classicelectronicsguy
New member
- Joined
- Oct 24, 2014
- Messages
- 2
Before I get to my question, I thought it might help to give a little of my backstory. I first learned of quad when I was in grade school, maybe 7th or 8th grade. Our class was given library time periodically and I never was much of a reader, so one day I decided to look for electronics books. I found a book on audio that described the new quad record and tape formats, then coming to the market. This would have taken place in the late 80s, so that book had been sitting on the shelf a while. At the time, I had never seen or heard of anything more than 2 channel stereo, it almost felt like that book was describing an alternate reality that never came to be. One thing I took away from the book was how quad reel tape would play all 4 tracks in one direction, and how Q8s had 2 programs of 4 channels each.
Fast forward a few years, in the mid 90s I started collecting records and 8-tracks as a fun and inexpensive away to find the kind of music that I enjoy for not much cash. In the back of my mind, I remembered that if I ever saw an 8-track with only 2 programs, it might be this quad thing I had read about. Remember at this point, I had never laid eyes on any quad hardware or media, and hadn’t read anything about it since that book years before. Finally, one day on a thrift store run, I found 2 tapes with only 2 programs, Leroy Holmes and Seals & Crofts. I bought them, took them home, and confirmed that programs 1 and 3 were different parts of the same song, likewise with programs 2 and 4. I noticed both tapes had a notch in the top left corner, and surmised that this must be how the player knew to switch to 4 channel. I had thought I had seen tapes with such a notch before, but really couldn’t remember – but needless to say, from that point on I was on the lookout for tapes with the notch.
Now after years of looking for notched tapes, I’ve found several of the same style, having the same (or almost the same) shell, often in orange, white, black, or a combination thereof. These tapes all have a notch in the top left, only unlike a true quad tape, they have a ridge on the leading edge. All have regular stereo content. I don’t know if the intent was to make a mold that would work for quad by removing the ridge, or if the notch was intended for some other purpose all together. After gathering several of these tapes, I came across a few that were still in their original slip covers. These state that the tapes were made by Sound 8 in Atlanta, and that duplication was not authorized but that they did pay the publishers’ royalties! These look to me like cheap truck-stop bootlegs, but I am unable to find any other information. The tapes themselves have very basic labels with no manufacture name or marking, just a 3 digit number that is presumably a catalog number. I kept thinking that there would eventually be some mention of these tapes here on Quadraphonicquad, but so far I have seen nothing. I should add that, over the years, I had gathered every tape I could find that either had a notch, or ones with a plug filling the hole in a notched shell, with hopes of some day having a way to record my own Q8s. I think that day may finally be close, so my plan is to file away the leading edge on the notch and use these as blanks, but I thought I would try to see if these are a worth anything as-is before I proceed. I assume if they made it from Atlanta to the Northwest, they must be somewhat common. Also curious if anyone knows why they have the weird notch with the ridge. I’ve noticed that some of the notches are a little narrower than others, yet the rest of the shell looks to be the same. Lastly, two of my tapes, the blue one as well as the green and white head cleaner, do not have a notch, yet they look to be the same shell, and looking closely the plastic in the top left corner is thick, as though they were designed for a notch, then the mold was changed to fill it with plastic. Anyone familiar with these?
Fast forward a few years, in the mid 90s I started collecting records and 8-tracks as a fun and inexpensive away to find the kind of music that I enjoy for not much cash. In the back of my mind, I remembered that if I ever saw an 8-track with only 2 programs, it might be this quad thing I had read about. Remember at this point, I had never laid eyes on any quad hardware or media, and hadn’t read anything about it since that book years before. Finally, one day on a thrift store run, I found 2 tapes with only 2 programs, Leroy Holmes and Seals & Crofts. I bought them, took them home, and confirmed that programs 1 and 3 were different parts of the same song, likewise with programs 2 and 4. I noticed both tapes had a notch in the top left corner, and surmised that this must be how the player knew to switch to 4 channel. I had thought I had seen tapes with such a notch before, but really couldn’t remember – but needless to say, from that point on I was on the lookout for tapes with the notch.
Now after years of looking for notched tapes, I’ve found several of the same style, having the same (or almost the same) shell, often in orange, white, black, or a combination thereof. These tapes all have a notch in the top left, only unlike a true quad tape, they have a ridge on the leading edge. All have regular stereo content. I don’t know if the intent was to make a mold that would work for quad by removing the ridge, or if the notch was intended for some other purpose all together. After gathering several of these tapes, I came across a few that were still in their original slip covers. These state that the tapes were made by Sound 8 in Atlanta, and that duplication was not authorized but that they did pay the publishers’ royalties! These look to me like cheap truck-stop bootlegs, but I am unable to find any other information. The tapes themselves have very basic labels with no manufacture name or marking, just a 3 digit number that is presumably a catalog number. I kept thinking that there would eventually be some mention of these tapes here on Quadraphonicquad, but so far I have seen nothing. I should add that, over the years, I had gathered every tape I could find that either had a notch, or ones with a plug filling the hole in a notched shell, with hopes of some day having a way to record my own Q8s. I think that day may finally be close, so my plan is to file away the leading edge on the notch and use these as blanks, but I thought I would try to see if these are a worth anything as-is before I proceed. I assume if they made it from Atlanta to the Northwest, they must be somewhat common. Also curious if anyone knows why they have the weird notch with the ridge. I’ve noticed that some of the notches are a little narrower than others, yet the rest of the shell looks to be the same. Lastly, two of my tapes, the blue one as well as the green and white head cleaner, do not have a notch, yet they look to be the same shell, and looking closely the plastic in the top left corner is thick, as though they were designed for a notch, then the mold was changed to fill it with plastic. Anyone familiar with these?
