Well, in the 90's I was buying tape from the 90's. My dealer, ProTape NW, supplied most of the studios in town so I can only assume the stock was relatively fresh. Ampex oxides used were 456 then later 499. Occasional problems ranged from excessive shedding, bad slit, and major drop outs.
None of this had anything to do with how the machines were maintained.
The switch to 996 was made in '93 or '94. No problems at all with it until the final run in '96. I went back to Quantegy at that point. That's when the QC got really squirrley IMO and experience.
Frankly, I'm really tired of this debate/inquisition. As stated earlier, "To Each His Own." Anyone wishing to buy tape made by a for all intents and purposes DEAD company that may or may not be usable is free to do so.
Well Rick, if you're going to make an outlandish claim like you did you should be prepared to give an explanation. This forum isn't a hideout. We've worked very hard to counter myths and misconceptions about tape. If you're going to make claims that fly in the face of the experience of the entire recording industry you owe the members an explanation... some details about how and when, etc.
No, it's not a matter of "To each his own." You gave someone specific advise to avoid an entire class of tape based on you're limited experience with the product, apparently ignorant of how widely and successfully 456 has been used about everywhere but your studio. That's a disservice to members seeking sound advice.
Anyone that throws credentials around like you do is going to be challenged by me when they mislead people. If you're tired of debating/explaining then don't be so careless… and stop with the slippery arguments… you keep revising the reasons for your initial statement. I don't get tired of trying to get to the bottom of an issue.
As it stands now I think you had user error issues or are just repeating things from old usenet groups, which were full of guerrilla marketers exaggerating Quantegy QC and slitting issues because they were selling a different brand of tape. I used to see that bullshit all the time.
And again, although I've had great experience with Ampex/quantegy 456 over many years, I'm basing my advise on the experience of the recording industry. The claim is true that more music has been recorded with Ampex than any other brand… albums, movie scores, movie dialog, you name it. The score for the movie Titanic (1997) was recorded on 456 about the time you say the stuff was almost unusable.
If you have to return a tape it doesn’t matter if you have to return it to an eBay seller or RMGI. Speaking of that, I’ve said previously that I still seek out NOS BASF and EMTEC over RMGI because of RMGI QC problems, so...
Frankly, IMO if you're uncomfortable supporting your assertions with details you're probably making stuff up.