Genealogy Chat

Hello everyone, I have a very old Tape recorder, with the large tapes, that were all the rage in the 1960's, the problem I am having, is, trying to get the tapes tranfered on to CD or audio tapes, I would love to know what has been recorded on the old tapes.... I have tried yellow pages and the net, but can't seem to find a company that can tranfer them for me. any ideas????I have a feeling my sister who is now 45, and my later father who died 35 years ago, are on them, so, I know they are at least 35/40 yeras old....ghosts from the past lol. thanks for any help........Lilly

Try e-bay, might pick up an old reel to reel player and listen to them that way Jess

Hi Lily, There are loads of companies that will do it for you. If you put 'Reel to reel tapes on disc' on Google, lots of sites come up. I still have my Dad's old Grundig tape recorder, in working order. It's lovely to listen to the likes of my Grandfather, who died in the early 60's and my brother and I as kids singing nursery rhymes! Christine

Hi Jess, thanks for your idea, I have now put a bid in on ebay, I never thought of that, fingers crossed 4 hours to go,only 2 bids lol..Lilly Hi christine, done a google, brillant, loads of places, I wasn't put the right inform in the search box before, going to try ebay, and then the search sites. thank you.....Lilly I knew you guys won't let me down lol thanks again

Thanks for calling up this thread! I have a number of reel-to-reel recordings which I'd like to transfer to CD. Some are of my late father, for instance. At least I have an idea what to do about it now. cheers Christine

Not being a technician but I have found that in connecting the tape player (whatever sort) or old 78rpm record player to the computer through a Preamp (doesnt cost much) you can hear all you wish and at the same time 'burn' CDs. Just be sure that when you buy a reel-to-reel or other player that it does have extension capabilities. With reel-to-reel on Ebay take care that the player can take the size reels that you have - some are very limited in size and will not take more than 3 and a bit inches whenn you may need larger. Another problem I have found on Ebay is that the Seller may be as competent as me and you may find that you have bought a machine that needs some attention - bad brake or speed regulators.

I had to throw my wife's reel to reel away as the drive belt had rotted and was unable to get a replacement. D

You also have to know if your tapes are twin track or four. My son thought he was being helpfull & bought a semi professional machine on ebay but it won't play my four track tapes Vivienne

I use Easy CD Creator and have successfully made CD's from both tapes and LP's. You have to have a pre-amplifier. My recorder is also a Grundig. You just need lots of time and patience but it is well worth the effort. You can download the specific instructions from several web sites. Happy listening.