacuum tube is a really funky incandescent light bulb. That include CRT tubes in t.v.s, computer monitors and the like. Those are really really funky. Especially when you try to figure out how the guns work. 
http://i1000.photobucket.com/albums/af129/Electraglide49/eniac3_zpsx3lsekmt.gif If you put enough vac. tubes together you have a computer. Or an amp but I don't know of any commercial tube 8 track player tho there were tube car and truck radios.


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## Lola (Nov 16, 2014)

GTmaker said:


> must be so frustrating to keep making funny jokes and no one gets them...
> don't get discouraged....just keep on rockin...
> 
> G.


Seriously? You think I am making a joke? My reply is very genuine!


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## Electraglide (Jan 24, 2010)

Lola said:


> Seriously? You think I am making a joke? My reply is very genuine!


Nope. This is really basic.
[video]http://i1000.photobucket.com/albums/af129/Electraglide49/tubegifjj_zpshj2p5jqd.gif[/video]
http://i1000.photobucket.com/albums/af129/Electraglide49/nixie_zpsh961hpso.jpg These are Nixie tubes. Not vacuum tubes but kinda neat anyway. Think of them like a really, really, really funky light bulb. http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d183/diginut/pistonheads/nixiewrist1.jpg~original You might have to fight Steve Wozniac for this.


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## GTmaker (Apr 24, 2006)

Lola said:


> Seriously? You think I am making a joke? My reply is very genuine!


yes I did laugh at your initial question BUT I now realize its just my strange sense of humor acting up again.
This is a complex mental condition I have had all my life so please try to understand it not my fault. 

Obviously with all the help you are getting, mastering the internal workings of the vacuum tube should be no problem.
May I suggest you tackle the Unified Field Theory next . 

G.


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## greco (Jul 15, 2007)

Lola said:


> Seriously? You think I am making a joke? My reply is very genuine!


I'm glad that it wasn't a joke as I would have appeared to have fallen for it by providing the Wiki information.

Cheers

Dave


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## bluzfish (Mar 12, 2011)

I always liked the description of how a tube works that Mesa Boogie puts in their user manuals. The 'bunch of drunken Irishmen in a bar' analogy amuses me.


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## Electraglide (Jan 24, 2010)

GTmaker said:


> yes I did laugh at your initial question BUT I now realize its just my strange sense of humor acting up again.
> This is a complex mental condition I have had all my life so please try to understand it not my fault.
> 
> Obviously with all the help you are getting, mastering the internal workings of the vacuum tube should be no problem.
> ...


https://www.musixmatch.com/lyrics/Jordin-Kare/Unified-Field-Theory#
Shouldn't be too hard. C, Dm, G I think, but that's just theory on my part.

- - - Updated - - -



bluzfish said:


> I always liked the description of how a tube works that Mesa Boogie puts in their user manuals. The 'bunch of drunken Irishmen in a bar' analogy amuses me.


Bushmills being the invisible magic smoke.


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## Lola (Nov 16, 2014)

You see, I am really wanting to purchase a tube amp. The end justifies the means. How many times have I plugged into a tube amp and been so blown away by the sound that there able to produce.


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## GTmaker (Apr 24, 2006)

Electraglide said:


> https://www.musixmatch.com/lyrics/Jordin-Kare/Unified-Field-Theory#
> Shouldn't be too hard. C, Dm, G I think, but that's just theory on my part.


I have recently mentioned my complex mental condition...
Now , I'm laughing my ass off and its not helpful.

by the way ...sounds a bit more bluesy in A

good post
G.


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## Electraglide (Jan 24, 2010)

GTmaker said:


> I have recently mentioned my complex mental condition...
> Now , I'm laughing my ass off and its not helpful.
> 
> by the way ...sounds a bit more bluesy in A
> ...


D, G, A with the occasional Dsus2.....capo on the third might be ok. A hell of a lot better than discussing Einstien and how he only had gravity and electromagnetic fields to deal with. Hmmmm, Gravity, who did that?


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## Electraglide (Jan 24, 2010)

Lola said:


> You see, I am really wanting to purchase a tube amp. The end justifies the means. How many times have I plugged into a tube amp and been so blown away by the sound that there able to produce.


