NOS Ampex 2 inch tape. Thrift store find.

j.harv

j.harv

@#$%
Was browsing at the Thrift store today and saw a familiar looking grey box peeking out from under some junk. Pulled it out and it's a NOS reel of Ampex 456 2 inch tape. The reel is still sealed in the plastic. I ended up buying it for the hell of it. It cost me $20. It's most likely sticky.
Still, I could make a cool clock out of it.

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What's the date on the white label...?...should one on the box and/or the back of the reel.

If it's in the early/mid '90s...probably sticky or will be. If early '20s...you might get lucky...
...but spin it up regardless and see how it performs.
 
miroslav said:
What's the date on the white label...?...should one on the box and/or the back of the reel.

If it's in the early/mid '90s...probably sticky or will be. If early '20s...you might get lucky...
...but spin it up regardless and see how it performs.
Click to expand...

The small label has a # 456-970111
then there is 332603410103 and then 93344

Unfortunately I don't own a machine that supports this tape size:o
 
That's awesome. How random is that? I'm surprised it was $20, as most times the people working at thrift stores have no clue what reel to reels are or what this tape really is. I saw a guy that scored two sealed 10-packs of Maxell 35-90 from a Goodwill on a FB page the other day. His buddy said they were throwing them away at a thrift store and he grabbed em before they got thrown in the dumpster.

If it's not sticky these things go for a couple hundred don't they?
 
Sticky. 456 with the label in the middle of the box, as opposed to at the bottom is just about all sticky. But for 20 bucks you got nice reel!
 
Or if you're into gift-wrapping consider yourself lucky...nearly half mile of 2" wide brown stock for making custom bows.

Or the next time you're stranded on a deserted island save yourself the trouble of cutting down all those vines and just use the tape to lash the logs of your custom raft together.

The list is endless.
 
Yes it would.

Typically if you have the right baking equipment, you can bake a reel and then store it double-bagged in zipper-type freezer bags with dessicant packets and then bake will last several weeks. The trick is baking it at the right temp for the right amount of time for 2" tape. It takes longer.

I just passed up two 2" reels of GP9 (non-sticky) for $60.
 
Thats a great price! No 2 inch machine??

Maybe pass the info to Miro. He has two inch.
 
That is a good price on GP9.

Used or NOS?

I've stayed away from the GP9 mainly because it doesn't come up as often, and when it does, the prices are crazy even for used.
I'm quite happy with 499...plus I have several NOS reels of Emtec/BASF 911, and several 456/Quantegy vintage, so it's not sticky.
 
You could always try baking the take. There are a number of posts on Google about EXACTLY how to do this .

By the way, the last 2" tape I purchased (about 35yrs ago) cost about $Aus 200, so you got a damn good deal !!!!!!

David
 
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