MASSIVE 1 TON collection of reel to reel tape for only $25,000!

cjacek

cjacek

Analogue Enthusiast
Hi,
It's been a long time since I've been here but I saw something insane on my local craigslist that i just had to share with you. Again, not my ad, just posting for historical purposes and your enjoyment. :D Just a brief comment: I completely understand the reasons behind having such a large collection (who of us isn't guilty of this sort of thing to some degree) but what's insane is a seller who believes that he can find a prospective buyer with 25K who will want to buy thousands of used home pre-recorded tapes of unknown health (some look to be sticky-shed years) with classical music on 'em from questionable sources. The seller hints at the possibility of splitting up the lot if there is no interest in the complete lot but still, who would want to buy this AND how long will it take the seller to sell piece by piece, recoup his own cost, not to mention the time and headaches of doing so. All I can say is WOW.

https://vancouver.craigslist.ca/rds/eld/5617879115.html

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Bummer....they are probably all 1/4" tapes.

Had they been 2" NOS reels...I might have considered it. ;)
But then...the shipping costs would kill you!!!
:D

I love the sellers logic...he's quesstimating what single reels go for and then multiplying by 2000.
It's OK...he'll be stuck with the pile forever, as I bet he doesn't want to sell them one at a time or smaller lots.
Probably hoping there's another nut-job out there willing grab all these up...but honestly, until the tapes are ALL individually gone through and classified/categorized...no one's going to just buy them like that in boxes.
 
After having read through the ad, there may well be some significant recordings in this archive. The original recordist sounds like they were a true aficionado of classical music, and if the lot was recorded from FM radio as said in the listing, who knows what's on them. Can you imagine, a rare studio performance from Maria Callas, or a young Pavarotti, or something by Bernard Herrmann or Stravinsky.

I think the value is probably closer to $3-10000 depending on whether readies are thrust upon a table, but for a gambling person with about three years spare time, it may be quite a steal.
Al
 
I hope it didn't sound as if I was putting down classical music. Not at all. It's just that it makes an already difficult sale be even more of an uphill battle due to the specialized / niche content. And, as miroslav said, that if it was NOS tape, it might have been a whole different ball game. In fact, when I first saw the headline, I thought it was indeed some unsold new tape inventory. As for the off air FM recordings: I can certainly see the interest there but for sure the pre digital compression mp3's era... :eek: .... ;)
 
I would expect that any memorable live FM performances where already recorded properly at the stations/studios that were airing them.

This is more of a home stereo deal, from what I'm seeing...not that it means it's bad...just not worth $25k.
It would take a very, very, very long time for someone to just go through all those tapes to see 1.) if they still play or fall appart and 2.) if there's really anything unique on them that wasn't available anywhere else.

I've got a pile of used 2" tapes that I inherited with the purchase of my MX-80. I don't really plan on recording on them, unless I run out of NOS tape at some point...way down the road...but I did go through each reel when I first got them and the deck just to see if the tape itself was usable or SSS. Most have recorded tracks on them...I think I listened to a few minutes on a couple of them, and will never bother to listen through each. When I run SMPTE on track 24...I'll just set all 24 track to REC, and wipe that stuff clean off.
If I lose a "golden nugget" of someone's fantastic performance....oh well. ;)
 
miroslav said:
I would expect that any memorable live FM performances where already recorded properly at the stations/studios that were airing them.
Click to expand...

Hey Miro,
We might 'expect' that any memorable recording would already have been archived, but it's probably not the case. I bet lots of stuff has disappeared over the years just because there's so much of it. I didn't think the OP was putting down classical music (music is music), just that for someone to be so meticulous with the original recordings, I bet there's some real gems in there. What's it worth? Like everything, only what someone is willing to pay.
Al
 
Sure...you're right...there may be some good stuff on some fo the reels...but man, who's the poor sod that's going to get stuck going through all those tapes looking for it!!! :D

Looks like the seller just boxed it up without giving it a second thought...and at this point, they might as well sell it purely by weight or per pallet...like you see at many storage auctions.
If they could have listed some of the contents (by that I mean the recorded contents, not tape types), I think it would have helped their sale.
 
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