This reminded me of a mixed reel that I made long time ago with various
tapes spliced together on one 10.5" reel. Most were studio dubs that I
didn't want on 5" reels. One of the tapes was 406 or 456. So I pulled that
reel to check and it's sticky as Houston in Summer.
Cheers
Shai
On Fri, Dec 18, 2015 at 2:24 AM, Marie O'Connell <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Hi all!
>
> I think the fairies are with you assisting also!
>
> I too have had Ampex 456 spliced in at various points on the reel, a
> typical radio thing to do where they would just grab at what tape was at
> hand, and have had similar results as you Tom.
>
> I have also had reels of Ampex 456 come out of the same box of 10 or 20 and
> purchased at the same time where 1/2 have SSS and the rest are fine!
>
> More things to ponder.....
>
> Merry Christmas all :-)
> Marie
>
> On Fri, Dec 18, 2015 at 11:34 AM, Shai Drori <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> > I absolutely love the Maxell tapes. For that matter the TDK LX and GX are
> > also amazing. I get frist rate audio from these tapes even though they
> are
> > 35 years old.
> > Shai Drori
> >
> > On Thu, Dec 17, 2015 at 11:04 PM, Tom Fine <[log in to unmask]>
> > wrote:
> >
> > > Maxell reel tapes were awesome, that's why they go for decent $$$ NOS
> or
> > > slightly used on eBay. I wish I had spent more after school job
> earnings
> > on
> > > Maxell reel tape than on early 80s rock records! Maxell UDXL90
> cassettes
> > > were equally outstanding in that era. Always reliable and stand up well
> > > over time. The cassette housing is among the best ever made, which is
> > why I
> > > kept most of my tapes to re-shell basket cases I get from clients. I've
> > > been able to play dreaded Scotch black-oxide C-120 tapes when they were
> > > transplanted to Maxell shells.
> > >
> > > It's too bad Maxell never made a push for the pro market. They sold
> much
> > > more 1-mil reel stock to home recordists than 1.5-mil to pros. Their
> > > pricing for 7" reels in boxes was competitive to Scotch and Ampex for
> the
> > > home market, so I assume they could have been competitive at least with
> > 10"
> > > pancakes for the pro market. I could see how shipping metal reels in
> > boxes
> > > from Japan would crimp the margins, but bulk-shipping pancakes could be
> > > competitive.
> > >
> > > -- Tom Fine
> > >
> > > ----- Original Message ----- From: "Richard L. Hess" <
> > > [log in to unmask]>
> > > To: <[log in to unmask]>
> > > Sent: Thursday, December 17, 2015 3:50 PM
> > >
> > > Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Interesting sticky-shed data point
> > >
> > >
> > > Back in the day, I was a real fan of Maxell tapes. All my masters at
> St.
> > >> Thomas were done on it except the last one where I couldn't get the
> > tape in
> > >> Canada and I didn't want to buy it in the states as I needed it in
> > Canada
> > >> to calibrate the machines before the trip down. I used 407, I think,
> > but it
> > >> might have been 456 or 457. I think I bought two boxes of 10
> bulk-packed
> > >> pancakes. I recalibrated the machines.
> > >>
> > >> Cheers,
> > >>
> > >> Richard
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> On 12/17/2015 7:04 AM, Tom Fine wrote:
> > >>
> > >>> The Maxell reel also completely surrounds the tape, except for a
> small
> > >>> slit from the reel center insert point to the outside. Perhaps that,
> > the
> > >>> bag and the cardboard box with a laminated outer coating all combined
> > as
> > >>> a moisture barrier?
> > >>>
> > >>> Anyway, interesting. The other interesting thing was, I know it's
> > >>> totally un-Kosher to splice together 1-mil and 1.5 mil tapes, but
> there
> > >>> was no damage or level drop at the splice-point, and, given that I'm
> > >>> sure I didn't go in and re-calibrate anything when I grabbed that
> > >>> remnant of 456 to fill out the reel, it's interesting that the Maxell
> > >>> tape operated close enough to the 456 parameters to not sound
> different
> > >>> at all, to my ears. Keep in mind that this tape is a dub, so it's not
> > an
> > >>> un-colored clone of a pristine source. I was also impressed that
> Maxell
> > >>> came up with a back-coat formula that is first of all stable but also
> > >>> resulted in very low print-through despite 30+ years of tight-wound
> > >>> storage.
