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Vintage Tape (Audio), Cassette, Wire and Magnetic Disc Recorders and Players Open-reel tape recorders, cassette recorders, 8-track players etc.

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Old 5th Feb 2019, 11:54 am   #21
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Smile Re: Does anyone remember 3.25-inch spools?

Hi,
After reading this interesting thread, I had a rummage among a box of tapes that I bought years ago. I found that I have more 3 1/4" spools than I thought I had. They don't have the original tape because they came from a dance school, and had many different types of tape edited together with leader tape to separate the different dance music. I've just reeled some spare tape onto them instead.
Some are EMItape spools with the large hub, some are 'Scotch' (3M) with smaller hubs, and also I've got a Japanese made spool which is branded 'Dansette'.
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Old 5th Feb 2019, 4:12 pm   #22
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Default Re: Does anyone remember 3.25-inch spools?

That sounds interesting! Any chance of a few pictures, please, maybe alongside a standard 3” reel for comparison?
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Old 6th Feb 2019, 9:04 am   #23
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Default Re: Does anyone remember 3.25-inch spools?

I've got couple of small reels., they are each 2.7/8" across. Is that usual for a 3" reel? They simply say made in USA on them with no branding.

I also have an original Philips 3" reel (which is closer to 3" in diameter) that is on my Philips EL3585. The Philips branding label on it is somewhat faded after all these years but still looks fine on my machine.
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Old 6th Feb 2019, 9:45 am   #24
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Default Re: Does anyone remember 3.25-inch spools?

I use a 3" (ex 8mm cine) spool as a makeshift NAB hub adapter. Gotta love imperial measurements!
I always thought of 3" spools as a poor relation of the normal/standard 3.25" spools.
Interesting thread.
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Old 6th Feb 2019, 7:45 pm   #25
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Smile Re: Does anyone remember 3.25-inch spools?

Hi,
Here's a couple of photos of some of the 3 1/4 spools that I have accumulated. The three inch Grundig spool in the centre is for comparison. Also, a couple of spools with their cases.
Top left is a 'National' (later Panasonic) spool. Top right is a Japanese spool branded 'Dansette'.
Bottom left is from 'Scotch' (3M). and bottom right is an EMItape spool.
The Japanese spools are a fraction bigger and won't fit the red EMItape cases.
Cheers, Pete.
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Last edited by Tractorfan; 6th Feb 2019 at 7:53 pm. Reason: Spool idents.
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Old 6th Feb 2019, 9:36 pm   #26
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Default Re: Does anyone remember 3.25-inch spools?

Those pics are great, thanks Pete. The extra 1/4” doesn’t sound much, but it makes the reels look noticeably bigger than the standard 3” ones.
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Old 6th Feb 2019, 11:43 pm   #27
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Default Re: Does anyone remember 3.25-inch spools?

The Dansette one is made by Aiwa, as were their battery JTR xxx recorders.

I wil try to get some pictures of a selection of spools too.
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Old 6th Feb 2019, 11:46 pm   #28
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Default Re: Does anyone remember 3.25-inch spools?

I have now dug out my RTR tapes and find that I do have a second 3 1/4" tape, by Veritone, tripe play, 600'. I must have bought it circa 1965. I have also scanned some of my 4" spools, showing the different hub sizes, and the spools that came in cartons suitable for posting as tape letters. AFAIR they had to be posted unsealed to qualify for a special cheap rate for overseas mail that was available at the time, so that they could be inspected by the postal authorities.

In a previous (closed) tread, I mentioned that I had both 3-arm and 4-arm Emitape spools (but didn't post photos), and a poster said he had never seen a 3-arm Emitape spool. Now I well remember getting my 3-arm 4" EMI tape spools ( one full, one empty for the tape-up spool ) because they were the first I got for my EL3585, and would have been bought circa 1963. They came in cardboard boxes with a picture of what looks like a 3" 4-arm spool on the cover. Unlike the 4-arm spools, they have no markings embossed in the plastic, nor did they have any paper hub labels like the Philips spools, so I had to provide my own self-adhesive labels. Looking at them more closely over five decades later (!), apart from the lack of a hub label, the EMI spools do seem virtually identical with the large hub Philips spools that I bought around the same time. I am pretty sure I haven't muddled them up, because the only 4", 4-arm, EMI tape I have is the one in the picture that I bought later that came in an EMIcase, and I only have the two unlablelled, unembossed 4" spools.

I wonder if EMI had supply problems with this size of spool and bought some from Philips (or whoever made them for Philips) to tide them over? One of my fellow students at college who had worked for a lighting company (Atlas?) said that their company had an agreement with another company (Philips?), whereby one company made all the GLS bulbs and the other made all the fluorescent tubes, and they simply changed the labeling appropriately, so such co-operation would have been possible.
Attached Files
File Type: pdf K and V 3 and qtr.pdf (716.3 KB, 48 views)
File Type: pdf P and V.pdf (423.1 KB, 60 views)
File Type: pdf K and P .pdf (357.3 KB, 45 views)
File Type: pdf EMI 4 in.pdf (474.7 KB, 50 views)
File Type: pdf Phil and EMI 4in.pdf (368.7 KB, 54 views)

Last edited by emeritus; 7th Feb 2019 at 12:07 am.
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Old 7th Feb 2019, 12:37 pm   #29
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Default Re: Does anyone remember 3.25-inch spools?

