First Reel to Reel Tape Player and Recorder

Our first reel-to-reel was a Sony reel-to-reel tape recorder and player. I can remember how excited my father was when he purchased it. At that time it was a big step up from vinyl records. It was the first time that we were able to record and hear our own voices play back, an amazing moment for us as young children, and to him, I'm sure. We used the player/recorder to record tapes and send them off to my grandparents each week, no, there was no Skype or email back then...just our tapes and hand-written letters and occasional phone calls. Making those tapes was a big family event, sometimes fun, and sometimes we'd rather be doing something else because we were kids, but it was always amazing (and sometimes embarrassing) to hear ourselves.

Now reel to reel tape players and tapes have become collectors items. When we were clearing out our basement not long ago, we came across a pile of old reel to reel tapes that had belonged to my husband that had some great rock music, which we found were pretty big sellers when we listed them on eBay.

Following is some basic information about Reel to Reel players, and things that may interest you if you are a collector, or if you have come across a stack of old tapes you'd like to listen to but need a player to do so.