I just picked up a great condition 424 MKII Portastudio and a 10-pack of Type II tapes. I grew up with a two-track tape deck, making music on my $100 Casio table-hooter keyboard and acoustic guitar, and I wanted to kind of relive that as well as my teenage dream of being Sebadoh/Duster. I've actually got an 18i20 interface and quite a few mics, but its such a hassle to boot up the computer, get the interface and mics all hooked up and a ProTools session created before I can even get around to starting to record, so I'm looking forward to the simplicity.
My recording setup with the Portastudio is going to include: SM58, E609, an audix D6, (I have condenser microphones but no phantom power-supplying preamp), acoustic guitar, simple electric guitar rig (jazzmaster, AC15, SSBS Mini, yellow comp, and OD850 fuzz), full drum kit, a Zoom MS-50G for "outboard", and a Fender P-Bass. I'm not too sketchy on the basics of the Portastudio (recording, bouncing tracks), but I'm really interested in some more "out there" tricks you can do with a tape deck. Hit me with some tips and tricks for cassette recording.