I was born in 1984 and I have a massive collection of these 8 tracks in my living room behind me, and yes I do play them depending on my mood. My Dad's got 2 cars in his garage that have an 8 track player in them. They are a 1958 Chevy and a 1950 Ford Custom. Everytime him and I ride around in one of them I play my 8 tracks while he does the driving. I also have a portable 8 track player in the house for playing them at anytime. I've been listening to them since summer 1999, thanks to my Mom and Dad having Queen - Live Killers on 8 track. 8 track tapes for the win. We have an 8 track player like that, it's in the 58 Chevy.
@@tntamusements You're welcome! I find myself watching this video a lot, because of how much I love 8 track tapes. I love your videos regarding arcade games too. I love playing them arcade machines and pinball machines. Keep 'em coming, Todd.
When I was a kid my dad had a great stereo with an 8-track player in it. It had a really deep, warm sound to it that I'll never forget. Sure it had a little hiss to it, but that just added to the magic. Thanks for the inside look and info!
Great Video! Your comments on the foil sensors brought me back to my youth. My father was an engineer and designed Cinema Automation systems that used the foil on the film to do exactly what you said, shut the curtains and turn on the lights during intermission and after the show. Many people probably don’t remember that there was always an intermission at the movies in the good old days. I worked for my father installing those systems at movie theatres here in Canada around the time all those Bruce Lee movies were on so I saw a lot of them while we did the installation and testing of those systems!
I remember seeing the foil on the picture after the movie ended and it was dark (I could still see the foil) and that is when I knew the movie was REALLY over! A relative of mine, Eberhard Schiender right here in Philadelphia, patented the "Cue Mark Changeover marks" back in the teens--a system used right up till the end of 35mm projection! You can still see the cue marks on DVD's and tapes made before they erased them when they did the restorations.
I just recently restored my Panasonic Stereo 8 player. I got it at my Habitat for Humanity a $6 but Becky wasn't sure if it worked. I walked out with it for $2 took it home, plugged it up, and it worked great. That was five years ago and it is still working better than ever. I also have an 1975 Automatic Radio and an Electro-Brand 8-Track player that go in your car. I also restored both of them, and I mounted the Electro-Brand under my workbench! I have at least 57 8-track cartridges. I love 8-Tracks. :-)
Fantastic...great explaination of the player and I love your work space too! Tone, I love it! My brother had a sports car with an 8 track and he was so cool!!
+TNT Amusements Inc yeah!!!! I miss my Baby girl!!! Btw.... I can't believe you sold one of your holy grails? your Theater of Magic!, But, I totally understand...college is expensive. Ugh...
I love 8 tracks.. It's fun and quirky. Plus it's exciting to find something awsome at resale shops for a quarter that you can enjoy the hell out of. I just rebuilt a centrex /Pioneer 8 track and I must say after only having had a Realistic like the one in the video I was absolutely blown away by the sound quality. I also collect albums and cassettes but 8 tracks are something ive only been getting into for the last year or so.
Great video. I'll be 40 this year and 8 track players were just starting to lose there popularity for the cassettes. So I am young enough to remember the 8 track players, but by the time I was old enough to start playing around on the home entertainment system. Cassettes were the thing. Great explanation on how they (8 tracks) work.
im a total novice at this tech but i've been researching a way to build a nice 8-track player with a variable speed control for a art/music use and this gave me some good insight as to how this stuff works normally. thanks again!
With regards to the Two Tigers game, how does the sound effects on the 8-track work in sync with the video coming from the microprocessor / mother board?
There is no sync at all...the tape just pays the endless loop...BUT there are plenty of sounds on the logic board that work as you progress in the game.
I remember that some of these players had a fast forward button, as well. But that was it as far as controls went. I you had a favorite song that you wanted to hear again, you had to change to the previous track and then fast forward until you got to it again.
Many cheap cassette players, like the one I fitted in my first car, only had fast forward. However, the design of an 8 track cartridge makes it physically impossible to rewind. You would be trying to stuff the tape back into the centre of the single reel inside.
