Used tape - erase first before using?

B

BluesPower

New member
I bought a bunch of used 1/2" tapes.

Should I erase the tapes first before recording new material on them, or just
record over the existing material straight away?

Is there any chance of bleed-through of the existing material to the new recording if I don't erase, especially since many of the tapes were recorded in the 80's and 90's?
 
:eek:

Watch out for sticky shed with tapes that old!!!

Ampex 456? I bought 6 reels of crap from 1991 that I can't use. Got a good enough deal that it was worth the reels and I can get new pancakes to put on them and still have saved a good bit of cash... but those tapes screw up the machine fast.

If I had a bulk eraser I'd erase used tapes, but to me it seems silly to run them through the machine to erase them.

Take care,
Chris
 
BluesPower said:
Is there any chance of bleed-through of the existing material to the new recording if I don't erase, especially since many of the tapes were recorded in the 80's and 90's?
Click to expand...
Be very, very careful with that tape, it may be more trouble than its worth. I just discovered on Thursday that the recordings I made on brand new, sealed 1/2" Ampex 456 in November 1993 were shedding :(
 
I do know that Quantegy/Ampex had some intermittent quality control issues with 456 in the late 80's/early 90's. Any Quantegy stock mfg after 1998 is of very high quality.
 
1995 and on is the new formula. Everything from there on can be considered "New" if sealed.

I see a few eBay sellers using the term "Factory fresh" when selling tape. It has no meaning at all. If the tape is sealed and 1995 or newer it is good.

In fact (I almost hate to mention this because tape selection is confusing enough already, but we're all adults here) Quantegy changed the formula again about 2003 because of a shortage of a certain ingredient. It changed the sound to a noticeable degree. Though its very subtle a lot of people didn't like the change.

So if you're a purist, you're looking at 1995-2002 as the preferred dates. Not that it matters to most of us and the newer tape is just fine, but different if you were used to the old tape.

This only effects Ampex/Quantegy. Other tapes like AGFA, BASF, EMTEC and Maxell didn't change a second time. :cool:
 
Last edited:
After reading some posts here about old tape and sticky shed, I decided not to use these tapes.

They're all Ampex 456 from the late 80's/early 90's. I don't want to spend so much time and effort recording something and then find out the sound quality sucks because of the old tape.

They were a waste of money but what can you do.
 
How long does baking work for? I was under the impression that it was a last ditch effort to get tracks off an aging tape and not a good for rejouvenating an old tape to puts tracks on?

-Chris
 
Chris Shaeffer said:
How long does baking work for? I was under the impression that it was a last ditch effort to get tracks off an aging tape and not a good for rejouvenating an old tape to puts tracks on?

-Chris
Click to expand...
I think that's more urban legend then fact.

I have baked 456 from early 90's production date codes and have used them on several sessions without issues.

If the tape was in the final throws of life and there was an important previous recording on there that needed to be transfered that's a different story but, keep in mind Sticky Shed Syndrome comes in different stages of decay and if you catch it early enough, like when the tape is squeaking or shedding mildly, it can be brought back to a very usable state and especially so if temperature and humidity standards are met while the tape is in storage.

Cheers! :)
 
I would erase the entire tape first, especially if you're not going to record on all tracks at first. Otherwise, when it comes time for the that guitar solo track after the 2nd chorus, you will have a bunch of junk on that track before you punch in for the solo. Of course, you could just put all of the tracks into record on the first run through to erase everything as well. I prefer to erase before I use.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top