Bush - Comparing several generations of Bush brand Type 1 cassettes that is :-)

[@demonufo]

Goodmans were once a formidable brand too, and made some great speakers. By the end of the 70's they were a totally different company.

[@CassetteComeback]

They had Nak make their decks in the 70s...

[@demonufo]

@@CassetteComeback Now that I never knew. :)

[@macdaniel6029]

12:15 Your voice fits the music perfectly xD You should make a complete song that way ^^

[@CassetteComeback]

😂

[@2dexandsumplastik]

I used to be a bit snobby about cassettes and used to think of Bush as a “Billy basic” brand of low quality. Then I picked up some of the second tape you opened and found I could get a very decent sound for dance music recorded fairly hot from a vinyl source out of them. I also liked that they seemed unbranded. They sounded great in the car and held up pretty well to re recording over them too. I’m writing this comment before you try them out, so I’m hoping that I don’t look too much of a fool by saying there were far better than I expected and could produce excellent results!

[@CassetteComeback]

You're safe 😆

[@2dexandsumplastik]

Cassette Comeback I found it spooky that you said the same thing as me about them as a good car cassette!

[@HDXFH]

Sold under flea market brand at JB Hi Fi in Australia, they sound pretty good for a China tape

[@CassetteComeback]

They seem to be a different version than the one the guy destroyed. Maybe China are upping their game...

[@meurighailstone1999]

I recently found a Strand branded SF60 in a box of old tapes, exactly the same hubs as those Bush ones, however the tape is different, it is identical to a BASF Sound1 60 (that also have those hubs), did some tests and the response is identical to the BASF, so either strand used BASF tape for a while or BASF bought in whatever tape strand were buying at that time. It's like tape roulette!

[@CassetteComeback]

That's why at this time most cassettes are "Bitsa" cassettes 😀

[@runetech]

When comparing tapes I think the manual calibrating decks provides more info as you can actually see the difference in the meters. When using auto calibration all you have to go on is the sound, which might be good enough, but leaves you with less information to go on. Not that I want to complain. I love what you do on this channel.

[@CassetteComeback]

It depends what the angle of the video is. For this video it was to show that they may look low rent, but they sound good. If I'm comparing, I usually use my Aiwa AD-S950 which has visual calibration meters or the Dragon.

[@runetech]

Yeah, I know, I'm just nitpicking... BTW, I just ordered about 25 tapes from you... :) Edit: No it was 20, it became too expensive at the moment with the UDII and XLII from 85 that I had in the cart at first. It's the two most visually pleasing tapes that ever was made imho.

[@lawrenceh1405]

At last, a situation where I can say honestly, appropriately, publicly, and without being the least bit offensive..... Nice Bush.

[@UlfrikTB]

I've got some Phillips cassettes that's got the same hubs as those Bush cassettes. Says on the wrapper they were assembled in China, while the tape was made in Australia.

[@CassetteComeback]

Nice info. That points towards Greencorp.

[@JamesE707]

Of all the tapes I've bought since 1973, I don't think I've ever tried out a Bush tape. Appreciate your videos Tony. PS: But I did buy a pack of "Mr Audio" C90s a long time ago, and all I can say is - please don't bother!

[@CassetteComeback]

How come you left the cassette fb group?

[@jasejj]

Yeah Mr Audio tapes are complete sh...

[@JamesE707]

@@CassetteComeback A good question Tony. I'm not the type of person to be usually bothered by anything people write, but after a while I got a bit tired of some folk posting their latest mass purchases of NOS tapes, and their wall being full of NOS tapes etc. It's as if they had to compete on quantity rather than quality of posting. etc. It just became a bit repetitve. I suppose I could have stopped the notification thing on my fb settings and just wandered in now-and-then? No big deal I suppose. ;o)

[@previousslayer]

Weird, apparently they should look the same as the golden wrapper Bush... Tape lottery? :D

[@hannemankingtube]

@@JamesE707 Same, too many Look-at-me I've got hundreds of valuable unopened tapes posts. And the bloke from Pakistan(?) posting details of every recording he made of bland common albums on TDK B's using DBX.

[@64bakes]

When I was at school a friend recorded a couple of songs for me onto a Bush SF - the one with the slim case and blue blob, which I still have. I remember being really impressed with the sound quality, and he only recorded it on a JVC mini system or something like that. Will have to dig it out as it only had a couple of songs on it!

