Tape Questions for a Teac 80-8

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danjcarroll

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Hi everyone.
New to homerecording, thanks to everyone for posting so much awesome information up here.

Anyway, I have a Teac 80-8 with 4 rolls of tape.
The first roll, which I immediately began recording on also is an old Ampex 456... Obviously the sticky crap shed all over everything and I am now in the process of having the machine cleaned and serviced for a bill of full health.

Anyway, I have a few rolls of BASF 911 handy, does anyone know if this tape suffers SSS also?? In addition to this, can anyone tell me if it is rated a +6 or +9 tape??

Basically I need 3 or 4 great rolls of tape for some heavy tracking (4 piece band with ambitions to release,)
I want the tape to be +6 or less (so that it compresses a little earlier), so no +9 preferably (also Im not sure if you can even calibrate an 80-8 to erase material recorded hot on +9 tape??)

Anyway can anyone recommend the exact tape I should be getting??
Do RMGI produce an exact 456 equivelant?? Also are all Quantegy 456 tapes allright to purchase (ie will this tape work perfect for the 80-8 as well as avoiding the SSS??)

Also while Im at it, can anyone recommend so nice 1/4" tape for an Otari MX-5050?? Im using this unit to track just drums with only 2 mics, or to mix down onto for full analog mixes.

Advice greatly appreciated.
Cheers, Dan
 
Quantegy 456 / BASF 911 are +6 tapes, share the same bias and do not suffer from SSS. They are interchangeable and will work fine with your 80-8.

RMGI SM911 is the same as above. It's basically the old BASF / EMTEC made by a different company.

I'd recommend the same, as per the above, for just about any recorder, including your Otari.

In my book, there's really no need to use anything over a +3 / +6 tape. Just make sure your recorder is adjusted to factory spec, mechanical, bias, levels etc..... Those things drift over time and need to be taken care of.
 
Awesome, thanks a million.

Heres another for you if your game.
Before I was aware of the whole 456 SSS prob, I managed to change the reels on the tape, so that Im not sure which one is the 456 in the other 3 reels of 911...

Is there anyway visually to distinguish the Ampex 456 from BASF 911 tape??
Cheers
 
danjcarroll said:
Awesome, thanks a million.
Is there anyway visually to distinguish the Ampex 456 from BASF 911 tape??
Cheers
Click to expand...

If memory serves the BASF is darker. I can check it when I get home if you like. I do remember that RMGI 911 looked different from BASF 911, as I found when splicing in an alternate take from a different tape :rolleyes:
 
cjacek said:
Quantegy 456 / BASF 911 are +6 tapes, share the same bias and do not suffer from SSS. They are interchangeable and will work fine with your 80-8.

RMGI SM911 is the same as above. It's basically the old BASF / EMTEC made by a different company.

I'd recommend the same, as per the above, for just about any recorder, including your Otari.

In my book, there's really no need to use anything over a +3 / +6 tape. Just make sure your recorder is adjusted to factory spec, mechanical, bias, levels etc..... Those things drift over time and need to be taken care of.
Click to expand...

Hi Daniel, I'm confused. On the recordist list of sticky shed tapes Ampex and Quantegy are bracketed together for 406/407/456/407 tapes. That suggests there was a problem with at least some of the Quantegy tapes. Can you clear this one up for me?

Cheers Tim
 
danjcarroll said:
That would be awesome JP.
Thanks
Click to expand...

Yes. In the batches I have, 456 is brown, BASF 911 is much closer to black.
Also I've just noticed that the backing is slightly shiny on the 911, the 456 has completely matt backing except where it's been scraped etc.
Finally, 911 tends to have a lot smoother and flatter packing on the reel than 456, though it does depend on how well your machine is set up and how fast it was wound.

RMGI 911 is brown like 456, but still has a shiny backing (shinier than BASF, in fact).
 
Tim Gillett said:
Hi Daniel, I'm confused. On the recordist list of sticky shed tapes Ampex and Quantegy are bracketed together for 406/407/456/407 tapes. That suggests there was a problem with at least some of the Quantegy tapes. Can you clear this one up for me?

Cheers Tim
Click to expand...

Yeah, I'm not sure why they put "Quantegy" in there (maybe name recognition) but it's surely misleading as Q never suffered from SSS. Never seen any reports of it nor experienced it myself. Ampex, yes, Quantegy, No. Again, to lump Ampex with Quantegy under sticky shed is misleading, especially since the binder was reformulated when Quantegy took over from Ampex, end of 94. I've never heard of Quantegy being afflicted with SSS. (Sorry, repeating myself:o ). Also, that page hasn't been updated since 2002.
 
IIRC there may have been pre '95 Ampex 456 tape that got branded as quantegy and shipped out of Alabama. Basically, if it is Quantegy branded and the address on the box is Alabama and you know the tape goes with the box and you know it was manufactured 1995 or later it should be safe, but there was a transition period where there was Quantegy branded 456 that came out of California (SSS prone tape), and even some Quantegy branded 456 that was addressed as Alabama but was old stock from California...this is just from memory. Maybe Tim Beck will weigh in...he's the resident expert on this. If he doesn't, and you want to do this anyway, scour the Sticky Shed tape "sticky" at the top of the forum. It has all you need to know.

Advance apology if I'm wrong and confusing the issue.
 
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