Tell me about this tape, please

[Rex Everything]

I have seven boxes of sealed 7" r2r tape and was hoping you all could give me some info on the tape and let me know if it's any good.

Here is what I have:

3 boxes of Scotch 150

1 box of Concertape 44-1018

3 boxes of Scotch 211

T.I.A.

[Scorpion8]

Here's the Scotch/3M tape specs posted previously by somebody. Your 150 and 211 is listed there. Offhand I don't recall them as audio-oriented tapes marketed in stereo shops.

1408

[Acoustic]

Here's the Scotch/3M tape specs posted previously by somebody. Your 150 and 211 is listed there. Offhand I don't recall them as audio-oriented tapes marketed in stereo shops.

I'll second that on the Scotch tape... not really audio quality... and say the same for the Rat Shack Concertape. It was there 'entry level' tape... even the box states it's just voice grade. I've picked up a few at garage sales:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3068/2829780510_7ae4407453.jpg
And whomever used this one for a coaster for there drink probably got more value out of the box than they did the tape.

[Jay Pemberton]

44-1018. That ConcerTape was reject Ampex tape for many years. It could be any sort of quality from decent to dreadful. Some of them had off-spec slitting and even spliced bits in them, right out of the boxes!

Scotch 150 is a good quality tape. It is the tape Teac used as their 'normal' or low bias reference standard tape on many machines including the popular 2300 series. Polyester base; it's acetate base opposite number is Scotch 190. (Miles Davis' KIND OF BLUE was recorded on 190!) You can't hit it with levels quite as hot as Maxell UD, but if used within its limits it can provide quite good sound, provided the tape is in good physical condition. No worries about sticky-shed with it, ever! *check* Marketed to pros and consumers in the 1950s and 1960s. Discontinued in 1973.

Scotch 211 is one of their second generation Dynarange tape series from the 1970s. Can take a little more level than 150. Also no SS worries with it either.

[Des-Lab]

If I'm not mistaken, some or perhaps all Rat Shack R2R tapes were "reject" Ampex tapes that were either of substandard oxide grade and/or not slit properly. But don't hold me to that.

Scotch #150 is some truly prehistoric stuff. It goes back to the 50's if I'm not mistaken. It's actually not a bad tape considering its age. I mean yes. It is something of a red oxide tape and it does shed a lot; one pass of a 150 and your pinch rollers have a bright rust colored band across them. Some 150's will screech occasionally. But I haven't ever seen one that actually showed ALL the signs of sticky shed where the tape was disintegrating right before your eyes.

Is it a "great" tape? No. Not by any stretch. But it WILL work. It's a little hissy. But will record surprisingly well all things considered.

An awful lot of that tape must've been made. And never used. Because I see tons of them on the 'Bay all the time.

Don't know anything about #211. Never tried it.

[Jay Pemberton]

Here's the four numbers in this Dynarange series, marketed to consumers from about 1973 onward:

211: 1.5 mil, 600' on 5" reel or 1200' on 7" reel
212: 1 mil, 900' on 5" reel, 1800' on 7" reel
213: .5 mil double play, 1200' on 5" reel, 2400' on 7" reel
214: .5 mil triple play, 1800' on 5" reel, 3600' on 7" reel

[Rex Everything]

Thanks for the info. I'm new to this stuff w/ the r2r's and need all the help I can get.

[TheReeler]

Miles Davis' KIND OF BLUE was recorded on 190!

I readed somewhere that was recorded on 111... but don't know if it was correct or not.

[Jay Pemberton]

My source is the Ashley Kahn book on the making of KOB.

[TheReeler]

You are right. I readed a post that I wrote in 2005 and then I said Scotch 190.

[USR]

I was told by an engineer at Quantegy that AMPEX indeed did sell "less than perfect" low grade tape to others. I'm not sure if they also boxed it or not. This could have been sold to a converter as pancakes, but most likely it was boxed and complete.