[@CassetteComeback]

Yeah, everything about them said they'd be crap... that's why they're such a nice surprise.

[@anthonybrunotheodd]

They sell the 90-minute version of the Bush cassette you showed at the beginning in Walmart under the ONN brand. They are (at least the last time I went into Walmart) were 3 bucks a pop. Admittedly they only come in a two pack, but they are the only new cassettes I could buy since the Maxell UR were discontinued. I miss being able to walk into a Walgreens Pharmacy and buying a brand new 5 pack of Maxell's. But the ONN cassettes aren't too bad. But then again, I only used them on my mono cassette recorders from the 60's and 70's. I haven't tried them in my Technics yet.

[@jamesbennettmusic]

I went through loads of those forward cassettes as Woolies own brand. The chrome ones too in the green wrapper. Great for walkmans. I didn't like the Emtec ones they changed to later on.

[@crucie75]

i tried one of those bush with the blue wrapper thin case no red blob lol what a description, they sounded really really good, i was blown away infact !

[@CassetteComeback]

Yeah. That's what this video was all about. There are still gems out there.

[@IrishvintageTVRadio]

Such a shame the way Bush went, as you say made great Radio's and TV'S. Then the Rank organisation bought them and it all went to shit. They then sold Bush to Toshiba and the TV's where Toshiba's badged and all was well, but the damage was done and Toshiba dropped the Bush brand. It got bandied around a bit and then Argos bought it. It's probably like Russian roulette now, depending on the quality of crap they stick Bush on.

[@interstat2222]

They began a joint venture Rank-Toshiba in late 70s, buying tubes from Toshiba (maybe even the outstanding Blackstripe?), similar to Thorn with JVC when they realised UK brands had no way of staying innovative and competitive against global Japanese and Korean companies. Toshiba assembled TVs in the old Rank Plymouth factory until late 00s. Sadly Toshiba have sold their brand now; in hands of Vestel currently (which isn't too bad). Toshiba were excellent, as good as the best, but always priced better than Sony, but sadly wasn't enough. Argos doesn't care about quality (have they ever?) and sell some absolute crap, and not even at great prices anymore!

[@christronicsdereksrandomness36]

In the US we have Wal-Mart supercenters and they sell their store brand cassettes and they literally look no different than that first bush cassette you took out of that box of 4. The only difference is the Bush cassette has the brand name, 60, and the normal position type I printed on the case. The ones from our Wal-Marts only have the A & B printed on it and it looks to be the exact same font as that first Bush cassette.

[@europa2000man]

I got a pack of 4 Bush cassettes in Argos in Ireland for E12.99 and 2 of them were OK, but the other 2 were distorted and the ferric oxide went all over the heads in my recorder. I think its hit and miss with them. Also, the tape itself was not packed in neatly. It was all over the place. This was from new.

[@CassetteComeback]

Yeah, the QC isn't there on these.

[@2ndPyleOfVinyl]

The Bush cassette that you began testing at 11:06 I swear is identical to the current ONN series of cassettes from Walmart. The original ONN cassettes, which you reviewed in an earlier video are uneven with the mahogany oxide and TDK inspired J-cards. Definitely voice grade. However, the current ONN cassettes perform the same way as the Bush C-60 and even have the stylized "A" and "B" printed on the shells. The sound quality is better suited for music, particularly, in my experience, 1950s-1970s rock from 45s. I am sure the current Bush cassettes and the current ONN (mine happen to be C-90s, though) are made in the same factory.

[@CassetteComeback]

I don't doubt that. Maybe the Chinese are upping their game...

[@ttheone3518]

Bush: the cassette wrapper gambling game

[@everygamersdream72]

I found one of the Raks ones.

[@triodehexode]

Bush merged with Murphy radio in the 60s they then became part of the Rank organisation (big gong film man) Strand were also part of the Rank organisation making theater lighting equipment. I note the new ones have dropped the tree (original Bush logo)

[@BubbafromSapperton]

Bush was big in the '70's 😃

[@CassetteComeback]

😂

[@vinylcity1599]

I've never heard of em! But I've always lived in NC, so I guess I wouldn't!

