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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