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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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12th Oct 2007, 1:17 pm | #21 |
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Re: brands of tape now and in the past?
ATR magnetics tape is a new one, but they are yet to produce the 1/4 inch version. That makes 4 now i.e Quantegy, RMG, Zonal and ATR. I might get a pancake, the thing is how does one transfer tape on a pancake to a quarter inch spool?
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12th Oct 2007, 3:26 pm | #22 |
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Re: brands of tape now and in the past?
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12th Oct 2007, 4:25 pm | #23 |
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Re: brands of tape now and in the past?
Pancakes are most easily transfered on Shrove Tuesdays....!
They are usually supplied as 10-1/2" spooled hubs which simply require the flanges from an empty spool to be unscrewed and then fitted to the spooled hub. If you have solid spools you need a transfer platter underneath the hub which is then placed on the feed spool turntable, lace up and then 'play' at 3-3/4ips to feed the take up spool safely. If you have a 7" deck, then lay the deck horizontally, put the new pancake on a level surface, peg the hub centre so it rotates freely but doesn't wander and again 'play' slowly onto the take up spool. DON'T fast forward to spool up else you'll have an almighty mess! Take care Barry |
12th Oct 2007, 4:38 pm | #24 |
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Re: brands of tape now and in the past?
Scotch Boy - Here's the inside of the box. Not exactly a Scottish guy though.
Durex Tape - If you're up to selling one of those reels, let me know. The hole in the middle seems bigger. I wonder if this is because.... Cheers, Steve P.
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12th Oct 2007, 4:41 pm | #25 |
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Re: brands of tape now and in the past?
The Thermionic Products 'Soundmirror' tape, yes I have a reel too. (Barry Brenellic thanks for info on it being made by Butterfly).
Don't use this stuff except to transfer old recordings - not only does it snap easily, it is VERY abrasive on the head. The link with Brush development Co., USA (not 'British Development ..") is that Thermionic Products was a small company which made the Soundmirror tape recorder under licence from Brush. The registered office was in London, but most of the work was done at Hythe, Southampton. Shamrock tape - I have a couple of reels of this, too. Double play gauge. Box was mostly green with a narrow strip picture of a yacht. |
12th Oct 2007, 4:48 pm | #26 |
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Re: brands of tape now and in the past?
Hi
Currys (who?) had an own brand called Westminster (I think they also badged Fidelity machines) which actually wasn't all that bad - it was a blackish tape, so I'd guess Scotch? As an aside, to show how perceptions change, for their own-brand products in the sixties they chose Westminster as it sounded British and therefore good - then it became Triumph in the late seventies (ditto), then Matsui and Saisho (clever these Japanese), Logik (vaguely Germanic) - and now poor old Grundig gets to be a badge! Glyn |
12th Oct 2007, 4:52 pm | #27 |
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Re: brands of tape now and in the past?
Hi Kalee
Samuel Jones (Butterfly) made the Recordon paper discs but I'm not convinced they made the 1/4" paper tape. In 1949, (I think) the Canadians were seeking a UK manufacturer of paper or plastic tape but I know more. The Soundmirror was indeed first made/assembled in London. TP moved to Hythe in 1951 and ceased making the Soundmirror circa 1953. Its all in my 'Truvox/Thermionics' history - see Brenell website. Barry Last edited by brenellic2000; 12th Oct 2007 at 5:03 pm. |
12th Oct 2007, 9:16 pm | #28 |
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Re: brands of tape now and in the past?
I have actually got some Type-A BASF tape, its slightly wider than normal and it appears to have oxide on both sides of the tape, it has slipped of the venire here but its measuring at 6.64mm
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12th Oct 2007, 9:26 pm | #29 |
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Re: brands of tape now and in the past?
Oh dear god. Shamrock and Irish brands.
According to a friend (engineer at a local radio station here), back when he was a kid, those were the cheapest of the CHEAP tapes you could get. Apparently they were reject Scotch and Ampex stock. When he was a kid (back in the 1950s or so), he once stayed sick at home and spent the day with a microphone against a radio speaker airchecking radio stations. A few years ago he found the tapes and wanted to dub them onto cassettes, so he threaded one up to see what was one it. He let it run and it sounded fine, so he rewound the tape to cue everything up. What he was left with was a pile of iron oxide and a length of shiney clear ribbon on the spool. Whatever he heard played that was the last time it was ever heard. |
12th Oct 2007, 9:27 pm | #30 |
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Re: brands of tape now and in the past?
Pancakes were used by the pros and Favored in Germany, they came in a variety of sizes up to 3000 feet, the idea was to cut down costs and space used up when storing them, most machines from the UK didn’t use this idea but Germany was very fond of it, my C-37 Studer uses this method and because of the way it’s designed it does not make a mess when spooling unless you use thin tape.
A pic of the C-37 using BASF tape with no reel cheeks. http://www.vintagerecorders.co.uk/Im...tuder-C-37.gif |
12th Oct 2007, 9:50 pm | #31 |
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Re: brands of tape now and in the past?
Quantegy stopped production earlier this year. I understand that ATR were only going to be manufacturing "hot" tape (like 499 or GP9) so if you're wanting to get tape to run on vintage recorders it might pay to get a stock of 406/7 (631 or similar if your recorder has pressure pads!).
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12th Oct 2007, 10:06 pm | #32 | |
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Re: brands of tape now and in the past?