[@maxwoolstencroft8110]

What are you opinions on pre recorded cassettes because I own pink Floyd the wall on chrome tape and I think it sounds brilliant

[@CassetteComeback]

Never been interested in pre-recorded. Never bought them then and don't now.

[@UtkarshAmitabhSrivastava]

23:11 did I just hear NAC 465 ? Isn't it supposed to be 456?

[@middlesbroughmike1027]

The Bush ones I bought from Argos have a really strange cloudy shell

[@CassetteComeback]

Maybe they're being made by someone else now.

[@middlesbroughmike1027]

@@CassetteComeback I'm not 100% sure when I bought them but it was definitely around last summer. I like many others haven't used them as I'd heard they were rubbish. I'm so glad you did the Bush SF video though as like you I used to buy them back in the day to give to people. At the time the Bush branded cassette players were awful so everyone thought the cassettes were too. I got pretty good results from them though. Even when recorded using a boombox.

[@jasejj]

BTW you mention Bush being decent, but if anything Goodmans had an even better history as a manufacturer of quality loudspeakers and other audio gear. Even as late as the mid-1990s they were designing a range of rather nice entry-level separates that were sold in Argos. They farmed out the manufacturing to Inkel of Korea but that was no bad thing as they also made "Sherwood" kit for Richer Sounds that were really pretty good. Amstrad were always tat merchants although even Alva made half-decent entry level radios in the UK up to the late 1970s, then they went bust in the early 80s and Harvard International, a large importer of cheap gear from Hong Kong bought the name from Alba's administrators, and the Bush name from Rank, around 1982.

[@CassetteComeback]

Goodman's did have their moments. One of their 70s decks was made by Nakamichi for them.

[@Waffledogchat]

I used those for recording tapes for the car. They were ok with a flat response and they were very cheap in the early mid nineties.

[@CassetteComeback]

Exactly the same reasons I used them.

[@CommanderMouse72]

I have a bush shoebox tape recorder that works fine as a dictation machine, and as an emergency player for music tapes (as I found out when my usual tape player broke)

[@demonufo]

That late era Bush looks like a very small tape pack? Even thinner that C90 stock tape? If so, that performance is pretty admirable should it be closer to C120 thickness.

[@CassetteComeback]

Yeah, supposedly this is different to the really bad modern Bush.

[@NJPurling]

The man then set fire to the cassettes after crushing them. I watched the video. If he had a machine that couldn't align with the Bush cassette he would have bad feelings about them. As for the current, last type, they look like a plain ferric. Is the tape semi-transparent to a degree? Just wondering why they won't take a pounding signal. How do your Nak decks deal with the 1st & last types? I also just bought some of the 1st type SF cassettes, since you approached them with an open mind.

[@jasejj]

The later JVC GI cassettes are the same as the later Bush SF. Identical as far as I can see. At the time I wasn't overly keen on these tapes as they are not as sensitive, or at least use non-standard biasing compared to a standard D, SKC, Saehan or HF. As a result the sound tended to be a bit dull and quiet. But when you actually calibrate them properly on a good deck, they do well. You may find that your Denon or Technics decks don't do so well with them. They are very dark, and at the time I did wonder if they were reslitting video tape, but on trying them again years later with autocal decks, it's a very different story. It seems I wasted a fortune as a student spending £2 more per pack of ten on my favoured Philips FS tapes, which don't seem to perform as well as these Bush ones on something better than a cheap Panasonic midi stereo :)

[@CassetteComeback]

That's why I do videos like this and haven't done one on TDK ADs...they're a known quantity, but as prices rises and more and more are getting their heads around the idea of calibration, it's worth pointing cassettes like these out.

[@johnstark5324]

Some of those Bush tapes are better then the new Capture tape as you pointed out on the capture tape review. Over at Tapeheads I did try to calibrate a customers Teac A6300 reel to reel to the Capture reel tape and the tape I got was as you Brits say, rubbish. Seems I am the only person there that has had a problem but I will never go Capture again.

[@CassetteComeback]

There's always the odd bum tape...look at Memorex. People had a bad one and them never tried them again.

