Archive of tapes - Reel to Reel and Cassette. - UK Vintage Radio Repair and Restoration Discussion Forum

Steve_P · 11th Oct 2007, 6:36 pm

Moderation note.

At the request of some members this thread has been created from an earlier closed thread.

Please restrict posting to images of tape types and the boxes they came in. It is not a discussion thread.

Pictures anyone? Here are some of mine.

Cheers,

Steve P

Steve_P · 11th Oct 2007, 6:46 pm

This is from Belgium....

Steve_P · 11th Oct 2007, 7:03 pm

American Ones...

Yes the Irish Brand one is made in the USA. If I can find the reel to go with the box I'll post it too...

Heatercathodeshort · 11th Oct 2007, 8:09 pm

Hello,
Well hows about this reel folks. Its was made for the 'Sound Mirror' tape recorder and the label says: Manufactured by Thermionic products Ltd London. and strangely 'The British Development Co U.S.A.'
Oh and by the way..its PAPER tape and still plays some recorded music.
Regards, John.

arjoll · 12th Oct 2007, 4:52 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steve_P

Yes the Irish Brand one is made in the USA. If I can find the reel to go with the box I'll post it too...

I'm pretty sure Irish was the budget brand of Ampex for a while.

Orradio (the manufacturer on the box) was bought by Ampex in 1959 and spun off to became Quantegy in 1995 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orradio_Industries

I'll have to get camera out in the weekend and take some photos!

reel-to-reel-man · 12th Oct 2007, 8:37 am

I have loads of odd reels, everyone knows Scotch, but do they know what they were called in the first place? See the pictures, though these are Clydon reels, up in my loft I have some scotch plastic reels with the same logo.

Steve_P · 12th Oct 2007, 4:38 pm

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.

arjoll · 13th Oct 2007, 7:26 am

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.

arjoll · 13th Oct 2007, 7:31 am

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.

arjoll · 13th Oct 2007, 7:36 am

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!).

arjoll · 13th Oct 2007, 7:45 am

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!

arjoll · 13th Oct 2007, 7:53 am

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!

reel-to-reel-man · 13th Oct 2007, 8:49 am

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

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.

kalee20 · 16th Oct 2007, 1:00 pm

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

AndiiT · 16th Oct 2007, 7:25 pm

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

RODALCO · 18th Oct 2007, 10:28 am

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.

RODALCO · 20th Oct 2007, 7:28 am

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.

Stewart · 21st Oct 2007, 10:27 pm

Whilst the focus here seems to be on reel to reel tape here, I can't help but post a snap of one from my cassette collection.. I keep this on display in the workshop as it always makes me smile...

UK folk of a certain generation will know Pinnacle primarily as a supplier of rather cheap and dubious valves (tubes) in the 60's and 70's. Goodness knows where they sourced this tape from - but it fits well with the status the brand had. "Studio Quality" Hmmm... I wonder what type of studio they had in mind?

Stewart · 21st Oct 2007, 10:42 pm

Here are a couple of earl (ish) Sony brand cassettes.

I thought at first they might have been intended for an answerphone... they are marked "auto-sensor" which lead me to think they were designed for just such a machine.

But the card is also marked: "This cassette is equiped with auto-sensor foil to activate all future automatic cassette recorder features" and phrases such as "capture the strength and delicacy of every sound" suggest more lofty ambitions for them!

I wonder, did Sony ever produce such a machine with foil sensors? (best not answer that here) Never seen one. Doubtless Philips who held the cassette standard so close and dear put their foot down to stop such automatic features taking hold! (a bit mean given most of their machines lacked any other form of auto-stop at this time.. if you were lucky a buzzer sounded or a lamp dimly glowed to warn you the machine was straining against the lead out!)

batterymaker1 · 22nd Oct 2007, 3:31 pm

Found the picture of Burgess Recording Tape.

11th Oct 2007, 6:36 pm	#1
Steve_P Dekatron Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Bolton, Greater Manchester, UK. Posts: 6,639	Archive of tapes - Reel to Reel and Cassette. Moderation note. At the request of some members this thread has been created from an earlier closed thread. Please restrict posting to images of tape types and the boxes they came in. It is not a discussion thread. Pictures anyone? Here are some of mine. Cheers, Steve P Attached Thumbnails __________________ If we've always had it, why is the Car Boot open? You're not sneaking another Old TV in are you...? Last edited by Brian R Pateman; 8th Nov 2009 at 11:41 am. Reason: Moderator introduction added.

11th Oct 2007, 6:46 pm	#2
Steve_P Dekatron Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Bolton, Greater Manchester, UK. Posts: 6,639	Re - Archive of tapes - Reel to Reel and Cassette. This is from Belgium.... Attached Thumbnails __________________ If we've always had it, why is the Car Boot open? You're not sneaking another Old TV in are you...?

11th Oct 2007, 7:03 pm	#3
Steve_P Dekatron Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Bolton, Greater Manchester, UK. Posts: 6,639	Re - Archive of tapes - Reel to Reel and Cassette. American Ones... Yes the Irish Brand one is made in the USA. If I can find the reel to go with the box I'll post it too... Attached Thumbnails __________________ If we've always had it, why is the Car Boot open? You're not sneaking another Old TV in are you...?

