Kate's Track Shack 8 Track Repair Services

Tape Repair/Tune-Up Service

8-Track Gremlin Destroyed Tape

8-Track Repair/4 Track & Playtape Repair

REMINDER:

Please, please, please, ship your tapes to us laying flat! When they are shipped on their side or upside down they can spew from the center of the spool, especially if the metallic sensing foil has broken. This will make what should be a $3 repair a $5 or more repair. If the tapes don't fit flat in the box, find a bigger box! Tapes, should not be shipped for repairs in a case. Same thing can happen. The goal is to get your tapes fixed inexpensively and to get them back to you as soon as we can. When the tapes are spewed from the inside like that, it costs you more and takes us more time to get them repaired. Since most of these tapes are 40+ years old, the splice is very likely to break when it changes tracks.

Also, if you have a tape that spews, check inside your player to make sure that there is no tape wrapped around the capstan or the metallic sensing foil. This can cause other tapes to jam/spew.

*We do not repair or duplicate adult content tapes.*

Thanks! Dan/Kathy

Ever since we opened up the Track Shack, we have been repairing and servicing 8-tracks. We have repaired over 10,000 8-tracks, and the results have been excellent. People have shipped us their carts from all over the world for us to get them playing again. From valuable quadraphonic tapes to even more precious home made tapes of someone's little girl, we have fixed them all. We have had tapes come in that were twisted, spewed out, and crinkled,and they have left fully functional. As long as the tape is not stretched (or erased!), we can restore it to playable condition. Even most stretched tape can be made playable, but we might have to cut out the stretched section.

There is not much in the way of tape repair that we have not tackled. From:

Riveted RCA Glued Lear JetPress Fit Lear JetScrew Down Capitol Three Tab Columbia

Every Other Kind

cartridges with the following problems:

disintegrated pressure pads

spring pads with foam missing,

crushed cases

melted rollers (the WORST!)

missing label

too much tape tension (binds when playing)

broken splice

upside down tape

accordion tape

tape spew

We have seen it all (I won't even go into the carts with the dead cockroaches in them).

8-Track Tune-Up/Repair

Lets say that you have 8-tracks that have not broken, and you listen to all the time. Chances are that you are not getting the best sound out of them. Since most 8-tracks are at least 40-50+ years old, they are starting to show their age. The two most common maladies are a worn out foam pressure pad and a failing splice. The easiest way to tell if your pressure pad is shot is to look at the end that you insert into the player. See that piece of foam that the tapes is on? That is the pressure pad. Push on the tape with your finger. If the pad does not immediately come back up, then it is shot. A worn out pressure pad can cause sounds bleed over, low fidelity and even a tape jam as pieces of the pad come off and fall into the cart. This is bad news! A failing splice is even worse. The splice is the little piece of metallic tape that joins both ends of the tape loop. Besides keeping the tape together, it also acts as the sensor strip to signal the player to change programs. If it fails, one of two things will happen. Either the tape will fall apart, and go into the cart, or it will get wrapped around the player capstan. If it does the latter, it will continue to play, and continue to pull out tape until you have a terrible jam. This is a real mess!!

The tune-up is basically an 8-track repair before the damage is done. And trust us, your tape will fail. It may sound ok now, but that splice is not long for this world. Getting it and the pad replaced* now are your best bets to have your tape last another lifetime. It will sound and play much better. *Some pads have already been replaced or not "shot" when they come to us so those won't be replaced. Every tape will have the metallic spliced replaced.

Some people have asked us if we recommend getting the tapes that they are purchasing from us tuned up. We say "it depends". Some of our customers prefer to do their own work on their carts, which we think is great. Others would rather get their tapes knowing that they will be trouble free, which we understand as well. That is why we state that while all of our tapes are guaranteed to play, we cannot promise that they will not suffer a splice failure down the road, or that they could not use a new pressure pad.

So, if you do not feel comfortable repairing your carts, or you just want them to function worry free, then email us!

