The Craig 2603 Cassette Recorder: Still Running After 50 Years!

[@AudioThrift]

BEFORE YOU COMMENT: Many have informed me that the tape type was incorrect. Upon realizing that, I went back and tried using a type 1 tape and it was a little bit better. It seemed like the highs were a little brighter. While it was certainly noticeable, the difference was subtle and I submit that it's still capable of using both for the purposes of dictation. However, if you want to record music with this, you DEFINITELY should use the correct type 1 tape because you'll get a more accurate sound. It might be interesting to do a follow up video on this with all 4 tape formulations if I can find a type 3 cassette. Let me know if that's something you'd like to see because there are a few more experiments I would like to try with this thing, including hooking it to an old 8 bit computer.

[@bryede]

One quick point, the Maxell XLII is a high bias tape, meaning is isn't designed for normal bias Type I recorder like this. Using something like a Maxell UD or UR should give better results. The challenges of getting high fidelity from the compact cassette led to a lot of different new tape formulations that weren't needed in the days of the faster moving open reel tape. These new formulations required tape decks to have settings to accommodate their magnetic differences for flat response.

[@AudioThrift]

Oh, that's a good point. I hadn't really thought about that. I have some older tapes that I should try it with.

[@AudioThrift]

I tried it after you pointed this out. I can definitely hear a difference. The highs were clearer. A little more hiss but I think that was just because I used a cheap type 1 tape (that's all I could find lol) Good call. Thanks again.

[@CivilDefenceCanada]

Thanks for sharing! The care and attention that went into products 50 years ago - things like the space-age design cues here, and that little cutout for the mic cord - show how they wanted their stuff to be used, user friendly and that it wasn't about how cheaply can they make it. Stay metal! 🤟

[@AudioThrift]

Thanks! Yeah, I love how much thought went in to it. :)

[@collinwood60]

Not that I have a use case for this recorder, but I'm amazed that you got this (and a 2nd one) in such great cosmetic shape and working perfectly. I had a Realistic one similar to the one you showed in the catalog when I was a kid. As always, love seeing the gear you find.

[@AudioThrift]

Thanks. I'm amazed I didn't have to do anything to it... barely even had to clean it. And I shouldn't rub it in, but it was only 4 dollars. lol Estate sales are crazy!

[@nileseay2772]

You really make learning about older technology interesting and in a way where even I feel I could dabble into it.

[@AudioThrift]

Thank you. That means a lot.

[@bloryblummers]

Quite a find. I would listen to so many tapes on this. Scotch, duct, painter's, electrical-- you name it, I'll jam out to it!

[@AudioThrift]

You know your 3M products.

[@TorontoJon]

Oh, @bloryblummers is a witty one. Yeah, I really loved to listen to 'Disco DUCT' or the 'Howard the DUCT' soundtrack available on duct tape or the Royal Scottish Dragoons playing their bagpipes on Scotch tape. Haha! :)

[@AudioThrift]

He's a man of distinction.

[@TorontoJon]

LIKE 21. Wow! That is a very cool pair of Craig 2603 cassette recorders and the little boxy chrome-face microphone with stand is very stylish too. I also love the joystick tape transport controls. Those are keepers for sure (or at least one of them anyway). :)

[@AudioThrift]

Thank you sir. Yeah, that mic was my favorite part. It still astounds me how many people have old stuff lying around in nearly perfect shape. Especially here in Palm Springs. It's wild.

[@basherslasher]

Pleather case was original with that model. Great video

[@AudioThrift]

Really? Wow, that's super cool. Then I'm glad I have it!!

[@binarydinosaurs]

I had a very similar one in the mid 70s, sane detachable lid. Craig rebadged Panasonic things IIRC, so mine would've been a Panasonic variant. Yours has the t-control whereas mine had piano keys, wish I still had it. I've made up for binning it over the years by now having 10 or 15 tape players :D

[@AudioThrift]

Interesting. I'm a fan of Panasonic gear. When was yours made?

[@binarydinosaurs]

No idea unfortunately, it was a bit battered when I had it so maybe late 60s? I've been trying to find a pic of it, not having much luck.

