The sound quality of the prerecorded 8-tracks was pretty abysmal but then so were many of the prerecorded cassettes. One thing that bugged me was the LONG and totally unnecessary fade-out and fade-in that made the track change seem like some elaborate, mysterious process. Always striving to improve the quality of the audio experience, I decided to buy an 8-track recorder and tape selections from LP. Not only did the sound quality greatly improved, but people were astounded that my tapes didn't do the fade.
I remember the matchbook trick being used to provide better contact between the capstan and pinch roller, otherwise the tape would run slow or warble. It didn't help that the tape had a healthy dose of lubricant that helped it ease it out at the hub. This would, of course, contaminate the capstan and pinch roller, so it was a constant battle to maintain enough friction to drive it. Then, to make things even worse, some of the tape manufacturers began making the pinch rollers out of hard plastic!
Among the struggles to keep these things moving there would eventually come the inevitable "eaten tape". After fishing several feet of tape out of the player, you then had a tape that couldn't be played unless you knew the secret to getting that tape to wind back in the cartridge. A sharp tug on the supply side of the tape would spin the reel with enough force to snap the tape back in the cartridge.