Great video, I have an old koronette fireplace/receiver/8track/turntable unit, it has some issues, but the 8 track doesn't work then all. If you insert the 8 track the number 2 track lights up and that's it, no sound or movement being heard, if you push program nothing happens, can you suggest anything? Thanks!
I own an 8 track player that does not always sound loud and clear. Sometimes the sound is very low and sometimes it is clear. I can wiggle the cartridge to make the sound come out both ways. Why is that happening?
Very cool Todd. I have 8 track in my midway flash baseball. not sure if the guy fixed that tape though it sounds like just noise. mine is easier to tell as it has music and heckling. Maybe tape is flipped or 180 out and playing backwards?
Interesting fact, because the tape was continuous and fed into itself, friction was a problem so they coated the tape with graphite with reduced the fidelity greatly. And eventually, when the graphite wore off, you really noticed it often to the point of the tape dragging enough it would snap. Along came the cassette players and the fidelity was enormously increased.
I know this is a shot in the dark, but I bought an old Zenith combo player and the 8 track head is stuck and won't switch tracks. Do you have any ideas? I can't open it all up to get to it.
i never owned an 8 track, a bit before my time but i always wondered how they worked,its kind of weird how u could play different tracks in a song and hear the overall difference it made,kinda cool...its like a different mix altogether
I remember finding 8-track tapes in grandmas garage and thinking they were atari cartridges before noticing the tape. The we had to run inside and say "Grandma, what the hell is this!" =P I knew cassettes and I knew records, but I'd never heard of 8-track
thats a simple adjustment...there is a screw that adjusts the playback head up and down....and you adjust it while the tape is running...so it will center on the tape correctly
@@tntamusements Yeah. It's like a value comparison. If you converted Tron to Two Tigers, no 8 track, which is kinda boring. But if you got a dedicated Two Tigers, it's a treasure!
i just sold my two tigers just over a year ago. I posessed the original 8 track battle sound tape also, that went with game. whole game functioned well :) my game was not a kit conversion, came shipped from florida. The two tigers player won't play any other 8 track tape. only the game tape. Game tape player has no track selector.
+Joe Stitz The few I have had in were standard production 8 track players...and the track changer button was disconnected. I suppose there could have been some with a commercial player with no option to change track.
+TNT Amusements Inc yes. mine was one of those. i checked it and had no selector.so other tapes would not play what was on them. sold mine to man in PA.
Wow, really interesting. I remember vinyl records and cassette tapes were common when I was a kid growing up in the late 70's and 80's. Then hearing a CD for the first time, I remember thinking I've never heard anything so crystal clear. I've heard of 8 tracks many times but I've never seen one in Australia where I'm from. I don't know much about them or even if they were common here also back then. Were they just a U.S. thing or were they common around other countries too?
In the U.K. they were fairly common in the early 1970s but were going out of fashion by the mid 1970s. You could tell the age of a coach by whether it had an 8 track or a cassette player fitted.
I'm a 17 year old female and I want some 8 tracks (and a player). I currently collect cassette tapes and listen to them regularly. Yah I know I'm weird :)
+Jeff Pinter Ahhh...yes...aired them from 1995 to 2014! 19 years! But now with RUclips, I can put up new shows twice a week and more! (With broadcast TV, I had to pay to add closed captions, and then have them put on Betamax SP tapes (YES--they used Beta up to 2014)...and then of course, pay to air them!
