My point, Corey, was that the old style paper tapes deteriorate after a few years and are not suitable for long term storage. If they are your personal property, or being used more or less frequently, that tape is fine to hold it down for a while. But if you have ever had to restore 20 or 30 year old tapes, you’d find that it just doesn’t last… Like masking tape or oprdinary scotch tape, unlike the “magic” tranparent tape.

But my opinions are only mine, and only based on 40 years experience. :-)

<L>
Lou Judson
Intuitive Audio
415-883-2689

> On Nov 8, 2020, at 2:11 PM, Corey Bailey <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> 
> Hi Marcia,
> 
> I presume that you're talking about reel-to-reel tapes. IMHO, I don't think it matters for long term storage. I still use 1/4' paper tap for hold down probably because I'm an old recording engineer & old habits are hard to break. ;-)  What is important (again, IMHO) is that there is about 6' of leader at both ends of the audio tape. The leader at the head of the tape protects the audio tape itself & the leader at the hub of the reel protects the audio tape from the hub (threading slots, etc.).
> 
> My $0.02