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Vintage Test Gear and Workshop Equipment For discussions about vintage test gear and workshop equipment such as coil winders. |
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13th Oct 2007, 11:21 am | #41 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Bradford on Avon, Wiltshire, UK.
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Re: brands of tape now and in the past?
I also have some Lafyette and Syncrotape as pictured above. Also some Zonal/Racal-Zonal reels in red and green. What an interesting thread this is developing into!
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13th Oct 2007, 11:57 am | #42 |
Octode
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Rye, East Sussex, UK.
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Re: brands of tape now and in the past?
Yes, this is getting very interesting! That's why I researched and wrote the books!
Forgot to mention re 'Type A' - in the immediate post war years there were two conventions: "oxide out" spooled tape for the original Magnetophon, Baird Soundmaster, EMI BTR1 etc etc which made on-deck tape editing difficult - these were marketed as 'Type B'. EMI changed the course of history with the BTR2 in which the heads faced out and the tape spooled "oxide in" - as it is today. These were originally marketed as 'Type A'. By the mid-1950s Type B and paper backed tape in general had largely disappeared. TTFN Barry |
13th Oct 2007, 1:10 pm | #43 | |
Retired Dormant Member
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Location: Hobart Australia
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Re: brands of tape now and in the past?
Quote:
Very nice pictures of some old tape there. If anyones interested in the various cassette tapes that have been you might enjoy this link http://www.tapedeck.org/ The Maxell XL11's and the TDK SA's are the most popular. Trident aparently are quite good too. I do have a preference for the Maxell's and I assume by that the Maxell reel-to-reel tapes must sound as good too. I use to get dropouts whith the TDK and Sony chrome cassette tapes. I must say that BASF cassette tapes have never realy grabbed me? |
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13th Oct 2007, 1:56 pm | #44 |
Retired Dormant Member
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: gateshead
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Re: brands of tape now and in the past?
Anyone else heard of these?
Tudor tape (red box with a tudor rose on front); Bel cleer (grey and white box); Ecko tape (grey and yellow box) ; playrite (white box with green circle) Tudor tape records well, others are reasonable. No idea of age, though. One more.. Elizabethan (red box, white lettering). Wonder who made these? |
13th Oct 2007, 2:29 pm | #45 |
Retired Dormant Member
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Re: brands of tape now and in the past?
Realistic tape
Capitol Sound Tape Marshall Golden Studio OCL Magnetic tape Emerald recording tape Soundcraft magnetic tape Philips tape |
13th Oct 2007, 4:43 pm | #46 |
Retired Dormant Member
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Location: gateshead
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Re: brands of tape now and in the past?
always found that the REALISTIC tape you mention, (in the red box) ended up with patches of clear tape, where all the oxide dropped off, even on brand new tapes. 4 out of 5 of mine did this. Frequency response was poor . I intend to master all my 16 track tape recordings onto 1/4 inch tape. Which brand do you chaps recommend, with regard to frequency response and shelf life? Any other things i should take into consideration??
cheers |
13th Oct 2007, 5:14 pm | #47 |
Heptode
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Paignton, Devon, UK.
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Re: brands of tape now and in the past?
Always liked BASF, my second choice is Scotch 996, probably because of the gold reels
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13th Oct 2007, 10:38 pm | #48 | ||
Dekatron
Join Date: May 2006
Location: Invercargill, New Zealand
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Re: brands of tape now and in the past?
Quote:
Quote:
It is good tape, but more a hi-fi tape. Broadcasters and studios tended to use 456 while the Maxell was more like 406/407. Still, the Maxell won't be shedding |
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14th Oct 2007, 11:05 am | #49 |
Pentode
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: North Hertfordshire, UK.
Posts: 179
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Re: brands of tape now and in the past?
Hi All,
My, ah hum, "collection" includes, in addition to some already mentioned, the following brands:- Brand Five, Hi Tone, knight recording, American and Maestro. I assume many, if not all, are re-badged mainline brands. Regards Tis Your Junk |
15th Oct 2007, 11:19 am | #50 |
Tetrode
Join Date: May 2007
Location: West Auckland, New Zealand
Posts: 96
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Re: brands of tape now and in the past?
A few more tapes which come to mind.
