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tape strategies

madwing

madwing

AK Subscriber
Subscriber
i'm just getting into the tape game, and am wondering what other people do for recording tape?

i have a whole lot of old tape from my grandfather, a lot on 4-track, that i can use once it's erased after digitization (it's stuff i want to share with my relatives). some decent, some great, some subject to sticky shed. i have four metal reels, including scotch, tdk, and ampex, all full (the ampex is prt, which is apparently the last version of their 341), all in good shape.

i now want to purchase either used tape to be bulk erased and taped anew, new tape, or a mix of both. most of the used tape i see in the marketplace are 7"/1800' reels, at about $20/3600 ft to $46/3600 ft (ranging from BASF LP35 to Scotch 207 to Audiotape, all on plastic reels). prices for new tape seem to start at $57/3600 ft for an LPR90 pancake, upwards to $93 with a metal reel.

i am thinking about starting by buying a couple of empty metal reels and a couple empty plastic reels (all 10.5"), a couple of pancakes of LPR90 (or if anyone has a designated new tape alternative...), plus buying ten or so reels of 1800', bulk erasing it, and recording specific things on it going forward. does anyone splice 1800' tapes into 3600' and run them on 10.5" reels?

this is all probably stuff everyone has talked about and thought about...thanks for your patience with a tape newbie!
 
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I can't speak to anything except that I have spliced a couple of 7" reels of ancient tape (mid 1960's) together and spooled it on a 10" reel and recorded music via bluetooth to the reel to reel. The tape records great, no shedding and it sounds great. I don't even notice the splice at all.
 
Do you want cheap, good or new? You can get new LPR35 from a couple of companies, or you could get Maxell UD or later TDK formulations from Ebay. If it's brown I turn it down.
 
If using 1/4 trk Stereo machine tape drop out from abuse, incorrect splicing technic and failure to store tape properly can really compromise valuable dubs you are trying to make. There are so many issues that can compromise a tape as it passes thru and over guides, heads and tape lifter that the idea of using pre-owned or used tape is why I always used virgin tape for recording live broadcast, recording remotes for clients and myself. Its the reasons I changed to 2 track also. There was a much smaller chance of tape drop outs and skewing of the azimuth which would cause highs to be compromised. Always store tapes with the tales out being wound in the play mode helps too. 1/4 trk you never play just one direction and then rewind you always play the reverse direction before putting the tape away. When I was taping their was he big debate at one time over should we be using mylar or acetate recording tape. If acetate brakes it does not stretch so can be spiced back together with out experiencing any other damage. Where mylar tape always stretches significantly making the recording a total loss. Back coating really helped tape machines keep up better speed consistency. I used Ampex, Scotch, TDK, BASF and Maxell. But always used Maxell for my personal tape collection when I could. Ampex Grand Master doubled crossed me with its sticky-itist. The company I worked for was the Ampex and Maxell tape distributor for are area. Grand Master tape caused the boss a lot of headaches.
 
I still see NOS at antique stores and garage sales and I only go to a fraction of what I used to. In the antique store, they always put them on the bottom shelf, and more likely, in the basement area that doesn't get as much traffic. At garage sales you'll see a randam tape or two sitting out but never with equipment.
 
thanks, all. @ToyDoctor i expect i will fill a couple of the big reels with LPR, for recording some specific things i have in mind. i have a slow-speed 2-track A77, so will be recording music at 7.5 ips.

@twiiii, thanks for all that. a lot of these will be marked as 1/4 track, and i'll use a different machine to listen to them (either an Ampex i am restoring or a sony tc-500a). ultimately i'd like to have everything on 2-track, if possible.

@Bone Yard i'll keep an eye out. this is new territory for me :)
 
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