Quote:
hrough the recorder .The tape wasnt any good though so I shouldnt have bothered.. Peter W.......Reelguy |
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12th Oct 2007, 10:07 pm | #33 |
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Re: brands of tape now and in the past?
Not forgetting Grundig's own brand. I have some with a Goon show recorded on it, and it is still in perfect condition. It has a sort of red or pink backing, and a pale brown oxide coating.
I have some other obscure brands too. I'll try and take some pics.
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13th Oct 2007, 7:26 am | #34 |
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Re: brands of tape now and in the past?
OK, as promised I took some photos today!
The tapes I have are a mixture - some I've picked up myself during the years from radio stations and when recording, plus there are some of dads from when he used to record local operatic and choral performances in Oamaru, Christchurch and Invercargill, plus some of my late father-in-law's tapes which were sourced from all over the world and contain lots of off-air mono recordings from the 60s and early 70s. These first four are brands I'd never seen before we picked up my father-in-law's old ones - Gee, Lafyette, Sonocolor and Synchrotape. |
13th Oct 2007, 7:31 am | #35 |
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Re: brands of tape now and in the past?
These are the rest of my father-in-law's tapes:
(a) an old EMItape with a plastic case - unfortunately the tape is long gone, but the case is similar in shape to the red leader tape packs (but larger, around a 5 inch spool) (b) Scotch, I suspect not as old as Steve P's Scotch Boy, but the tape lineup still includes acetate, and the concept of triple play is just scarey! (c) some of his pre-recorded tapes; I don't share his taste! (d) the oldest Maxell I've seen, this is acetate tape There's also a closeup of the Maxell - if you're not sure if you have acetate, this is what you look for when holding it up to the light. |
13th Oct 2007, 7:36 am | #36 |
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Re: brands of tape now and in the past?
These are some of my dad's old tapes:
(a) everyone has to have one of these, BASF LGS35! (b) Overture, which had an oddball centre cine hub (c) Teletape - he has a lot of these, apparently he got some sent over from the UK, the story he had was that it was ex-BBC bulk erased tape but I'd take that with a grain of salt! (d) Zonatape - the first two reels he bought when buying his second-hand Ferrograph in the early 60's, this brand went on to become Zonal (e) Some of the last tape be bought before switching to cassette, good old Maxell UD 35-90B. He also has some late 70's Scotch and BASF (in the plastic box), but that hasn't made it out here yet, plus one of the next box (silver) of Maxell which was the last tape he bought before switching to cassette (urgh!). |
13th Oct 2007, 7:45 am | #37 |
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Re: brands of tape now and in the past?
On to ones I've either bought new or picked up from radio/studio contacts.
The first is mid 80's Ampex 406 from a radio station. If you see tape in this box, it will be suffering from sticky shed - if its important you'll need to bake it! The next two are 5" spools of 406 and 456, both from the mid 90's and both still in good condition. Then there's the good stuff - for domestic decks anyway - Maxell XLI 35-90B. Finally, just to prove you can't trust tape boxes from radio stations - Ampex tape in a Pyral box with a Japanese spool! This tape came from Radio Rhema who used to buy pancakes of tape and load their own spools and carts. And, surprise surprise, its shedding! |
13th Oct 2007, 7:53 am | #38 |
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Re: brands of tape now and in the past?
The last lot:
(a) some post-Scotch 3M, 5 inch spool, from memory not shedding (b) our local community radio had literally hundreds of these - unti the mid 90's the British High Commission in Wellington sent them out to pretty much every station and they were good tape (probably Zonal) which was (ahem!) very useful for recording spots etc! (c) this is an older one from Rhema, BBC programming sent to various stations, and good quality Zonal tape! (d) a guy from another forum sent me two of these Ampex 521 tapes as 'period' tapes to look good on the Ferrograph - this is acetate tape, and if you look carefully you'll see the telltape cupping that indicates its starting to break down; although it doesn't smell of vinegar (yet) its stored separately from other Acetate tapes - google 'vinegar syndrome' for more info (e) finally one of dad's that he can't remember the origin of - obviously sound effects for a play he was helping with, its a wee 3" spool of Mastertape containing an ancient Radio New Zealand News bullletin and a sound effect of a cave collapsing! None of these are as cool as paper tape but I hope they're of some interest! |
13th Oct 2007, 8:49 am | #39 |
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Re: brands of tape now and in the past?
Another brand though I do not believe its their own tape, Nagra brought out a few specialist recorders, the Nagra JR which used a small cassette and the Nagra SN which used a miniature reel with 1/8" tape
http://www.vintagerecorders.co.uk/Po...Smallspool.jpg It came in three styles, the TAA I think means normal play, there was double and triple play, the later reels had one side of the metal reel Red, Blue or Green to signify the lengths, later they changed the reels to plastic as the rivets on the metal reels were not to strong. |
13th Oct 2007, 10:38 am | #40 |
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Re: brands of tape now and in the past?
Re Stuart's BASF 'Type A' tape being "coated both sides". BASF's first plastic tapes were coated cellulose acetate with a lacquer bonded carbonyl iron oxide powder. They then introduced ferric oxide and PVC emulsion in the late 1930s which was extruded as a thin ribbon but had considerable drop out. In 1944 they introduced their present two layer bonded tape which used in the world beating LGS35 and LP35LH. Incidentally '50' is standard play, '35' is long play.
The Grundig and Nagra tapes were sourced from major tape makers. TTFN Barry |