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Old 13th Oct 2007, 11:21 am   #41
Tim
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Default 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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Old 13th Oct 2007, 11:57 am   #42
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Default 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.

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Old 13th Oct 2007, 1:10 pm   #43
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Default Re: brands of tape now and in the past?

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Originally Posted by arjoll View Post
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!).
Yes, I heard Quantegy stopped production, but I can still get them here? I got 2 the other day......"grandmaster 456". On the back is printed "Temperature Sensitive Material - Maintain 40 to 90 degrees F(4 to 32degrees C) for shipping and/or storage". RMIG is the other one I can get here in Aus, which is the EMTEC formulation. They make VHS and cassette tape too. Here is thier site http://www.rmgi.nl/ I was wondering if what is on the back of tape would effect the Akai X-crossfeild bias heads performance which sits on the back of the tape?

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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Old 13th Oct 2007, 1:56 pm   #44
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Default 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?
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Old 13th Oct 2007, 2:29 pm   #45
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Default 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
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Old 13th Oct 2007, 4:43 pm   #46
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Default 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
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Old 13th Oct 2007, 5:14 pm   #47
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Default Re: brands of tape now and in the past?

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Originally Posted by Andy1970 View Post
Which brand do you chaps recommend, with regard to frequency response and shelf life? Any other things i should take into consideration??
cheers
Always liked BASF, my second choice is Scotch 996, probably because of the gold reels
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Old 13th Oct 2007, 10:38 pm   #48
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Default Re: brands of tape now and in the past?

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Originally Posted by Electric-Hair View Post
Yes, I heard Quantegy stopped production, but I can still get them here?
There will still be quite a bit of tape in the supply channel - I understand Quantegy pushed quite a bit through after the announcement so there was plenty around.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Electric-Hair View Post
I was wondering if what is on the back of tape would effect the Akai X-crossfeild bias heads performance which sits on the back of the tape?
Not sure on this, but I'm sure some of the others here will

Quote:
Originally Posted by Electric-Hair View Post
I assume by that the Maxell reel-to-reel tapes must sound as good too.
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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Old 14th Oct 2007, 11:05 am   #49
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Default 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

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Old 15th Oct 2007, 11:19 am   #50
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Default 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.
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Old 15th Oct 2007, 7:22 pm   #51
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Default Re: brands of tape now and in the past?

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Originally Posted by Andy1970 View Post
Anyone else heard of these?
Tudor tape (red box with a tudor rose on front); Elizabethan (red box, white lettering).
Tudor was a brand name used by a budget film-processing outfit. They definitely supplied own-brand films and batteries, and I wouldn't be surprised if they did tapes too.

Elizabethan certainly made tape recorders, so yours may have been the "free" reel usually supplied with new machines.
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Old 16th Oct 2007, 1:00 pm   #52
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Default 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
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Old 16th Oct 2007, 1:25 pm   #53
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Default 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."
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Old 16th Oct 2007, 7:25 pm   #54
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Default 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
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Old 17th Oct 2007, 3:04 am   #55
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Default 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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Old 18th Oct 2007, 10:10 am   #56
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Default Re: brands of tape now and in the past?

Quote:
Originally Posted by reelguy View Post
I was given some platters full of tape and transfered them to ordinary reels by placing them on a record player turntable and feeding the tape through the recorder .
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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Old 18th Oct 2007, 10:28 am   #57
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Default 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.
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Old 18th Oct 2007, 2:01 pm   #58
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Default 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
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Old 20th Oct 2007, 7:28 am   #59
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Default 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.
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Old 20th Oct 2007, 10:03 am   #60
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Default 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
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