Nice tutorial. I can see why someone would charge $30 to restore an 8-track cartridge. To do it 'right' a person would need to fix whatever was wrong (presumably a broken tape), re-splice with new foil, clean the roller, replace the foam that keeps the tape in contact with the tape head, then to dub to a CD. All that takes a fair amount of time. I doubt that guy is getting rich doing all that. I was not aware 8-tracks were used in some arcade games.
having spend over a decade converting the 8-tracks and some of my ol teachers who gave me them if I could copy eventually I bought my own I could well take apart and shut it off the moment I could see the um tape go bye bye. Big ol difference between plastic rollers and rubber rollers. Rubber rots. Very annoying. that and when it got unwound I couldn't help it then. My job was just to get as much of the recording I could. Wrigley's gum anyone? didn't usually try that. :P I just taped the ends together and hoped I knew when to switch the tracks. :) Why Cassettes ruled the world I will never know though. that tape is made to outlast everything :)
Digital players are deliberately substandard to test the public. Is there intelligent life out there? All the instruments seem to fight each other for space and drown out the others. Test to see if the bang of a drum is louder than the guitar chords.
Caprtonic BJ115AA ( 8 track ) inside Jc Penny( model 683-1770-80) am /FM Modle /the 8 track quite playing and is not changing tracts ? What is the solution ? Read moreShow less Reply ·
I was born in 1984 and I have a massive collection of these 8 tracks in my living room behind me, and yes I do play them depending on my mood. My Dad's got 2 cars in his garage that have an 8 track player in them. They are a 1958 Chevy and a 1950 Ford Custom. Everytime him and I ride around in one of them I play my 8 tracks while he does the driving. I also have a portable 8 track player in the house for playing them at anytime. I've been listening to them since summer 1999, thanks to my Mom and Dad having Queen - Live Killers on 8 track. 8 track tapes for the win. We have an 8 track player like that, it's in the 58 Chevy.
thank you for your fascinating memories!
@@tntamusements You're welcome! I find myself watching this video a lot, because of how much I love 8 track tapes. I love your videos regarding arcade games too. I love playing them arcade machines and pinball machines. Keep 'em coming, Todd.
Well explained....I remember listening to Elton John Yellow Brick Road on my friend's 8 track, in his Ford Zodiac mk4.... aaahh.. happy memories.
+Stephen Williams Thank you Stephen!
When I was a kid my dad had a great stereo with an 8-track player in it. It had a really deep, warm sound to it that I'll never forget. Sure it had a little hiss to it, but that just added to the magic. Thanks for the inside look and info!
ClutchKman You're welcome!
Great Video! Your comments on the foil sensors brought me back to my youth. My father was an engineer and designed Cinema Automation systems that used the foil on the film to do exactly what you said, shut the curtains and turn on the lights during intermission and after the show. Many people probably don’t remember that there was always an intermission at the movies in the good old days. I worked for my father installing those systems at movie theatres here in Canada around the time all those Bruce Lee movies were on so I saw a lot of them while we did the installation and testing of those systems!
I remember seeing the foil on the picture after the movie ended and it was dark (I could still see the foil) and that is when I knew the movie was REALLY over! A relative of mine, Eberhard Schiender right here in Philadelphia, patented the "Cue Mark Changeover marks" back in the teens--a system used right up till the end of 35mm projection! You can still see the cue marks on DVD's and tapes made before they erased them when they did the restorations.
I just recently restored my Panasonic Stereo 8 player. I got it at my Habitat for Humanity a $6 but Becky wasn't sure if it worked. I walked out with it for $2 took it home, plugged it up, and it worked great. That was five years ago and it is still working better than ever. I also have an 1975 Automatic Radio and an Electro-Brand 8-Track player that go in your car. I also restored both of them, and I mounted the Electro-Brand under my workbench! I have at least 57 8-track cartridges. I love 8-Tracks. :-)
the key is to keep them out of the sun!
Thanks for uploading this; from this one video I learned more about something I'm actually interested in than I ever have in school.
+AwesomeRobot15 Glad you enjoyed the video!! ALso glad you found it educational!!!
High quality information. Awesome!
Meridian Herschel Thanks!
Great vid, TNT. Any insight on games is well worth the watch.
Thanks!!
Fantastic...great explaination of the player and I love your work space too! Tone, I love it!
My brother had a sports car with an 8 track and he was so cool!!
Really cool Dude, thanks for sharing.
Man, I grew up on 8 track. My mom had Tom Jones and Three Dog Night and I listened to them all the time.
