Beck, I have a 1/2" tape with some material recorded in a similar box which is dated 1994. I was just wondering if all tapes made during the above period will be sticky shed?
Does it also depend on local climate, central heating / air conditioning & how the tape was stored over the years?
Cheers
1994 is the year the formulation changed, so even tape made in mid 1994 can be bad. The box style changed a short time before the formulation, but I still use it as a general indicator if no date sticker is available. Rather than trying to sort out 1994, I recommend tape that has a date of 1995 or later.
Here is the original thread on the subject with pics.
https://homerecording.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=162626
Not all 456 and other AMPEX backcoated tape will show signs of sticky-shed at the moment, but nearly all will eventually. Time is one of the factors. The further we get from the manufacture date, the more likely the tape will have fallen victim.
Temp and humidity are the main factors, but only give you more or less time. The unstable urethane binder is absorbing moisture from the air at whatever rate the environment allows. Tapes kept in something like a shed or basement go bad first. But even tapes kept in climate controlled living environment for humans will pick up moisture. In 1997 my 1994 tapes were not bad yet, but they all have gone bad now. A few year ago I threw away a fortune in tape dated mid 80’s to early 1994.
Another issue… there are different levels of sticky-shed. The tape in the worst condition will slow down or stop a machine in play or fast modes. Lesser afflicted tape will appear to be fine to the uninitiated, but a test of high frequency response will show a loss of several dB from the normal curve, and this is often very audible as a muffled sound. In the worst cases a recording of a 15 kHz tone @ 0 VU will show nothing at all on the VU upon playback, even though low frequencies will be close to normal.
The “Great Sticky” masquerades as a plethora of troubles that are misinterpreted as machine issues. Misdiagnosis runs the gamut from bad motors to head alignment and electronics. A significant number of people have abandoned machines and/or analog in general because they were unknowingly working with afflicted tape.
I hate to see this happen.
