Richard,

What year was this Sony stock from? About 1980-82 by chance?

Thank you.

Best Regards,

David Crosthwait
DC Video
Videotape transfers and more!

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On Nov 10, 2013, at 1:58 PM, Richard L. Hess wrote:

> Hello,
> 
> Anyone run into any significant batches of Sony SLH-7-550 BL tape? I am actually assuming that the part number is really a mixed-standard description: 7" reel 550 m of tape. So, really, what it appears I'm looking at is SLH-BL tape.
> 
> I have 60-70 reels of it.
> 
> Based on my Sony PR-150 experience, I expected bad, but this is different bad.
> 
> First of all, Sony PR-150 is NOT back-coated. SLH-BL is back-coated, so that appears to add to the problems, but the mag coat looks very similar to PR-150, it is brown and it is this brown I find on the heads after a big squeal.
> 
> Here is a confusion: The recordist allegedly took 7" reels of this and split it into 5" reels for the recorder. However, at least one reel has a mixture of black and brown mag coat and his notes that I have indicate the second half may not be the SLH...
> 
> The black mag coat is coming off more than the brown!
> 
> I have tried pre-wiping with Pellon, and while debris comes off (from both sides), it does not seem to be worth the effort. It might actually stir up more trouble than it's worth.
> 
> I have tried dry-wiping during the play pass on the mag coat and this helps a bit, but it still squeals.
> 
> So far, the best thing is a Pellon wipe and the Pellon liberally doused with decamethylcyclopentasiloxane (D5). But, once a piece of mag coat goo becomes stuck on the head, the stick-slip squeal starts and often prints to the audio transfer (but not back to the tape).
> 
> What I want to know, has anyone baked this tape???? It appears to have been very popular in the Middle East and was also sold here in Canada.
> 
> I may end up baking out of desperation, but the reels I've transferred aren't a good test cases because they already had a liberal amount of D5 applied (which is slowly evaporating).
> 
> I can't fit an A80 in my current fridge, though the A77 (which doesn't overheat the fridge and fits) might be a choice. However, I'd much rather transfer these on an A80 for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is this is an important collection of Gulf States traditional music.
> 
> Telling me this is hateful and horrid material won't help, I know that already. And while misery loves company, I'm already miserable enough that I don't need to spread it <sigh>.
> 
> What I want to know is what you did to make the tape playable (hopefully without damaging it). If you did test and damage a reel of this stuff, I'd like to know, too.
> 
> The tapes were nicely recorded on a Sony TC-510-2. It was the predecessor (I think) to the APR-2003. I've been impressed with the quietness of the recordings. The speed stability by and large has been great. It is the singers and players bending the notes, not the recorder <smile>.
> 
> Cheers,
> 
> Richard
> 
> 
> -- 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.