+bansheebot2 Good memories!
@@tntamusements I still do,
8 track was before my time. I only go as far back as the compact cassette.
Very cool, thank you for doing the demonstration.
Now I know what I did wrong when took these things part when I was a kid.
!!
Great explanation Todd thks. Do you have any vid which explains the transition to track 2 at game over on for example CC Coney Island?
wish I could have "liked" this one twice. great video!
Thanks!!! Glad Frank thought about it while we had it open to clean it!
Great video. Very interesting. Well done!
Nice review ❤️ the best love it 😃
thank you!!
Wow, I'm 44 and have wondered for 30 years how these worked. What a nice bloke too, I'm off to see what else you have done, Jubbly.
Danny Sweetman Glad you liked it!
You just made me feel old Todd! I remember playing my Kiss in my parents car. Great tutorial!
+WARRIOR4CHRIST70 KZ4LIFE Thanks Oby!
+WARRIOR4CHRIST70 KZ4LIFE Your on line now! Your Cybernaut board is finished...going out tomorrow...reset circuit fixed!
+TNT Amusements Inc yeah!!!! I miss my Baby girl!!! Btw.... I can't believe you sold one of your holy grails? your Theater of Magic!, But, I totally understand...college is expensive. Ugh...
Nice informative video Todd, thanks very much
Thank you Nick!
I love 8 tracks.. It's fun and quirky. Plus it's exciting to find something awsome at resale shops for a quarter that you can enjoy the hell out of.
I just rebuilt a centrex /Pioneer 8 track and I must say after only having had a Realistic like the one in the video I was absolutely blown away by the sound quality.
I also collect albums and cassettes but 8 tracks are something ive only been getting into for the last year or so.
Great, Thanks for the explanation!!
Thanks!!
good video! very informative! thankyou
Great video. I'll be 40 this year and 8 track players were just starting to lose there popularity for the cassettes. So I am young enough to remember the 8 track players, but by the time I was old enough to start playing around on the home entertainment system. Cassettes were the thing. Great explanation on how they (8 tracks) work.
Thank you Arthur!! I appreciate it!
8 track tapes were before my time. I was born in 1982, I only go as far back as compact cassettes.
todd tuckery is a hell of a guy,this was very infomative
alucardisdumb Glad you liked it!
im a total novice at this tech but i've been researching a way to build a nice 8-track player with a variable speed control for a art/music use and this gave me some good insight as to how this stuff works normally. thanks again!
Thanks! I didn't know what the metal contacts were for and the foil tape. I had an idea tho. Very informative.
Thank you!!
You learn something every day, very interesting!
Keep watching!!
With regards to the Two Tigers game, how does the sound effects on the 8-track work in sync with the video coming from the microprocessor / mother board?
There is no sync at all...the tape just pays the endless loop...BUT there are plenty of sounds on the logic board that work as you progress in the game.
Where did you but the players they dont show up on RadioShack's Website??? Thanks.
Larry TGroce EBay is one place to find them...also, I am sure they are remanufactured too!
Ok Thanks I would perfer to get them from the manfacturer if possible and ideas how???
I remember that some of these players had a fast forward button, as well. But that was it as far as controls went. I you had a favorite song that you wanted to hear again, you had to change to the previous track and then fast forward until you got to it again.
Many cheap cassette players, like the one I fitted in my first car, only had fast forward. However, the design of an 8 track cartridge makes it physically impossible to rewind. You would be trying to stuff the tape back into the centre of the single reel inside.
great report
+amjad amj Thank you!
Great video, I have an old koronette fireplace/receiver/8track/turntable unit, it has some issues, but the 8 track doesn't work then all. If you insert the 8 track the number 2 track lights up and that's it, no sound or movement being heard, if you push program nothing happens, can you suggest anything? Thanks!
check and see if any belts are broken...but it sounds like it may be a bad power supply...the little capacitors are drying out on these machines now!
any idea on where to get lamps output transistors and a belt for Panasonic RS 805 US?
Many electronics parts houses stock these older parts!
