I WAS REALLY TAKEN WITH THE POETRY, SPOKEN WORD, TYPE SONGS OF THE MEN WITH BROKEN HEARTS BY JIM REEVES AND A PICTURE FROM LIFE'S OTHER SIDE BY PORTER WAGONER, REAL WORDS OF HONESTY AND WISDOM FROM THE LATE GREAT HANK WILLIAMS. A LIFE GUIDE SO TO SPEAK, THAT WILL HELP ANYBODY WHO TAKES THE TIME TO LISTEN AND UNDERSTAND.

THIS IS A HEARTFELT TRIBUTE TO HANK, AND IT'S REALLY GREAT HEARING THE BEAUTY OF HIS MUSIC, WITH THE MORE MODERN STUDIO TECHNOLOGY THAT WAS NOT AVAILABLE WHEN HANK WAS ALIVE.

AN ABSOLUTELY STUNNING COMPILATION OF QUITE SIMPLY SOME OF THE BEST CRAFTED SONGS OF ALL TIME.

I HAVE QUITE A FEW OF HANKS RECORDS, BUT IF YOU DO NOT HAVE THIS IN YOUR COLLECTION, YOU ARE MISSING A TRICK.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

NICE CRISP WHITE LETTERING LOOKS WELL AGAINST THE PERFECTLY CLEAN TRANSPARENT CASSETTE.

SOME LIGHT BROWSE WEAR ON SLEEVE THAT IS NOT OVERBEARING.

TEST PLAYED IN IT'S ENTIRETY WITH MARVELLOUS AUDIO PLAYBACK.

THIS CASSETTE CAN BE HARD TO TRACK DOWN, A FEW AROUND, BUT NOT THAT MANY.

A LITTLE KNOWN, COLLECTIBLE GEM FROM WAY BACK TO 1996, I'M NOT SURE IF THIS WAS RELEASED IN  VINYL OR EVEN CD.

Welcome To The Cool VAULT The Home Of Cassette Tape That Is PlayTested In Its Entirety!

Thank you kindly for taking the time to have a look at this tape. Over the years we have noticed lots of folks on the net selling cassettes, and do you know what? It’s great to see so many people keeping this great tradition alive, however due to my past experiences of buying cassettes that where faulty, and also taking inspiration from The Record Collector Grading system, we have made the decision to sell only tape that is test played in its entirety.

If we wanted to, we could list tons of tape,reasonably quickly on the net that is totally untested or only partially tested,however that is not what we are about, we strongly believe that quality, not quantity is the ticket if you are a cassette tape enthusiast, or a tapehead as we are now fondly known.

Play testing tape in its entirety is a slow but very enjoyable process, the music after all is from our combined collections,and we really enjoy blasting the decibels out of our vibrating speakers!

We have noticed recently some sellers selling partially tested tape, and do you know what, that greatly reduces the risk! However we prefer the full test and here is why?

Many of the tapes can play the opening few tracks really good and then disaster! The tracks in the middle then go all wobbly; I discard many tapes for this reason!

The RECORD COLLECTOR grading system,one of the most respected systems in the world for audio playback, states that care must be taken when purchasing old tapes. We wholeheartly agree! And that is why; we now remove the risk from your purchase!

A few years back, before I became a cassette enthusiast, I made every mistake in the book.

Please let me give you an example.

I bought Elvis Costello’s album Brutal Youth 3 or 4 times, and each tape was faulty. I then noticed a seller stating that he listened to the album in full, every single song, on this quite long but brilliant record and it sounded great. I sent the seller a message asking him if he was sure, and true to his word, it was perfect!

This taught me the lesson, that you actually save money if you buy a fully tested tape. We all love a bargain ,and sometimes we enjoy a bit of a flutter, trying to secure a good cheap deal, however in the world of tape you normally get what you pay for!

I use the record collector grading system for all of our cassettes. If the tape plays perfectly, like the one you are viewing, I grade it as mint. The Record Collector grading system is an audio sonic grade, many people find this confusing, but it is really quite simple,it is how the tape sounds that matters!

Do not make the mistake that new looking tapes are mint and faded tapes are poor. I had a Television tape from the seventies that was totally faded, and it played like a dream. On the otherhand, I had a brand new looking REM tape that played terribly. If you are a tapehead, looks is very much a bonus, Sound is king!

The Inlays and booklets however, is a visual grade, and are graded the same way as vinyl sleeves.

My cassette collection was stored very carefully, so my cases are mainly near mint. All of my tape undergoes a very rigorous quality control process.

All my cassettes are tested on a modern TEAC LP – R500 and then on a vintage TECHNICS RS – 810, I then carry out random tests on a JVC DR E300L Dolby System deck.

As I already mentioned, this is a slow process, however it is the only way we can ensure that you are buying quality. If it is not good enough for our collection,then it is not good enough for your collection also, this is why we discard so many cassettes, and why we list very slowly, we only want to sell the best!

I actually adore tape now, a few years back I thought incorrectly that they where the poor cousin of vinyl, this is not the case at all, especially the tape from the mid/late eighties and early nineties that left a much lower oxide residue on deck heads.

Many folks think that Cassettes just rolled over and died when CDs came along. The CD won the war of course, but just before cassettes bowed out in a very dignified manner, they were never better, many standard tapes from that era was actually made from chrome,recording studio standard!

A lot of cassette albums from this era were also remastered, long before CDs received the same process quite a few years later. It’s a shame that tape was replaced when it was at the top of its game!

The inlays and booklets really improved also, with many beautifully fanning out with stunning photography and lyrics etc.

I love the tone of good quality tape played on good quality equipment; I find it more subtle on the ear than CDs,especially if you adjust the sound with Dolby noise reduction, in conjunction with a graphic equaliser.

The other great thing about cassettes is that they are no longer mass produced, making them quite collectible! CDs are still mass produced and are sold by the big corporations quite cheaply.

It is our belief that if you buy popular artists from good sellable, collectible genres like punk, metal, jazz, blues, soul, funk etc, then you are not spending your cash, you are actually making a nice little investment.

It is our belief, that cassettes are majorably underpriced at the moment, a bit like vinyl a few years back, before it sky rocketed in value and collectibility.

Buying cassettes is a buyer's market at the moment, but do you know what, this will not last forever, get in now, and build up that nice collection, while prices are low.

Look, thank you kindly for bearing with me and reading all this. Since you have stuck with me, I am giving you a free systemised strategy for making cash, that I have fully tested.

Find out what albums are expensive or beginning to get expensive on vinyl. Then see if you can track it down on cassette. If the cassette is a fraction of the vinyl, consider purchasing the cassette for your collection to sell in the future.

It's only a matter of time before collector's start foraging around for other formats, that are more affordable.

Quite a few years ago, I bought every single Ramones cassette, that I could get my hands on, for very cheap. In case you are not aware, The Ramones are an iconic, highly influential, and majorably loved American punk band.

I have since sold all of them, and I was shocked when some of the cassettes actually became more expensive, and rare than the vinyl counter parts.

Good luck building up your cassette collection, it really is a great hobby. Check out the website Tapeline for tips and products, they are more than a shop, a passionate community also.

Invest in good equipment, and for goodness sake, keep those heads clean, that is the golden rule.

YouTube has excellent tutorials, on how to do this. The difference that this makes is unbelievable for audio playback.

Good luck also, if you decide to use my little cassette investing strategy. I hope it makes you some extra cash.

CASSETTES ARE JUST TOO COOL TO DIE!

A COOL VAULT LISTING