[@stephenmorrissey1254]

I had a similar style one with the joystick but I can't remember the brand. I bought it for a buck at a yard sale when I was 10 and brought it to school to play I Love Rock'n Roll over and over at recess. When my mom found out how expensive batteries were for it I no longer got to use it and in the landfill it went.

[@AudioThrift]

That's so sad... :( But it's cool you got to do that for a while.

[@RobCamp-rmc_0]

Hell of a find… and then when you showed the _second_ one, I was all, “whoooooooaa!” I’d have been happy just to find of these as a display piece, but in perfect working condition? Well! Loved the demonstration of the recording quality synced with your speech too, nice touch.

[@AudioThrift]

Thank you. I know the sound quality isn't perfect but I was really happy that I didn't have to do anything in post to adjust the audio for that recording except matching the volume. No speed changes or filters or anything. I was impressed that the speed was spot on! Not bad for a 4 dollar estate sale find. :)

[@RobCamp-rmc_0]

@@AudioThrift wow, no kidding, four bux? I’m looking on eBay for laffs right now for a Craig portable open reel tape recorder, and I found the 2603 you just showed here, minus the carrying case, for $40 + shipping. I really gotta get out there and find some estate sales, dang. _[edit]_ haha I just checked the listing and it says they couldn’t test the recording capabilities because there’s no mic, but the photo clearly shows a mic… uh-oh, do they not know what they’re talking about?

[@AudioThrift]

Oooh... sounds sketchy. I recommend estatesales(dot)net That's where we find most of the best sales. If you're lucky, the sale companies will post pictures of what the houses have.

[@perrybarton]

Man, how cool is this? I got one for Christmas in 1971. My dad had the same model, and I would use them together to make "multi-track" recordings, feeding the "ear" output of the first machine into the aux input of the second (via a 1/8" to 1/8" patch cord), with the mic plugged into the mic input at the same time. (Yes, you could do that!) I was able to monitor everything via the earphone plugged into the second machine. By carefully adjusting the output of the first machine, I could get an acceptable blend. I have recordings where I bounced back and forth four or five times, adding a vocal harmony each time. This was an early step towards what would one day be my career. I'm impressed that your original AC adapter is in such excellent condition. (Actually, the whole thing looks great. I'm guessing that it didn't see a lot of use.) Those molded AC adapters were prone to failure, as the stress placed on the thin wires, particularly in the hands of a 12-year-old boy in a hurry 🤓, would cause the connections to eventually fail. You did a great job explaining all the functions, and I appreciate the amount of detail you covered. Subscribed!

[@AudioThrift]

Okay... THAT sounds fun, actually. I'm going to try that. It sounds like this little cassette player might just get a follow up video. lol

[@FirstLast-vr7es]

It uses the same 'gear shifter' control as their earlier reel-to-reel player. Neat! I love the engineering of that era. They truly took pride in the product. Beautiful stuff. I have a JVC Nivico reel-to-reel tape recorder from the mid-60s, and it is much the same. Still works perfectly too.

[@AudioThrift]

I had to Google the JVC. That's a cool-looking machine! Classic design.

[@FirstLast-vr7es]

@@AudioThrift Absolutely, and built like a tank. Had to have been expensive when new. The mic looks very similar to yours. That's what made me think of it. It's a Nivico TR-541. Didn't realize there were multiple units under the Nivico line. Anyway, I enjoyed the video. :)

[@Kane26510]

Very cool machine - and a great video describing all the features (both design and function). Great job. Palm Springs metro area must be a great place for estate sales - the design aesthetic of the whole area seems to be pure Mid Century Modern. Anyway, I really enjoy watching your videos. Cheers.

[@AudioThrift]

Thank you. Yeah... this area is a ridiculous gold mine of estate sale treasure. I don't think I could ever move away now that I have the channel. lol

[@umarsaedpanday1314]

❤amazing Tape recorder

[@reubensylvester8818]

What a beauty, thanks for sharing. my first tape recorder was a Philips 22RR482, which was given to me by my dad in non-working scrap condition. Repaired it, which included building a new power supply for it and enjoyed it for many years. This was in 1984-85.