I own an 8 track player that does not always sound loud and clear. Sometimes the sound is very low and sometimes it is clear. I can wiggle the cartridge to make the sound come out both ways. Why is that happening?
Very cool Todd. I have 8 track in my midway flash baseball. not sure if the guy fixed that tape though it sounds like just noise. mine is easier to tell as it has music and heckling. Maybe tape is flipped or 180 out and playing backwards?
+CNKayutube Its possible the head is out of alignment...so its playing two tracks at once.
What are the pros and cons comparing this tape with the compact cassette?
People have written volumes about that...there are cassette lovers and 8 track lovers!
Interesting fact, because the tape was continuous and fed into itself, friction was a problem so they coated the tape with graphite with reduced the fidelity greatly. And eventually, when the graphite wore off, you really noticed it often to the point of the tape dragging enough it would snap. Along came the cassette players and the fidelity was enormously increased.
That’s so cool old memories ❤️
Maybe 8 tracks will come back??? :) Wishful thinking!
I know this is a shot in the dark, but I bought an old Zenith combo player and the 8 track head is stuck and won't switch tracks. Do you have any ideas? I can't open it all up to get to it.
I wouldn;t know that unit at all..but you will HAVE to get into it to see whats going on!
cool shit man..always wondered how this stuff worked...now I know, good job
+anthony poepoe Thank you, Anthony!
Aloha
i never owned an 8 track, a bit before my time but i always wondered how they worked,its kind of weird how u could play different tracks in a song and hear the overall difference it made,kinda cool...its like a different mix altogether
+full stack Glad you liked the video!!
great vid!!!!! A+ thanks :)
Jack Severity Glad you liked it!
I remember finding 8-track tapes in grandmas garage and thinking they were atari cartridges before noticing the tape. The we had to run inside and say "Grandma, what the hell is this!" =P
I knew cassettes and I knew records, but I'd never heard of 8-track
I play on my 8 track player and songs overlap. Do you know how I can fix it?
thats a simple adjustment...there is a screw that adjusts the playback head up and down....and you adjust it while the tape is running...so it will center on the tape correctly
How do 8 tracks keep the tape moving?
+TheImmortalVK The single "capstan" in the tape player spins and the tape cartridge pushes a black roller against it when inserted.
Do 8-track tapes have hiss like cassete tapes do?
Yes....MANY 8 Track players were before Dolby noise reduction...although there were some made toward the end with a dolby switch!
Thx for the vid! I loathe 8-tracks but love seeing how things work
***** Glad you liked it!
Wow, pretty interesting Two Tigers had an 8 Track player in the dedicated version instead of the Tron Conversion!
yes...for that arcade experience...extra amplifier and wiring, etc, to justify the extra price
@@tntamusements Yeah. It's like a value comparison. If you converted Tron to Two Tigers, no 8 track, which is kinda boring. But if you got a dedicated Two Tigers, it's a treasure!
Kids Go Bonkers For 8 Track Tape!
i just sold my two tigers just over a year ago. I posessed the original 8 track battle sound tape also, that went with game. whole game functioned well :) my game was not a kit conversion, came shipped from florida. The two tigers player won't play any other 8 track tape. only the game tape. Game tape player has no track selector.
+Joe Stitz The few I have had in were standard production 8 track players...and the track changer button was disconnected. I suppose there could have been some with a commercial player with no option to change track.
+TNT Amusements Inc yes. mine was one of those. i checked it and had no selector.so other tapes would not play what was on them. sold mine to man in PA.
Fun!
Yes!! It IS fun, Derrick!! Nothing like old electronics!
8 tracks and cassette tapes especially melt in the car too. I lost a couple of tapes to my grandfather's car stereo that way.
+Micah Nightwolf It dries the lubrication out inside the case...
Wow, really interesting. I remember vinyl records and cassette tapes were common when I was a kid growing up in the late 70's and 80's. Then hearing a CD for the first time, I remember thinking I've never heard anything so crystal clear. I've heard of 8 tracks many times but I've never seen one in Australia where I'm from. I don't know much about them or even if they were common here also back then. Were they just a U.S. thing or were they common around other countries too?