11th Oct 2007, 8:09 pm	#4
Heatercathodeshort Dekatron Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Warnham, West Sussex. 10 miles south of DORKING. Posts: 9,121	Re - Archive of tapes - Reel to Reel and Cassette. Hello, Well hows about this reel folks. Its was made for the 'Sound Mirror' tape recorder and the label says: Manufactured by Thermionic products Ltd London. and strangely 'The British Development Co U.S.A.' Oh and by the way..its PAPER tape and still plays some recorded music. Regards, John. Attached Thumbnails

12th Oct 2007, 8:37 am	#6
reel-to-reel-man Heptode Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Paignton, Devon, UK. Posts: 802	Re - Archive of tapes - Reel to Reel and Cassette. I have loads of odd reels, everyone knows Scotch, but do they know what they were called in the first place? See the pictures, though these are Clydon reels, up in my loft I have some scotch plastic reels with the same logo. Attached Thumbnails __________________ Vintage recorder collector www.vintagerecorders.co.uk

12th Oct 2007, 4:38 pm	#7
Steve_P Dekatron Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Bolton, Greater Manchester, UK. Posts: 6,639	Re - Archive of tapes - Reel to Reel and Cassette. 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. Attached Thumbnails __________________ If we've always had it, why is the Car Boot open? You're not sneaking another Old TV in are you...?

13th Oct 2007, 7:26 am	#8
arjoll Dekatron Join Date: May 2006 Location: Invercargill, New Zealand Posts: 3,339	Re - Archive of tapes - Reel to Reel and Cassette. 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. Attached Thumbnails

13th Oct 2007, 7:31 am	#9
arjoll Dekatron Join Date: May 2006 Location: Invercargill, New Zealand Posts: 3,339	Re - Archive of tapes - Reel to Reel and Cassette. 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. Attached Thumbnails

13th Oct 2007, 7:36 am	#10
arjoll Dekatron Join Date: May 2006 Location: Invercargill, New Zealand Posts: 3,339	Re - Archive of tapes - Reel to Reel and Cassette. 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!). Attached Thumbnails

13th Oct 2007, 7:45 am	#11
arjoll Dekatron Join Date: May 2006 Location: Invercargill, New Zealand Posts: 3,339	Re - Archive of tapes - Reel to Reel and Cassette. 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! Attached Thumbnails

13th Oct 2007, 7:53 am	#12
arjoll Dekatron Join Date: May 2006 Location: Invercargill, New Zealand Posts: 3,339	Re - Archive of tapes - Reel to Reel and Cassette. 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! Attached Thumbnails

13th Oct 2007, 8:49 am	#13
reel-to-reel-man Heptode Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Paignton, Devon, UK. Posts: 802	Re - Archive of tapes - Reel to Reel and Cassette. 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 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. Attached Thumbnails __________________ Vintage recorder collector www.vintagerecorders.co.uk

16th Oct 2007, 1:00 pm	#14
kalee20 Dekatron Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Lynton, N. Devon, UK. Posts: 6,833	Re - Archive of tapes - Reel to Reel and Cassette. 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 Attached Thumbnails

16th Oct 2007, 7:25 pm	#15
AndiiT Octode Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Saltburn-East, Cleveland, UK. Posts: 1,779	Re - Archive of tapes - Reel to Reel and Cassette. 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 Attached Thumbnails

18th Oct 2007, 10:28 am	#16
RODALCO Tetrode Join Date: May 2007 Location: West Auckland, New Zealand Posts: 96	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. Attached Thumbnails

20th Oct 2007, 7:28 am	#17
RODALCO Tetrode Join Date: May 2007 Location: West Auckland, New Zealand Posts: 96	Re - Archive of tapes - Reel to Reel and Cassette. 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. Attached Thumbnails

21st Oct 2007, 10:27 pm	#18
Stewart Retired Dormant Member Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: N.E. Surrey, UK. Posts: 361	Re - Archive of tapes - Reel to Reel and Cassette. Whilst the focus here seems to be on reel to reel tape here, I can't help but post a snap of one from my cassette collection.. I keep this on display in the workshop as it always makes me smile... UK folk of a certain generation will know Pinnacle primarily as a supplier of rather cheap and dubious valves (tubes) in the 60's and 70's. Goodness knows where they sourced this tape from - but it fits well with the status the brand had. "Studio Quality" Hmmm... I wonder what type of studio they had in mind? Attached Thumbnails

21st Oct 2007, 10:42 pm	#19
Stewart Retired Dormant Member Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: N.E. Surrey, UK. Posts: 361	Re - Archive of tapes - Reel to Reel and Cassette. Here are a couple of earl (ish) Sony brand cassettes. I thought at first they might have been intended for an answerphone... they are marked "auto-sensor" which lead me to think they were designed for just such a machine. But the card is also marked: "This cassette is equiped with auto-sensor foil to activate all future automatic cassette recorder features" and phrases such as "capture the strength and delicacy of every sound" suggest more lofty ambitions for them! I wonder, did Sony ever produce such a machine with foil sensors? (best not answer that here) Never seen one. Doubtless Philips who held the cassette standard so close and dear put their foot down to stop such automatic features taking hold! (a bit mean given most of their machines lacked any other form of auto-stop at this time.. if you were lucky a buzzer sounded or a lamp dimly glowed to warn you the machine was straining against the lead out!) Attached Thumbnails

22nd Oct 2007, 3:31 pm	#20
batterymaker1 Heptode Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. Posts: 674	Re: brands of tape now and in the past? Found the picture of Burgess Recording Tape. Attached Thumbnails __________________ Just playing with high voltage....