Harleys, now tube amps....old I hope. If you say you want an older hollow bodied guitar I just might say to hell with it and go for a long ride....once the rain stops here. Myself I prefer old tube amps, played clean....they fit with my old guitars and my old fingers. IMO no modern modeling amp can duplicate that sound exactly....of course others may differ in opinion. That's cool.


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## GTmaker (Apr 24, 2006)

Electraglide said:


> D, G, A with the occasional Dsus2.....capo on the third might be ok. A hell of a lot better than discussing Einstien and how he only had gravity and electromagnetic fields to deal with. Hmmmm, Gravity, who did that?


you had to mention gravity didn't ya !!!!!
I've read a lot of Gravity theories about how gravity distorts space and time and light.
How gravity is responsible for how our universe is the way it is now.
I find all these theories rather simplistic. I prefer a more sophisticated explanation which includes 
the theory that there is a large ( ok, lets say very very big) magnet at the end of our universe and everything is being pulled towards it.
If you are in the north end of the universe, you will gravitate to the north pole of the magnet.
If you are in the south end, the opposite is true.
On a very small micro level, this theory also explains why we have a north and south pole on Earth.
Thats my story and I'm sticking to it.

G.


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## High/Deaf (Aug 19, 2009)

Gravity sucks.


And Dark Matter doesn't. Or does it?


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## Electraglide (Jan 24, 2010)

GTmaker said:


> you had to mention gravity didn't ya !!!!!
> I've read a lot of Gravity theories about how gravity distorts space and time and light.
> How gravity is responsible for how our universe is the way it is now.
> I find all these theories rather simplistic. I prefer a more sophisticated explanation which includes
> ...


Mine is, the earth sucks. Which is a good thing. If it didn't we'd be someplace else. If you want to believe it's a big magnet, fine....I'll believe it's a Hoover. Unified theory would have us believe it's a big magnetic vacuum cleaner.


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## GTmaker (Apr 24, 2006)

High/Deaf said:


> Gravity sucks.
> And Dark Matter doesn't. Or does it?


the way I understand it, Gravity just digs a whole and you fall into it.
The bigger the mass, the bigger the hole and the steeper the fall.....
I just thought of that and I think it holds up well....

As for dark matter ....there is probably a lot more of it then we know....

G.


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## Lola (Nov 16, 2014)

Gravity: What goes up surely must come down. Sir Isaac Newton!


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## sambonee (Dec 20, 2007)

High/Deaf said:


> Gravity sucks.
> 
> 
> And Dark Matter doesn't. Or does it?



Dark matter is just a fancy term invented to sidestep referring to intelligent design; aka God.


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## GTmaker (Apr 24, 2006)

Lola said:


> Gravity: What goes up surely must come down. Sir Isaac Newton!


you are a bit confused Lola.
"What goes up surely must come down" was quoted by Sir Issak Neutin.

of the two in question, one was a English physicist and mathematician and the other an American porn star.

G.


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## Electraglide (Jan 24, 2010)

sambonee said:


> Dark matter is just a fancy term invented to sidestep referring to intelligent design; aka God.


[video=youtube;qMHXjTUOjTU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMHXjTUOjTU[/video]


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

You folks talkin' bout this?

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Substantia_nigra


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## greco (Jul 15, 2007)

mhammer said:


> You folks talkin' bout this?
> 
> http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Substantia_nigra












I doubt it.

Cheers

Dave


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## High/Deaf (Aug 19, 2009)

sambonee said:


> Dark matter is just a fancy term invented to sidestep referring to intelligent design; aka God.


DM is only an estimated 26.8% of the known universe. I thought god would have been bigger than that?

'Dark' Matter is more likely a fancy term invented to sidestep referring to intelligent design, aka the devil, no?


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## Electraglide (Jan 24, 2010)

[video=youtube;cULr4gcOlN8]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cULr4gcOlN8[/video]
There is no god or devil. All this sidestepping is Charles Durning's fault and is designed not to be intelligent.


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## Guest (May 17, 2015)

the devil is only god when he's drunk.
author unknown.


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## Electraglide (Jan 24, 2010)

laristotle said:


> the devil is only god when he's drunk.
> author unknown.


"don't you know there ain't no devil, there's just god when he's drunk" Tom Waits
[video=youtube;z69Sa2WFP8Y]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z69Sa2WFP8Y[/video]
Sunday morning music.


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