+X Gen Glad you enjoyed it!
In the U.K. they were fairly common in the early 1970s but were going out of fashion by the mid 1970s. You could tell the age of a coach by whether it had an 8 track or a cassette player fitted.
ah, now i gotta find a video on what the inside of the 8 track tape looks like....
+Cary Hardy Theres probably a few vids up now about the tapes!
Radio Shack always sells the latest technology from the technology store
+John Riopel Yes...they really did!
I'm a 17 year old female and I want some 8 tracks (and a player). I currently collect cassette tapes and listen to them regularly. Yah I know I'm weird :)
+Halon Poisoning You can find these all over EBay!!
+Halon Poisoning I'm 15 and I do the same thing, I love tapes.
AwesomeRobot15 Have you ever had a player eat your tape?
***** Not an 8-track but cassettes and VHS tapes, yes.
AwesomeRobot15 I have only had that happen a few times in my whole life.
sounds very technical .
Second watching, it comes more easily!
not with me I have difficulties understanding technical things.
I have a lloyds thats stuck on track 4..
try cleaning the area with qtip and rubbing alcohol..maybe the grease hardened.
I miss your commercials
+Jeff Pinter Ahhh...yes...aired them from 1995 to 2014! 19 years! But now with RUclips, I can put up new shows twice a week and more! (With broadcast TV, I had to pay to add closed captions, and then have them put on Betamax SP tapes (YES--they used Beta up to 2014)...and then of course, pay to air them!
Nice tutorial. I can see why someone would charge $30 to restore an 8-track cartridge. To do it 'right' a person would need to fix whatever was wrong (presumably a broken tape), re-splice with new foil, clean the roller, replace the foam that keeps the tape in contact with the tape head, then to dub to a CD. All that takes a fair amount of time. I doubt that guy is getting rich doing all that.
I was not aware 8-tracks were used in some arcade games.
mark grunenwald Glad you liked it! Yes...Bally Midway used quite a few of these during the 70's in their gun games!
*grins* Betcha that there are people out there who will look at an 8 track tape and say "What the heck is THAT?"
Yes...that will happen more and more!
having spend over a decade converting the 8-tracks and some of my ol teachers who gave me them if I could copy eventually I bought my own I could well take apart and shut it off the moment I could see the um tape go bye bye. Big ol difference between plastic rollers and rubber rollers. Rubber rots. Very annoying. that and when it got unwound I couldn't help it then. My job was just to get as much of the recording I could. Wrigley's gum anyone? didn't usually try that. :P I just taped the ends together and hoped I knew when to switch the tracks. :) Why Cassettes ruled the world I will never know though. that tape is made to outlast everything :)
+Lee Bartholomew 8 tracks were good while they lasted...and there are similar tapes used in many radio stations too for commercials, etc.
I HAVE A PLAYER COMING IN THE MAIL
Great!!
Want to fix my AM/FM cassette radio for my 75 Dodge? Some good lookin' stooge screwed it up.
"Tone". Anyone born after 2000 knows what "tone" is? ;)
Yes...you are right!!
REALSITC A PORTABLE ONE
A popular brand!
Digital players are deliberately substandard to test the public. Is there intelligent life out there? All the instruments seem to fight each other for space and drown out the others. Test to see if the bang of a drum is louder than the guitar chords.
I still love the sound of tape!
Caprtonic BJ115AA ( 8 track ) inside Jc Penny( model 683-1770-80) am /FM Modle /the 8 track quite playing and is not changing tracts ? What is the solution ?
Read moreShow less
Reply
·
+David Fletcher Dirty heads inside...there is also the sensor that leans on tape that could be cruddy so it doesn;t read the silver tape.
That one tape sounds awful.
dun understand why wld anyone wld bother to have this junk in their car instead of the radio?
it was the future! Instant music change...4 channels to select from!