A few more from the collection
- Three 3" Letter tapes: two made by Scotch - one cardboard box, one plastic (gummed address labels inside to stick on back of boxes) and a Philips which had space for address and stamp already on back of box.

- Three more 3" tapes, not explicitly sold as letter tapes but the scotches had space for address and stamp already on back of box. The 290 is triple play, the blue 220 double play. Note how big the hub is on the BASF one.

- A 2 1/4 inch (6cm) BASF letter tape, smallest reel I have - and unused/sealed since 1967!- , along with an empty reel of same size. An EMI AP93 spool nearby for comparison with very sturdy red box.

-A Hitachi 3.25 inch (8.5cm) reel. Wide centre hub. I have several. Think this is acetate, the green box ones were polyester. A grey Kodak 3 inch spool included for comparison.

-An unusual Tesla 10.4 cm spool, just over 4 inches.
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Old 7th Feb 2019, 12:43 pm   #30
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Default Re: Does anyone remember 3.25-inch spools?

- An INGRA 3 1/4 inch spool, very small centre hub so you can get quite a bit of tape on it - at the expense of tension!

- An IRISH 2.5"/ 6.5cm spool, again very small hub.

- Sheet of tapes Hitachi offered, from 3 inch up. Has spool sizes and tape types/thicknesses. This was in the tape of same brand in preceding post.
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Old 7th Feb 2019, 10:01 pm   #31
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Default Re: Does anyone remember 3.25-inch spools?

These pictures are absolutely fascinating, so many thanks to all contributors. I should shortly be able to post a few pictures myself... yes, I’ve managed to acquire three 3 1/4” reels myself!
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Old 8th Feb 2019, 12:19 pm   #32
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Smile Re: Does anyone remember 3.25-inch spools?

Hi,
This thread has just reminded me! As a kid I had a 'Royal Call' rim drive battery tape recorder which took 3" spools. Our neighbour gave me a couple of tapes as a Birthday present which were EMI message tapes, but what sticks in my mind is that they were the usual four arm reels, but moulded in blue plastic instead of clear. I also had a couple of Philips message tapes on cream coloured spools.
Cheers, Pete.
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Old 8th Feb 2019, 2:44 pm   #33
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Default Re: Does anyone remember 3.25-inch spools?

What a nostalgic thread! We did not get a telephone at home until the late 1960s, so during most of the 1950/60 I used these small reels (I preferred the more practical 3.25") as "Postal Message Tapes", sent to and returned from, my Girlfriend(s).
Playing them now, nearly 60 years later, and especially of one who has now Passed, evokes much melancholy.
These recordings still sound so crystal clear and lifelike (I used the uneconomic option of 3.3/4 i.p.s.) with every intake of breath and poignant pauses so faithfully captured. Spooky....
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Old 9th Feb 2019, 1:30 pm   #34
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Default Re: Does anyone remember 3.25-inch spools?

I have a blue EMI 3" reel somewhere too.

Attached some pics of a couple of prerecorded 3 inch tapes! I have more somewhere.
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Old 9th Feb 2019, 1:58 pm   #35
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Smile Re: Does anyone remember 3.25-inch spools?

Hi,
I have a few pre-recorded tapes from EMI, but they're on 4" spools. so off topic. However, I've never seen 3" pre-records before.
I'm always on the look out for reel to reel tapes here at 'vide-greniers' (similar to flea markets & car boot sales), So I must have a closer look when they begin in the Spring.
Cheers, Pete.
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Old 10th Feb 2019, 11:28 am   #36
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Default Re: Does anyone remember 3.25-inch spools?

Here's another letter tape. Unused as well.
Wasn't there a music programme in the 60s called six-five special? Sounds like they might have adopted the name from there to add familiarity in customers' minds.
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Old 10th Feb 2019, 11:59 am   #37
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Default Re: Does anyone remember 3.25-inch spools?

Quote:
Originally Posted by ben View Post
Here's another letter tape. Unused as well.
Wasn't there a music programme in the 60s called six-five special? Sounds like they might have adopted the name from there to add familiarity in customers' minds.
1957 - 58 - so called because it was broadcast at 6.05.
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Old 10th Feb 2019, 4:26 pm   #38
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Default Re: Does anyone remember 3.25-inch spools?

Just spotted this thread. Here's my contribution. An Emitape 3.25 inch reel and an unusual take up spool that came with an Elizabethan Band Box tape recorder. This spool has a cutaway portion and measures almost 3.5 inches.

Phil, you can have these for nothing if you like. Please PM me if interested.

Kind Regards
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Old 10th Feb 2019, 5:24 pm   #39
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Default Re: Does anyone remember 3.25-inch spools?

Martin, thank you, that is much appreciated - I’ll send you a PM.
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Old 11th Feb 2019, 11:39 am   #40
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Default Re: Does anyone remember 3.25-inch spools?

The 'cutaway' one was Geloso I think.
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