Recently I experienced an unfortunate suspected case of sticky shed syndrome when attempting to transfer a cassette tape to digital using a brand new cassette deck (TEAC W-1200). Strangely I was able to play the tape normally once - both Side A and B without problems. When I tried removing the tape after Side B had finished part of the tape was stuck in the cassette deck roller, luckily I was able to manually remove the tape from the roller. However, when I tried replaying the tape again everything sounded all fucked up, it seems like the audio is still there but the speed of the playback is all warbly sounding (variable). As well as the playback sounding weird there is also a problem with rewind/fast forward which is particularly slow for this damaged tape, sometimes it stops shortly after being fast forward before reaching the end. Later-on I tried cleaning the roller of cassette bay 1 (the side where I did all the playback) with isopropyl alcohol and it revealed a black/brownish color on the q-tip. This makes me believe it is sticky shed syndrome because the other cassette bay 2 is completely clean. Would love to hear if anyone has a different opinion though. I ended up testing a few seconds of the tape on cassette bay 2 and it also sounded fucked up. Ahh! Then I tried a completely different cassette deck and it still sounded fucked it on that too! Gah! edit: oh yeah, no other tapes are exhibiting the same problems so far.

Has anyone encountered a similar situation of sticky shed syndrome where at first the tape played fine once but then immediately afterwards was fucked? I find that detail a bit confusing. I hope i haven't completely fucked it with this rare tape but like I said before it seems like the audio is still there its just the tape is now playing at inconsistent warbly speeds (presumably because its sticking to the tape transport mechanism ??? conjecture). Does anyone have experience using those fruit dehydrators on cassette tapes? Would love to learn more about the safety and efficacy of this technique for cassettes. Also, I'd be very interested in non-destructive ways of testing for sticky shed syndrome. I know there's a good video on youtube by FM Taylor about this but for reel-to-reel. I guess you just try to playback the starting silence at the beginning of the tape and then check for brown particles on the roller mechanism? Are there any better techniques in the interim?

Here's a short sample of the fucked up tape sound. I'm too terrified to play anymore at risk of damaging the tape further (this tape is like 40 years old...). For comparison here's what it's supposed to sound like.

Woah.. alot to read there... Thanks in advanced everyone,
~helpme

I'm not sure you can fix a cassette by baking or any other such weirdness. at least they are making plugins to make bad cassette sounds so people will think cassette sounded bad. it didn't. a pretty new generation of 4 track taken as stems out of a porrac424cwas actually pretty low noise and sounded kinda cool.

I will say that it sounds like the problem might be with your playback machine. sound like a belt with a groove in it because it sat for a long time on a pully. try another machine.

this is not shed. it's an abnormality of the tape being pulled across the head. my guess is belta or dry lubricant in the mechanism causing some periodic lagging.

Thanks for the comment Kniferide. The weird thing is, this is a brand new cassette deck and I get the same weird fucked up sound on both bays of the cassette deck. I also tested on a different cassette deck and it also sounded fucked up. It only happens on this one particular tape. Other tapes seem to work fine on the new tape deck. So I suspect it is the tape itself that is defective. So confusing!... especially since the tape actually played normally once. I did use a chopstick to manually wind the tape that had come out and stuck to the roller. Maybe I damaged the tape somehow in this process?

Also, I found this paper called "Rapid Prediction of Polyester Magnetic Tape Playability Using Water Contact Angles" for diagnosing sticky shed syndrome which seems pretty cool. If i can figure it out I might give it a go!

edit: Also, if anyone could give me a technical term for the fucked up audio I posted I'd appreciate it. Naively would this fall under a "Wow and flutter" problem? I'm not actually sure what wow and flutter sounds like though...

helpme wrote: Tue Dec 23, 2025 12:59 am Thanks for the comment Kniferide. The weird thing is, this is a brand new cassette deck and I get the same weird fucked up sound on both bays of the cassette deck. I also tested on a different cassette deck and it also sounded fucked up. It only happens on this one particular tape. Other tapes seem to work fine on the new tape deck. So I suspect it is the tape itself that is defective. So confusing!... especially since the tape actually played normally once. I did use a chopstick to manually wind the tape that had come out and stuck to the roller. Maybe I damaged the tape somehow in this process?

Also, I found this paper called "Rapid Prediction of Polyester Magnetic Tape Playability Using Water Contact Angles" for diagnosing sticky shed syndrome which seems pretty cool. If i can figure it out I might give it a go!

edit: Also, if anyone could give me a technical term for the fucked up audio I posted I'd appreciate it. Naively would this fall under a "Wow and flutter" problem? I'm not actually sure what wow and flutter sounds like though...

again. this does not sound like shed to me at all. it sounds mechanical. in worst cases... I have in the past found cassettes that can be taken apart by screws and respooled cassette reels on new cartridges. but it sounds like a mechanical issue. either the deck or the cassette itself. shed does not cause that periodic modulation I hear in the file. shed sounds like periodic dropouts... loss of high-end.. irregular gaps. etc. I'm highly skeptical that it is a shed issue

thanks Kniferide. I may have to respool it then. Or perhaps replace the slip sheets? This cassette shell is fastened on using screws, don't know if that matters much. I already tried replacing the pressure pad but it didn't seem to help at all.

helpme wrote: Tue Dec 23, 2025 12:59 am"Rapid Prediction of Polyester Magnetic Tape Playability Using Water Contact Angles"

Weirdest Stereolab album.

I experienced shed on a particular 1/4" reel I was trying to digitize once. Baking made it work. But you'd know if it was shed because your capstan and pinch roller will be covered in gunk that will cause poor transport speed accuracy in addition to the eventual drop outs. If your tape path isn't fouled with oxide residue, it's not shed.

I guess I will try transplanting the cassette into a new shell. I found this post on tapeheads listing some reasons why a cassette may stop rewinding / fast forward. Don't know how valid these are but it sounds reasonable to a novice. Is that it or are there other factors with a cassette itself that could be issues? (not the cassette deck)

1) The hub that the tape is being from has too much drag.
2) The hub taking up the tape has low torque.
3) The layers of tape are sticking together.
4) There is an unusual amount of drag from the rollers and guides in the cassette.
5) There is too much friction between the tape packs and the "slip sheets" between the tape and plastic shell.

If I transplant it into a new shell only the hubs and the magnetic tape itself will be the same. This will help eliminate some of the possible factors.

edit: ok, i've been manually rewinding/fast forwarding some tapes with a pencil and this problem tape definitely feels ever so slightly more friction-y when i try winding it... it's not so apparent until you have something to compare with though. What is the source of this friction though...