[@interstat2222]

The first set of digits identifies a brand on a barcode, so all of the 90s-2000s eras are by Strand. Strand also had the license to make media for BBC, Goodmans, (latterly) Alba and also possibly WHSmith. Then, in 2004, after the contracts came to an end and blank media was dying, they had their own brand, Mr. Audio/Mr. Video and Kodak. They still make Kodak branded batteries for Poundland etc. I think they also made MGM blank video tapes for DSG Retail and possibly Mitsubishi media in the early 2000s. Bush today is wholly owned by Sainsburys-Argos and has no connection to Strand anymore. They seem to use anyone they like for each product under that name now.

[@CassetteComeback]

Good to know. Thanks!

[@interstat2222]

@@CassetteComeback Woolworths I had in late 90s and the VHS tapes were obviously BASF/EMTEC (who by then had contract deals for Memorex). I'm not sure who did their audiotapes. Woolworths obviously had good relationship with BASF. Hope the cold's on mend!

[@JonnyInfinite]

Comparing several generations of Bush 😏

[@demonufo]

Been there. ;)

[@previousslayer]

Another suspects for the swamp black audio glory would be Panasonic EP, Konica XR-I, Konica SG-I, JVC FI-S and some Philips CD One and CD Plus ( there were at least 3 other designs, one exclusive to Philips, one like in the golden wrapper Bush, and one like this www.ez647.sk/cc/philipsi/b/philips_cdone9094x2.jpg ). Quite ubiquitous in Europe outside of the UK and a few of them made it to the Eastern front, mostly Panasonic and Konica, with some Philipses pinched in.

[@previousslayer]

And about the Forward. meshok.net/pic.php?id=77941092 meshok.net/pic.php?id=77964350 meshok.net/pic.php?id=78235613 And for a dessert www.femchk.com.hk/ Especially the older snapshots of it on archive.org . Here's one of their main competitors BTW. I get these designs so messed up it actually begs for a conclusion they could be copying from one another and both drawing inspiration from TDK. (EDIT: the mfr that follows also took after ICM a bit.) Kolormagnetics they are. www.kolorcn.com/kolor-media/cassette Tried hitting this one up on the Wayback Machine too but no dice, the pics are apoof from existence *:D

[@CassetteComeback]

You're thorough, I'll give you that 😃

[@previousslayer]

@@CassetteComeback What else to do when you're 200 km away from your tapes? xD

[@michaelturner4457]

Bush is a brand of Argos these days isn't it?

[@CassetteComeback]

Yeah

[@FiguredOutReviews1]

Was wondering if someone could help me out as I just got into tape. I was using bbc fx super ferric tapes that had gold labels on the cassette shell and they sounded awesome to my ears but I recently got some more and they are the same cassette with black labels and they sound pretty bad no matter what I try. Am I doing something wrong or did they change the tape for the worse? Cheers.

[@CassetteComeback]

There have been a few versions of the BBC FX, but the only ones I know of are the first generation with colourful blue and red slipsheets, made by Saehan. The next generation look a bit like the Bush. I don't know of one with black labels.

[@juliancurtis4071]

I have 4 of the first ones you showed (in the box) they had a white shell with no window, though you could just about see the tape. They are awfull.. the tape seems to be as thin (or thinner) than a C-120.. Im with you on the SF's though, Very much a decent tape

[@CassetteComeback]

Maybe they've changed the tape since that version? They're not amazing, but keep them at 0db and they're not terrible.

[@juliancurtis4071]

@@CassetteComeback the ones I bought were quite a while ago, maybe 12 months or more.. the tape is very black, almost looks chrome.. As you say, they are not cheap. I can find SF's now and then for less.

[@jamesbennettmusic]

I saw the early versions of those too, reportedly believed to be using slit videotape? Maybe they have changed supplier

[@Musicradio77Network]

They did the same thing with the cheap ONN cassettes that you can get at Walmart today.

[@mrhammadmossop1988ul-haq]

Brilliant video thank you so much for this

[@adamwheeldon]

👍

[@crucie75]

Also if it sounds good its not Greencorp Australia, they were always awful :P

[@CassetteComeback]

Never had one, so these are most probably forward. Can't find any evidence, just hearsay.