This wasn't something atypical, many places ranging from Sears to RS bid out for "x" number of reels of tape and whoever had the lowest bid got the order. Forget the "made to our exacting standards" thing. This tape tended to be B stock duplicator tape or worse, but not always.

I remember getting a roll of Radio Shack tape way back and they "forgot" to coat any oxide on about a quarter of the reel! *check*

[braxus]

Wow. I have quite a few reels of the Supertape Radio Shack reels. This was the higher end RS tape they sold. I wonder if any of it is any good to use still. I tried one over a year ago and didn't notice anything with it that was unusual.

I have both the silver box early 80s tapes as well as their last reel to reels of the High Output blue box Supertape.

[Jay Pemberton]

If it works OK for you you're lucky. Most any time I tried using it, it was a disaster on any deck. It would develop unstable levels quicker than most anything else; it did not wear well, although you could not see anything to be wrong with it with the naked eye. Supertape on a good day was like second rate Memorex on a bad day. (The RS red box tape had higher distortion, and lower maximum level handling, but on balance was a much more trustworthy and reliable product.)

And it wasn't like the recorders I tried it on were wiped out old domestic machines, these problems would manifest themselves even using it on a pro Ampex deck.

I've never seen a box of the short-lived Supertape Gold, but I think it was rebadged Memorex Quantum, but I digress.

[kevinkr]

<snip>
I remember getting a roll of Radio Shack tape way back and they "forgot" to coat any oxide on about a quarter of the reel! *check*

Strangely enough I remember replacing recently sold reels of tape at R&S that had this problem, when I worked there in the early 1980's, and I seem to recall that I bought a Supertape 7" reel that had this issue as well some years later. Obviously no quality control on that product.

To the best of my ability to recall Tandy - parent company of Radio Shack owned a tape manufacturing business of their own and acquired Memorex consumer division (video and audio tape manufacturing) around 1982 from Burroughs which had acquired Memorex in 1981.

[kevinkr]

Buy good new or used tape for your deck! Old Scotch and RS concertape are not a good choice.

For best results you should chose a specific tape that is readily available and calibrate your deck to that tape and then stick with it...

I'm currently using BASF Pro which I purchase used on eBay. So far so good, eventually I will probably try RMGI.. I have a dozen reels of Scotch 201 acetate which is virgin and in great condition. I don't use it except for short lived alignment tapes - it performs quite poorly at HF compared to more modern formulations and has poor sensitivity (not right term, but it'll do) compared to anything else I have tried.

After 1982 RS owned Memorex (video tape, audio tape,& consumer electronics) which I never thought of as being a great tape even before the acquisition, let alone after that. Not convinced there was any real quality difference between the two..

[gamve]

Intend to get into R2R in the future. Picked up a couple of sealed Ampex Grand Master 456. Is this stuff any good?

[Jay Pemberton]

Sad news: in the main, NO. Even a lot of it after the change to the Quantegy name circa 1996 has begun to go gummy, best known as 'sticky-shed' syndrome.

Just the fact you called it Ampex betrays its age. If they're 10 1/2" NAB reels you can unscrew the flanges from the hubs, save them and the hardware, and buy a couple of new pancakes of current RMGI tape on hubs, attach the flanges to them, and be off and recording on good tape in minutes....

[gamve]

Sad news: in the main, NO. Even a lot of it after the change to the Quantegy name circa 1996 has begun to go gummy, best known as 'sticky-shed' syndrome.

Just the fact you called it Ampex betrays its age. If they're 10 1/2" NAB reels you can unscrew the flanges from the hubs, save them and the hardware, and buy a couple of new pancakes of current RMGI tape on hubs, attach the flanges to them, and be off and recording on good tape in minutes....

Bugger...What should I be on the look out for? Or am I better off to wait till I get a machine then try to get tape to suit?

[Jay Pemberton]

The RMGI 911 (1.5 mil) and LPR 35 (1 mil) are compatible for any machine set up for 456 tape. US Recording sells them on both 7" reels and various flavours of 10 1/2" reels and pancakes (aka hubs).