[@AudioThrift]

That's rad!

[@robertdavis5714]

1 of those was my Music making machine in 4th-5th grade, brought back memories on getting the microphone in perfect distance from speaker. How many times I recorded "Focus" by Hocus Pocus The World will never know.

[@AudioThrift]

Oh man... it's funny, I did that with TV show theme songs on a microcassette recorder when I was a kid.

[@hattree]

So I have 2 Craig 212 reel to reel tape recorders in box. My Mother and her father used to send tapes back and forth in the mail when she was in college. The design is similar with the same silver transmission stick. They were originally made by Sanyo, as I suspect that cassette recorder is as well.

[@teebodk3917]

My brother and I had a second hand one of these in the mid 1970s, BUT it wasn't badged as a Craig, but as a Sanyo. Guess this makes sense, since it says Made in Japan on the bottom label, so I guess the Craig is a rebadged Sanyo for the US market - I should add that I live in Denmark and have never heard of the Craig brand. The microphone for our deck was also completely different, looking similar to the mikes you show at 8:41 - it had the same double-jack as your Craig mike, though. I'm also not 100% sure our Sanyo had the battery indicator, could be wrong, since it was so many years ago, but I guess it's also fully possible that they came in differently priced configurations, and a battery-indicator would be a typical thing to omit on a budget-version.

[@AudioThrift]

Awesome! Sounds like this is probably a Sanyo OEM then.

[@Fardemark]

I have the 1965 Craig 212 reel to reel a great performing unit

[@stighenningjohansen]

I have one, same brown box, the machine works perfectly. Nice

[@michaelcase8574]

Those little white earphones were ubiquitous all throughout the 50s through the 60s. My 1958 Silvertone transistor came new with one.

[@AudioThrift]

Yeah, the Ray Jefferson radio I did covered a few months back had one almost identical to this one. I'm definitely glad the technology has improved since those little things.

[@Trance88]

This unit is from circa 1967. The little zipper case is an original accessory as I have it too. I'm unfortunately missing the microphone, though. Mine also has the original belts and works pretty well. How this thing has managed to continue working so well after 55+ years while every other audio component I've owned that's 20 years newer has failed.

[@AudioThrift]

I love that the case is original. That's so cool.

[@steveoszman8746]

Nice, I have a very similar superscope. Hooked it to a stereo receiver honestly it has a good clean sound.

[@notaspectator]

Thank you so much, i wonder how the mic would handle singing or an instrument :)

[@AudioThrift]

A guitar would be interesting...

[@notaspectator]

@@AudioThrift Im thinking of ordering it and recording

[@rEdf196]

In the late 1970's to 80's Craig made a once popular in dash, car stereo AM FM auto-reverse cassette player model, It looked stylish and sharp with its unique backlit radio tuner dial, part insert cassette door feature, sounded great and was cheaply priced, until it later became known for being plagued with both electrical and mechanical problems and never lasted for more than a year or two. I had the misfortune of owning one when the 12 volt power input wire completely shorted cooking the entire unit. Many informed car stereo buyers of the day avoided that model new or used. I am sure it helped kill the Craig brand by the mid 1980's.

[@AudioThrift]

One of these days I'd like to explore some vintage car stereo stuff but I never find any at the sales.

[@65CJ5]

Must have been a different formulation on the drive belts back then. Newer models almost all have belts that have turned to goo. I have an ancient Panasonic cassette similar in size and layout to that Craig. A bit newer, but I got it out of storage a few months ago and it ran perfectly as well. No belt problems. The Panasonic I have has a built in condenser mic.

[@AudioThrift]

I really would like to know what they used in those belts that makes them turn into the black oil from The X Files. 😆

[@DrBovdin]

Wow, a fully functional device from the era when you not only _could_ but actually _had_ to change the batteries to make it work… Silliness aside, the fact that you managed to get _two_ exemplars with surviving belts is quite surprising. They may have used a different formulation to much of the competition, as most belts self destruct over the course of half a century.