[@HDXFH]

Got some of their latest ones, not too bad for an end of era tape better than a type 0

[@previousslayer]

Greencorp had a love affair with some Chinese company apparently. Their lower grade G-Tape GJunk could be coming from there and higher tier stuff from themselves wound into Forwards. Here are some Forwards by the way meshok.net/pic.php?id=77941092 meshok.net/pic.php?id=77964350 meshok.net/pic.php?id=78235613 I notice a looooooot of familiar design blobs here, for sure :D Interesting how so many people have had no trouble with "tape made in Australia" Philipses but a lot of tapes explicitly branded Greencorp, from Australia, get kicked all the time. And there weren't any other mfrs in Australia, afaik... Oh and I've found their site (again) :D www.femchk.com.hk/ They were there at some point doing plastics for cassettes.

[@Rick_Todd]

So much Bush , Can't be a bad thing , LOL

[@somecoder3054]

Amstrad made tapes? Bloody hell no, wouldn't want that 😅

[@CassetteComeback]

That's the point, they weren't made by Amstrad...

[@somecoder3054]

@@CassetteComeback i remember Amstrad had loads of good audio equipment back in the day but that a long time ago and before they tried selling micros and low-end PCs. Have you got any in stock? They any good?

[@EZ647]

Všetky kazeta sú Made in China. GoldStar tieto a podobné dizajny niekedy používal, ale napriek tomu tieto kazety patria neznámemu výrobcovi z Číny, ktorý zásoboval aj iné svetové značky audiokaziet. Saehan určite nie. Vďaka za video.

[@Ale.K7]

Great video!

[@BigKelvPark]

It wasn't a truck, it was a Vauxhall Corsa before I set fire to them and finished them off with a club hammer! (kzbin.info/www/bejne/aHWriWSdh7SJmac) ;) Incidentally, the shell was different in 2016 but the were by far the worse tapes I have ever used. I was robbed with 2 boxes and I posted the other box off for someone else to confirm. Regards, Kelvin Edit: Having watched further, they are not the same as the 2016 variant. Couldn't get it to calibrate, couldn't get the levels anywhere near that way usable. The big killer was the shell, it seemed to have been made of some sort of flexible polystyrene.

[@CassetteComeback]

Indeed. Looks like they've changed them. Perhaps you had an impact on that decision :-D Want me to send you some? I'll link to your video in mine.

[@coldginuk1]

Used Bush back in the day so to speak again mostly for the car. The thing I hate about them and still do is the J card. Ugly and a pain in the arse to write on I remember them smudging with biro. I know it's about the cassette and not the J card but back then I used to be a TDK snob lol. You get older and you wise up.

[@CassetteComeback]

It matters. Late Maxell had these gold and white stickers on which the ink never seemed to dry...

[@BubbafromSapperton]

Bush isn't very common these days 😉

[@BubbafromSapperton]

@David Mander Back with my circa 1980'd wife that's what you got and she always said she had the biggest bush of anyone she knew but I did have a friend that said his girlfriend had hair in all the wrong places... 😆

[@josephfrye7342]

nice hehe but its excellent.

[@ianpiller2448]

Hi there I would say they look very boring tapes I have about 15 to 20 from back in the day with the blue retainers I would say that even a tdk d or a scotch made by SKC look better? And for about the same money

[@CassetteComeback]

Sure. They don't look much...but in a good deck, as I hope this video shows, they sound superb. Looks aren't everything, especially if they're in a deck where you can't see them.

[@Musicradio77Network]

I might as go with the old school cassettes like Maxell, TDK, Fuji, Memorex and many more, and avoid the “Type 0’s” including Certron, Melsonic, Acme, Silver Shadow, ToneMaster, Concertape, and lots more along with ONN where they are still selling at Walmart. They’re everywhere.

[@Константин-ш1ц8ш]

Forward/China

[@paulfujita6344]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/aJW0qp-Ve8ZqiNU sounds like now I know where the inspiration for Nirvana's "Scentless Apprentice" came from now... ;).

[@kpanic23]

Love the typo in "Wiebergabe von hervorragender Qualität"... translated that would be "playdack of outstanding quality"! xD

[@kpanic23]

Oh, and "fortschtittlich", progressive with tits in it :D It's nice to see they didn't bother to fix the typos over the different versions...

[@CassetteComeback]

Copy / paste over the years from an initial bad translation 😃

[@jasejj]

@@CassetteComeback This is why I don't get too critical when Chinese companies misspell or come up with poor English phrases... Its not as if we don't mangle languages like German as seen here and there are far more things in common between English and German than there are between Chinese and English!