Bourtone tape, Germany ( good quality ) Shannon tape, USA ( bad, same as Shamrock tape ) Kometa tape, Russia ( pretty good ) I personnally prefer Maxell, Scotch, TDK or Ampex 641. Sony tapes are poor, lots of shedding of oxide. |
15th Oct 2007, 7:22 pm | #51 | |
Dekatron
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Oxford, UK.
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Re: brands of tape now and in the past?
Quote:
Elizabethan certainly made tape recorders, so yours may have been the "free" reel usually supplied with new machines. |
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16th Oct 2007, 1:00 pm | #52 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Lynton, N. Devon, UK.
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Re: brands of tape now and in the past?
Here are some photos:
Ampex (sold as mastering tape) TDK (long-play, professional) Shannon (pretty box, tape initially good but after a dozen passes degrades noticeably) Scotch (standard thichness) The Scotch box includes details of other tape - including acetate base, so I've included a photo of this for interest |
16th Oct 2007, 1:25 pm | #53 |
Retired Dormant Member
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Re: brands of tape now and in the past?
I got these 2 old boxes.
A green Hitachi R5 5inch box. Made in Japan A red Gevasonor(Gevaert) 7inch box. "Long Playing(1800ft)", "Made in belgium by Gevaert Photo-Producten N.V., Mortsel." |
16th Oct 2007, 7:25 pm | #54 |
Octode
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Saltburn-East, Cleveland, UK.
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Re: brands of tape now and in the past?
Hi,
Not wishing to be left out I have finally taken some pictures of some of the (many) tapes that I have. I must agree about Realisitic tape shedding very easily. The 4" Philips tape shown in the third picture was one of two brand new cardboard containers that were found at Pickering (North Yorks, near Flamingo Land Zoo) car boot sale a few years ago; There were around six tapes in each container which was also designed to be used to display them. Andrew |
17th Oct 2007, 3:04 am | #55 |
Heptode
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Indianapolis, Indiana, USA.
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Re: brands of tape now and in the past?
Burgess Battery Co. of Freeport IL made their own line of tape back in the early 1960's. I have a pic of their cover somewhere.
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18th Oct 2007, 10:10 am | #56 |
Retired Dormant Member
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Re: brands of tape now and in the past?
I just did it that way today whith an Ampex 632 2500ft pancake to 2 7inch reels and that worked really well. Well, of course the first one has a little bit more on it. Its a good way to use up the old spare reels. Ussualy they have their boxes too. Here is a silly question, but not too stupid, has anyone tried to make the boxes? The things is you want to be able to put your tapes safely away. I suppose where you put them would want to be in a climate controlled environment? It makes me wonder for a moment that old/sealed tape stored well could possibly be in better condition sometimes compared to new/old stock held by authorised sellers?
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18th Oct 2007, 10:28 am | #57 |
Tetrode
Join Date: May 2007
Location: West Auckland, New Zealand
Posts: 96
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Re: brands of tape now and in the past?
Photo of the Russian Kometa tape attached.
Also the TDK Audua tape. The Capitol tape, i have lost the box from but it is good quality and has the C slot in the centre for easy loading of the tape. |
18th Oct 2007, 2:01 pm | #58 |
Octode
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Rye, East Sussex, UK.
Posts: 1,647
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Re: brands of tape now and in the past?
Why make carboard boxes when they are still readily available new from the likes of Canford, StudioSpares, SVS, Stanley etc, for a few bob? I don't know what the situation is like in the antipodes.
If we don't support these manufactures and suppliers today, there won't be a future for analogue tape! Barry |
20th Oct 2007, 7:28 am | #59 |
Tetrode
Join Date: May 2007
Location: West Auckland, New Zealand
Posts: 96
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Re: brands of tape now and in the past?
Today I found one of my Bourtone tapes.
I have these in 13, 15 and 18 cm Ø reels. Attached is a 15 cm Ø tape. |
20th Oct 2007, 10:03 am | #60 |
Heptode
Join Date: May 2003
Location: Bexhill on Sea, East Sussex, UK.
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Re: brands of tape now and in the past?
Very interesting thread this one.. I will have to see if I have anything unusual.
Is there a simple way of putting all these pics on one pge ?. Also the names and makes of the different tapes. Peter W....Reelguy |