Here is a quick break down of repair/tune-up charges for 8-track tapes:

$3 Per Tape	$4 Per Tape	$5 Per Tape	$5+ Per Tape

Tape is at the metallic splice or the metallic splice has broken and tape is not jammed	Tape is jammed	Tape has a melted roller	Melted roller goo has gotten inside of the cart and on the tape

Tape has a very minor spew of tape	Tape has a moderate spew of tape	Tape has a major spew of tape	Tape has a coffee can type of spew (see pic below)

			Tape has flipped backwards

*We do not repair or transfer adult themed tapes*

Tape repairs start at $3 and could be more depending on the severity of the issue(s) with the tape. The chart above will give you a pretty good idea of costs for repairs, but sometimes a tape that seems fine on the outside can have issues on the inside that we don't know about until we open up the tape. If the tape is not playing when you send it to us because of a jam or minor spew the cost will be at least $3 + s/h. Tapes that have a melted roller, a tape that is more than a minor spew or tape(s) that have been flip upside down (these have to be completely unspool and respooled again) will be at least $5 + s/h. There are some, however (see below), that will be a little bit more. These would be tapes that have completely unspooled and are in a big jumbled up wad. You know the ones I mean!! LOL These can sometimes take hours to repair. (We will email/contact you if they are more than $5 repairs) If you do have a melted roller or tape that is totally spewed, it would be a big help if you could put these individually in a sealed plastic bag. It will keep your other tapes from getting roller melt goo on your other tapes! We promise you that you will be pleased, and you will get back a fully functioning tape.

These are those tapes that would be more than $5 for repair!

4 Track Tape/Playtape Repair

We can also do 4 track and Playtape repair. As with cassettes these can be a little more difficult to repair. Most 4 track/Playtape repairs will start at $5 + s/h. Due to the large amount of tape in 4 tracks there is no warranty given.

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If you are unsure about what type of repairs your tapes need, then why don't you ship them to us and we'll take a look at them and give you a cost for repairs including s/h back to you. Be sure to put you contact info in with our tape(s) so we know who to contact once they are done.

You can send them to:

Kate's Track Shack
5611 Louise Way
Arlington, TX 76017

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NOTE:

If sending us tapes through a service like Mail Box Etc., please ask them NOT to use peanuts!!!!! The plastic inflated bags or newspaper works great. It's much easier for us to recycle and more eco friendly!

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Please know that we love 8-tracks here at Kate's Track Shack. We will treat your tapes like we would our own, and that your repair will be processed quickly and professionally. We try to get your tapes repaired/tuned-up as quickly as possible. However, turnaround time can vary depending on how many tapes you send and the severity of the repair. We will do our best not to damage the cart when opening it, but there are times when it is necessary to get under the label to open a cart. If that is the case with your cart, we will try to do as little damage as possible. We also want you to be aware that some shells are easier to open than others. Some are cheaply made or are just brittle after 40+ years and will break easily. We try to take every precaution for this to not happen, but sometimes it just does.

We value each and every customer and want you to be happy with our services!!! Occasionally a tape that we fix or refurbish breaks or stops working after you've received it back from us. If that happens, please send the tape back to us at no charge. This offer is good for 30 days after you've received your tapes back from us. If the tape is going to break, it will do it within this time frame.

Please note: If a tape(s) tape that we've repaired and returned, fail to work (within 30 days), and you open it/them, the warranty then becomes voided. This warranty also does not apply to tapes that are double albums, 60 minutes or longer or quadraphonic tapes. The reason being, these tapes tend to jam frequently because of the vast amount of tape. You need a really strong player to play these longer tapes. Sometimes the issues can be cause by the rollers. The smaller rollers don't always like to play nice with some players! ;)

PLEASE BE SURE TO INCLUDE A WAY OF GETTING IN TOUCH WITH YOU (EMAIL/PHONE NUMBER) IN CASE WE NEED TO CONTACT YOU ABOUT YOUR TAPES.

Thanks!