[@littledudejoey]

Its funny to me that i had never heard of craig until a certain ipod youtuber reviewed an mp3 player by them, and ever since then ive seen them everywhere and making all kinds of things, from any kind of era

[@AudioThrift]

The algorithm knows you saw that. lol I watched one pottery video and now I see ceramic videos everywhere. It's legit annoying.

[@ILIVEPLAYSTATION]

I have a bunch of national and Sony cassette recorders that still work fine... Mainly because the belts were made better and the units were meant for dictation so they were made to last. My Sony bm-10 from 1972 just had the belts break down. Not bad compared to modern machines.

[@AudioThrift]

I'm always impressed how many of the things I get that aren't considered "premium hifi" end up lasting forever.

[@Radfordperson]

Nice video, looks to me similar to the early Philips cassette recorders, in fact I suspect was made by Philips.

[@AudioThrift]

Hmmm... I might be able to find out if I pull it apart a little more to see if there are any Philips-branded parts on the inside or if the boards/mechanics match the internals of other Philips products. Interesting.

[@Radfordperson]

@@AudioThrift I had the Philips EL3302, the innards of which look similar to your machine, also look at the earlier EL3300.

[@duncan-rmi]

looks a lot like it was OEMd from the philips EL3302- same gear-stick instead of piano keys, same meter, record button in the right sort of place. which means its DNA is all the way back to the birth of cassette in 1963.

[@duncan-rmi]

yeah, the plastic sheet under the five c-cells is identical.

[@duncan-rmi]

yep. kzbin.info/www/bejne/fYW9p5iearSKjNE

[@AudioThrift]

Nice. That's a confirmation. Good to know. 😁

[@diggr13]

The "Automatic Level Control" doesn't try to adjust anything. It's simply a limiter.

[@AudioThrift]

Aaah. That makes sense. I'm just going by the wording in the manual. They probably figured people wouldn't know what a limiter is... but I'm sure you're right just based on the sound of it.

[@TheOfficialDorianelevator]

now, we need to show it to dankpods.

[@AudioThrift]

That would be fun.

[@Pico_Farad]

This model was made by Sanyo, Japan.

[@gmcnewlook]

craigggggg!

[@electronicsfixer]

Dankpods : well i was true at it's an old mate you can bring with ya

[@7ars471]

no, i didn't just order one on amazon at 3:30am

[@7ars471]

hypothetically tho if i did buy one, do you know if there is a way to route the aux output into my daw? can i simply connect a 1/8 to 1/4 inch cable to my instrument in on my interface?

[@AudioThrift]

Ha. Nice!

[@AudioThrift]

Yeah, that's how I got the audio off of it. I hooked it to my audio recorder. I used a 1/8 to RCA but the 1/8 to 1/4 should work fine. It just outputs kinda loud so you just have to turn the cassette player volume down to prevent distortion.

[@7ars471]

@@AudioThrift okay sick thank you man!

[@CoolDudeClem]

2:57 that's the wrong type of tape for this, it won't record well on that tape. You need a type 1 tape, you're using a type 2.

[@AudioThrift]

Thanks. Yeah, several folks have mentioned that. So I went back and tried it with a type 1 and you're right. The highs seemed a little brighter.

[@mslaerik66]

stuff was made better back then

[@davidmckendry4491]

CRAIG!!!!!

[@Light-DelaBlue]

you use the wrong tape type . you need a type 1 not type 2.

[@AudioThrift]

Yeah, several people have pointed that out now. I went back and tried it with a type 1 and it did sound a little better. The highs were a little more pronounced. Thank you.

[@Light-DelaBlue]

@@AudioThrift after its a dictation machine. the issue you cna get is the ersing head be to weak leaving a mufled sound of the previous recording.

[@AudioThrift]

Wait a minute... you just gave me an idea! If I use a type 4 metal tape, is there a chance it would be even worse? Like, would the erase head be even less effective? Because if so, I wonder if I could make a sort of delay/echo effect by recording the same signal twice but slightly offset on the tape...

[@Light-DelaBlue]

@@AudioThrift its realy depend of the erase head. i know comodore and amstrad dataset are incapable to erase them corectly. back in time echo was made in a more easy way. its was a tape loop using severals head .