> > >>>
> > >>> -- Tom Fine
> > >>>
> > >>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Richard L. Hess"
> > >>> <[log in to unmask]>
> > >>> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> > >>> Sent: Wednesday, December 16, 2015 10:09 PM
> > >>> Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Interesting sticky-shed data point
> > >>>
> > >>>
> > >>> Hi, Tom,
> > >>>>
> > >>>> The sticky shed faeries were with you? Like one tape that exploded
> on
> > >>>> me but only the guitar intro was lost...the deceased singer's vocal
> > >>>> was intact.
> > >>>>
> > >>>> Anyway...seriously, perhaps being under high-pressure at the hub
> > >>>> helped, but I generally find that the most vulnerable section.
> > >>>>
> > >>>> As you know, plastic bags (I think generally polyethylene) are not
> > >>>> excellent vapor barriers, so your guess is as good as mine.
> > >>>>
> > >>>> Very interesting.
> > >>>>
> > >>>> Thanks for sharing.
> > >>>>
> > >>>> Cheers,
> > >>>>
> > >>>> Richard
> > >>>>
> > >>>>
> > >>>> On 12/16/2015 7:47 PM, Tom Fine wrote:
> > >>>>
> > >>>>> I just transferred a reel of tape I made back in 1982 at a major
> NYC
> > >>>>> recording studio. It was a dub of something. I thought the reel was
> > all
> > >>>>> Maxell UDXL 35-90, 1-mil back-coated and I've heard few if any
> > reports
> > >>>>> of it going sticky. The tape played just fine, absolutely no
> residue
> > >>>>> from rewinding or playback (it's a 2-track 7.5IPS tape, transfer
> was
> > >>>>> done on a Technics 1520). Now here's where it gets interesting. I
> > >>>>> didn't
> > >>>>> remember this, but the end of the reel was spliced-in Ampex 456,
> and
> > it
> > >>>>> wasn't sticky. I didn't know this before rewinding because I had
> kept
> > >>>>> the Maxell end of reel leader tape and just spliced in the Ampex
> tape
> > >>>>> because I needed 5 minutes more time at the end of the reel. The
> > reason
> > >>>>> I noticed this was I was monitoring the end of the tape, heard a
> > splice
> > >>>>> go through the transport and noticed that the tape oxide color was
> > >>>>> suddenly brown instead of gray-black like Maxell UDXL. When the
> tape
> > >>>>> finished, I wound out the leader tape and examined the end of the
> > >>>>> spliced-on section. It was definitely 1.5-mil Ampex 456 (that was
> the
> > >>>>> only tape available at the studio to splice into my Maxell reel,
> they
> > >>>>> were an all-Ampex shop). I felt the tape front and back with my
> > >>>>> fingers,
> > >>>>> and didn't feel the tell-tale gummy-sticky-greasy texture of
> > >>>>> sticky-shed. And, there was no evidence of any layers sticking
> > >>>>> together.
> > >>>>> Plus, as I said, no residue on any moving or fixed guides or the
> tape
> > >>>>> heads.
> > >>>>>
> > >>>>> I have no idea why this piece of tape didn't go sticky. I'm
> wondering
> > >>>>> if
> > >>>>> the non-sticky Maxell tape, making up most of the reel, can somehow
> > >>>>> absorb or mitigate whatever causes the sticky-shed? It's also worth
> > >>>>> noting that this tape has always been stored in the plastic bag
> > within
> > >>>>> the cardboard box.
> > >>>>>
> > >>>>> If I had known the section of Ampex 456 was spliced in to the
> reel, I
> > >>>>> would have baked the whole thing before playing it. I'm glad it
> > turned
> > >>>>> out I didn't need to.
> > >>>>>
> > >>>>> I'm interested in any theories as to why that piece of 456 wasn't
> > >>>>> sticky. Other reels of 456 that I recorded at that studio at that
> > time
> > >>>>> have all been sticky and required baking.
> > >>>>>
> > >>>>> -- Tom Fine
> > >>>>>
> > >>>> --
> > >>>> Richard L. Hess email: [log in to unmask]
> > >>>> Aurora, Ontario, Canada 647 479 2800
> > >>>> http://www.richardhess.com/tape/contact.htm
> > >>>> Quality tape transfers -- even from hard-to-play tapes.
> > >>>>
> > >>>>
> > >>>>
> > >>> --
> > >> Richard L. Hess email: [log in to unmask]
> > >> Aurora, Ontario, Canada 647 479 2800
> > >> http://www.richardhess.com/tape/contact.htm
> > >> Quality tape transfers -- even from hard-to-play tapes.
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> >
>
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