Is this 3M worth buying?

  • Thread starter Thread starter SteveM
  • Start date Start date
The 3M 996 is worth much more than the asking price if it’s in great condition or preferably unused.

No to the Ampex on two counts.

1. The top of the ½” tape that’s in view looks like it say 467, which is digital tape
2. He doesn’t list the model numbers or dates for the other Ampex tapes. If they are the same vintage as the top box.

But you can toss the Ampex if it’s no good. I would grab this in a heartbeat for the 3M 996… if you have a machine that’ll handle it or if you want to resell it for about ten times or more… providing it’s in new or nearly new condition.

On the other hand, forget the tape… the reels alone are worth a lot more than his asking price… if there are reels and not just pancakes.
 
Yep, 3M 996 was sold to Quantegy along with the rest of 3M Magnetic Division in 1996-97. So Quantegy as we know it (Knew it) is really the old Ampex and 3M combined. 996 and GP9 are much the same and can be used interchangeably.

However at the time when Quantegy acquired 3M Magnetics they were working on improvements to 996, which Quantegy ultimately released as GP9. GP9 is smoother and comparatively shed-free. 996 will shed more oxide like many tapes do to some degree, but this is not to be confused with sticky-shed.
 
Thanks for the feedback Beck and JP..


Not sure Dodge. This is down in RI. I'm not sure if he will ship. If you want to try go for it, seeing as I'm on the fence about whether I want to drive down there or not. Let me know what happens.
 
I sent him an email. I'll let you know If I hear back from him. I mostly want the reels. I have no use for the 1" reel. I might be able to sell it here. Of course I would scrap the tape like Beck suggested.
 
Well, you might want to deal with him. I didn't care for the email he sent.
My email
Hello, I was wondering if you can ship to Covington, Ohio 45318 Are you in
> England? Please let me know. Thanks. Ed

His email
Sorry, but it would be too expensive to ship. The lot is big and very
heavy. Unless you wanted to pay a fair price (rather than the giveaway
price I'm asking locally) I'd just as rather throw it away.

I was thinking of replying to his email. First off I did not set the price, he did. Secondly, I would NEVER be stupid enough to think I would not have to pay for shipping. Third, if he wants to, he can throw them out or shove them up his mothers dress for all I care. Good luck!!!!!!!!! :mad:

Come to think of it I am going to email him back!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
Sorry for rambling in the last post. I decided not to email him back. I was afraid I'd loose my cool and that's not right.
 
LOL :laughings: Dodge you crack me up.

I didn't understand something. You asked him if he was in England? :confused:
 
It's almost worth going to get. But it's like a 2 hr drive from here. :confused:
 
SteveM said:
LOL :laughings: Dodge you crack me up.
I didn't understand something. You asked him if he was in England? :confused:
Click to expand...
Bristol is a major city on the west coast of England. It is basically your last stop before entering Wales which is just northwest of it across the river Severn.
 
Last edited:
jpmorris said:
Bristol is a major city on the west coast of England. It is basically your last stop before entering Wales which is just northwest of it across the river Severn.
Click to expand...

Oh yeah, I've heard of there. This ad though is in Bristol, Rhode Island.


I was just laughing at Dodge wanting to tell him to shove em up his mothers dress. :D
 
I shouldn't have said that about his mom. I didn't see the RI and the wife looked up on the net and England was the only thing that came up. Oh well. A two hour drive would be worth some good tape and reels.
 
I picked up this tape today. He met me halfway, so it was only about a 40 minute drive for me.

He really doesn't know the value of this stuff; he apparently threw out one of the 1/4" pieces 'cause "the reel was empty."

The tape is all in really nice shape. The Ampex reels are all the heavy six-screw type with aluminum hubs. The 3M reels have nylon hubs.

One 1/4" reel and one 1/2" reel of 467 are new, in the factory sealed bag.

I don't know how to decode the date codes on these boxes. I can only infer that the code on the Ampex stuff is two digits for the year followed by the day of the year: for example, 89267 would be the 267th day of 1989. On the 3M stuff, all nine reels are coded "97639 04 nn" where nn is one or two digits like 5, 20, etc. I infer that these are all 1997 vintage.

It was worth it just for the reels! I don't know what I'll do with it all, since I only can use 1/4' stuff, and I'm not sure the 467 is any good for analog recording. I also don't know about the sticky shed status of any of this.

Any input on this is appreciated.

Thanks,

jv
 
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