Scotch 207

[Flangerhans]

Short and sweet...got a roll of Scotch 207, my TEAC 2340 won't record more than a ghost of a track on it, no matter how high I set the bias, etc. How much juice do I have to use to get this stuff to print? I don't have much of this stuff, and I'm just using it to play with, all my serious stuff is on a 3340 with 911, so it's not super vital, more curiosity than anything else. Still, it interests me...anyone know this tape well?

[Dr ZEE]

a crazy guess, maybe you are trying to record on the wrong side of the tape?

[Flangerhans]

Nope. I may be dumb, but I know shiny from dull. Thanks, though.

[Dr ZEE]

heh heh , right. now the next thing to know for sure is which one goes where
the reason I even mentioned this is because I assume that you are dealing with some used old tape? and who knows who and how rolled it.
The only scotch tapes I have here are couple of '142' reels. on them the 'recording side' is dull and the back side is shiny. I have no clue about all the tapes out there. what I have here is: for example, Q 661 has similar "shine/dull configuration" - shinier - back, dull - to the heads, Q 406, 457/456/gp9 tapes has opposite one - back side is black, flat out flat and got no single blink of shine what so ever
*******
ok, so that's not the issue, now, what exactly "ghost of a track" is, means or sounds like?

[The Ghost of FM]

Originally Posted by Flangerhans

Short and sweet...got a roll of Scotch 207, my TEAC 2340 won't record more than a ghost of a track on it, no matter how high I set the bias, etc. How much juice do I have to use to get this stuff to print? I don't have much of this stuff, and I'm just using it to play with, all my serious stuff is on a 3340 with 911, so it's not super vital, more curiosity than anything else. Still, it interests me...anyone know this tape well?

It possibly might be that your heads are clogged with oxide if the 207 had shedding problems.

Did you notice any squeaking sounds out of the tape as it passed over the heads and guides? That sound is usually the first clue that the tape is sticky and shedding abnormally.

A serious cleaning session might be in order here.

It doesn't take much oxide build up to throw off the levels.

Cheers!

[Flangerhans]

That was the second thing I checked for, but there is nothing at all on the heads, and my normal 911 reels play beautifully. It's really a strange thing.
By ghost of a track, I meant that levels are barely even there. I have tried recording test tones all the way up to +3, and playback barely reaches -20. Thanks, Ghost, and Dr Z, for trying. I think I may just toss this old reel, as I say, it was just an experiment.

[Beck]

Good 207 shouldn't be that low on a machine calibrated for it. It's not quite as hot as Quantegy 407 or Maxell 35-90B, but only a dB or two down. It can have sticky-shed, but not as commonly as its 226 and 250 cousins. I don’t list it among sticky-shed tapes because it is comparatively rare that it has it… though it can.

206/207 is a good sounding +3 category tape, just not as hot as 406/407 type, and certainly not even close to something like 456 or 911.

If your machine’s repro level is set for 456 compatible, then 207 will come back weak… and if it has sticky-shed it will be even worse. Binder breakdown manifests in many different ways. With some tapes there may be little actual shedding, yet the tape will sound muffled until baking restores the bond of binder and oxide.

Was the 207 you used new and sealed or does it have a known history (known to you)? What does the box look like? If it is secondhand (One-pass) it may not even be 207.

[Flangerhans]

It's a garage sale tape, it was blank but opened. I didn't even think that it might not actually be 207. I first tried it on my 2340, which I usually use 911 on, and the levels were virtually nonexistant, so I opened up the access plate on the bottom, got out the tone generator, and tried to set it up just to see what happened. It just won't take a good print, even set to the maximum the pots allow, so I've put it aside. At 50 cents, it was worth it just to have another 7" reel around, but I think the tape is so much spaghetti.
I'm always willing to try different tapes, never know when something will sound good. In fact, I've had some nice results using Ampex 631, not known as a great reproducer. I save my 3340 for anything I want to really work, and that machine is solely dedicated to brand new 911 use. The 2340 is for recording other people's albums on. I know it sounds silly, but I pretty much only listen to reels if I can...my ears are used to the vagaries of tape. Plus, it's fun watching the thing run.
Thanks to all who replied here, you guys are great!

[Beck]

Sounds like a bad batch or not the tape as per box label. 207 is backcoated if that helps identify it.

I like the 206/207. Interesting side note... Tom Scholz' original basement tapes, most of which ended up on the Boston debut album in 1976 where recorded on Scotch 206 with a Scully 1" 12-track. He later switched to Scotch 226.