I'm concerned this discussion is omitting a very important point.
Unless a tape is soaked in LAST before use or is unwound with a drip of LAST
falling into the feed reel tape-unwinding crotch, the act of unwinding the
tape from its storage reel will allow a sticky piece of the tape to pull off
and adhere to an adjacent layer. Isopropol alcohol has proven ok for this
use. Check Marie's older posts. Perhaps she can supply a link. Though
I've never tried this on reel-to-reel tapes, but I've been very successful
with the process on some problem cassette tapes. I used an eyedropper, a
steady hand and rehoused the cassette into a shell where I've Dremelled a
cutout to reach this area. It needs a cassette player where the front door
comes off to be able to get the eyedropper aimed at the right place.
The tape must be treated in one way or another BEFORE being unwound. Unless
very, very slow unwinding overcomes this issue. I can replay tape at
logging speeds, down to 15/32 so if this is an anwer, I've the tool. But it
would then have to be played at its recorded speed to get any sound quality.
I was under the impression this thread dealt with tapes other than the
backcoated type and that was also having sticking pronlems- not necessarily
shedding. I've three in house at the moment that buck so much at 3-3/4 that
they pop out of the guides and cause the auto shut off to operate. This is
on a standing rather than lying down Technics RS-1500, the gentlest of tape
handling transports. Perhaps I should mount them on my Otari MXR 10 which
has a more conventional back-tension arrangement which can be adjusted
during playing. Advice welcomed.
In my experience, the sticky shed problem is almost always increasingly
intense as one gets closer to the reel core. Successful empirical testing
at the beginning of a reel is no guarantee of the same result as it plays
through.
Steve Smolian
----- Original Message -----
From: "Marie O'Connell" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thursday, December 17, 2009 4:56 AM
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Tape Squeal
Hi
Actually, my first concern is the analogue tape itself and then the
equipment, simply because the machine can be fixed by the terrific
technicians stil alive and available to do this because 'they know' what the
heck they are doing. Tape problems are a different factor in the mix given
the different brands, etc, etc, and many of us are trying to address this in
our own way and on an international basis.
Corey, please tell me, what are the ingredients of the Last Factory stuff
you use? Do you know?
Cheers
Marie
On Thu, Dec 17, 2009 at 10:23 PM, Corey Bailey <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Hi Richard,
>
> I would be interested in exploring our different experiences with LAST
> lubricants. Perhaps we should compare findings off list.
> Starting in the early 90’s, I experimented with a number of lubricants and
> application methods until I discovered the Last Factory. Some of those
> lubricants did work well but the resulting mess and possible harm to the
> equipment seemed to be not worth the results. Consequently, I never
> published
> my findings. I would agree that the majority of squeal problems occur on
> tapes
> recorded at slower speeds however I have also encountered the problem on
> music
> masters recorded at higher speeds. Perhaps I should have noted in my post
> that
> the example on your website did not utilize a standard audio tape deck and
> the
> speed was quadrupled. I’ve always admired your work because you think
> outside
> the box but with a scientific approach. My concern was the possible
> oversight
> of the details regarding your particular procedure and some would think it
> just
> fine to try a 3-3/4ips tape run at (for example) 15ips and I wanted to
> point
> out the possible pitfalls.
>
> Anymore, I’ve pretty much come to the conclusion: “If it ain’t Scotch 206,
> Bake
> it!’ Of course, that excludes acetate but I have found that stabilizing
> the
> oxide solves a number of problems right off and polyester doesn’t seem to
> be
> bothered by the process.
>
> Cheers!
>
> Corey Bailey
> Corey Bailey Audio Engineering
>
>
> Quoting "Richard L. Hess" <[log in to unmask]>:
>
> > At 10:00 PM 2009-12-16, Corey Bailey wrote:
> > >Having dealt with squealing tapes at virtually all recorded speeds and
> > (most)
> > >widths, the simplest and most effective solution I've found is to
> lubricate
> > >them. That said, the most effective lubricant I've used so far is from
> Last
> > >Factory.
> >
> > Hi, Corey,
> >
> > I have had pretty much the opposite results with The Last Factory
> products.
> >
> > >1) Unless you have modified your play electronics, playing, for
> > >example,
> a
> > >7.5ips tape at 15ips will invoke a different EQ alignment curve which
> will
> > >result in inaccuracies when pitching the file back down in the digital
> > domain.
> > >(Something I don't like to do in the first place for a number of
> reasons)
> >
> > There are many ways to handle this and most of the times I record an
> > MRL test tape to make sure it's all fine at the end.
> >
> > In my experience, this is a problem that is mostly limited to
> > personal and oral history tapes as they are the ones usually recorded
> > at slow speeds. I've had little or no issues with master tapes,
> > especially on the single-head reproducers.
> >
> > >2) Having tried this and observed the signal with calibrated test
> equipment
> > >showed that the squeal is, more often than not, still there and
> > >although it may
> > >not be (as) audible, it is having an effect on the audio in other ways
> such
> > as
> > >increased harmonic distortion, induced wow and flutter, etc.
> >
> > That certainly may be true in some instances, but in others, there is
> > a threshold where the squeal stops. It was actually Jay McKnight of
> > MRL who suggested the higher playing speed (I think I mention that in
> > my blog post) and this was based in part on the analysis he did of
> > the mechanical properties of tape for Ampex.
> >
> > Cheers,
> >
> > Richard
> >
> > Richard L. Hess email: [log in to unmask]
> > Aurora, Ontario, Canada (905) 713 6733 1-877-TAPE-FIX
> > Detailed contact information:
> http://www.richardhess.com/tape/contact.htm
> > Quality tape transfers -- even from hard-to-play tapes.
> >
>
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