Wanted: summary of sticky shed

  • Thread starter Thread starter arjoll
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arjoll

arjoll

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Hi. Since I joined this site (not too long ago!) I have read a lot about "sticky shed syndrome." The problem is that the advice varies - in the last week I've read things as varied as - "some batches in the '80s" to "watch out for tape made before 1994".

I'm looking for a succinct summary of tapes that are likely to have this problem, tapes that might have this problem, and tapes that almost certainly will not have this problem.

The reason is as follows. I joined this BBS after searching for info to get an old Akai GX265D I had picked up running sweetly again, and Google pointed me straight at cjacek's thread on the restoration of his old Akai.

Since then I have been 'inspired' to do more with my old tapes - I am not a musician (my wife is though, and amazingly talented), but love music, recording, electronics and such. I trained as a Chartered Accountant and my day job is an IT Consultant. I have no money to pour into a home studio, but have been inspired to archive recordings made over the years by myself and old ones made by my father. The new ones will come when the studio comes (except for live stuff).

These are stored on a variety of tapes - the ones I am specifically interested in (all 1/4" except the first Ampex) are:
* Ampex 456 1/2", tape purchased 1993
* Maxell XLI, tape purchased 1993
* Maxell XLI, tape purchased 1979
* "Teletape", tape purchased early-mid '70s
* BASF, tape purchased early-mid '70s

The Ampex was probably quite fresh when bought, but the '93 Maxell could have been warehoused in NZ for 12 months or more prior to this. I have no idea about the old Maxell and other brands - in 1979 I turned 8, so just knew I was only allowed to play with the Ferrograph and old acetate tape (learned to splice with that stuff) while dad used the "good" equipment!

There are other brands/types that I have - Zonal, Ampex 406/407/457 and some unbranded stuff from the late '80s-early '90s; various consumer brands from the '60s-'70s - but the above ones have the stuff I really want to save first.

A summary would be really appreciated!

Thanks
Andrew
 
There really is no one authorative source dealing with sticky-shed. It's in bits and pieces all over the web. :D

We've discussed it on this board in great detail -- Use the search feature to search this board:

Sticky shed
Sticky tape
Tape shed
Bake tape
Baking tape

Late 1994 is officially when Ampex changed to the new formula. Anything before that could develop sticky-shed. The reason you hear more about tapes from the 70's and 80's is because it takes time for the binder to deteriorate. Also the whole mess was discovered when studios tried to use archived tape from that time period to remaster and release old albums on CD.

Magnetic Reference Laboratory (MRL) puts the new tape at anything after early 1995 -- probably just to be on the safe side. Here is their contribution to the sticky tape saga in PDF.

http://www.flash.net/~mrltapes/pubshed2.pdf

I've never personally had any Maxell XL that had the binder problem. I've had problems with all my Ampex 456 from 1986 through 1993 production. 1994 and after is still like-new.

:cool:
 
Thanks!

Thanks for the info and those links - I had searched this board for 'sticky shed' but not all the other permutations suggested!

Beck, I'd be interested to know the climate you have and store your 456 tapes in. I see that the MRL link mentions ideal storage conditions of 20deg, 40%RH. Invercargill isn't exactly tropical (see current weather at http://www.southlandnz.com/sections/weather/) so our temp is usually below this outside, and not much above it inside!

Thanks for your help on this one. Once I get the GX265 cleaned and back together I'll start looking through the tapes to see what condition they're in - I've read that making sure the tape leaves the spool on an exact tangent to the rest of the wind is a good indication that it doesn't have problems - is this a reliable method?

Cya
Andrew
 
Late production Ampex and Quantegy recommend a storage temperature of 4 to 32 c (40 to 90 F). In the last 15 years or so my tapes have never been out of the 15 to 25 c range. We've always kept humidity pretty steady around here as well for our piano. Some of my older tapes went through a few moves and may have spent some time in less than ideal conditions.

Older Ampex boxes did not have any storage guidelines.

I think where people get into trouble is when they store old tapes in a non-climate controlled basement, attic, warehouse or garage. I've heard horror stories of tapes green with mildew. I doubt that many studios could possibly afford to archive everything in a "climate controlled environment."

Keep in mind that the newer tape formulations don't have sticky-shed problems, so that is not an issue. The older tapes probably had a much smaller temp and RH range, but I don't know what it was. I don't think Ampex did either until it was too late.

If a tape has a binder problem it will usually slow the machine down -- maybe even stop it. When it does run it may make a squealing sound. Really bad shedding will leave thin strips of tape and obvious sticky residue behind on the tape path. You can hear it peeling off. It's really awful.

If in doubt get a food dehydrator and bake the tape:

http://www.tangible-technology.com/tape/baking1.html

-Tim
:cool:
 
One last question - and hopefully some good news

Hi again.

Tonight I have checked some of the tapes I have more throughly. My (hopefully) final question is - is the method that appears to have favour on-one, rubbing with a 'q-tip' (we call them cotton buds in NZ), accurate? If it is, I think that our colder climate has hopefully prevented a lot of pain.

I tested the following tapes:

Ampex 456, 1990ish: no shed, nothing on bud
Ampex 406, 1980s: no shed, nothing on bud
Zonal ex BBC, 1984: no shed, nothing on bud
Maxell XL 35-90B, 1979: no shed, nothing on bud
BASF Standard Play, early 1960's: very small amount of oxide on bud
Sonotape, 1960's: very small amount of oxide on bud
Maxell acetate tape, guess late 50's: some oxide on bud

I'm guessing (hoping?) that the small amount of oxide from the very old tapes relates more to manufacturing techniques (I have an untested spool of '60s Scotch (I think 170) which claims to 'minimise shed so you clean less often'!). If these tests are accurate then I'm encouraged - but I have put a bid on a dehydrator at http://www.trademe.co.nz (our own local version of eBay) just in case!

Thanks for all your help.

Cya
Andrew
 
Acetate doesn't suffer from stick-shed, and it does not like heat.
 
MadAudio said:
Acetate doesn't suffer from stick-shed
Click to expand...

Nor do "Whale Oil" lubricated tapes, such as the Maxell UD line. The problem seems to be only with the backcoated mastering tapes that used urethane binders. The only tapes that get sticky-shed are non-Japanese backcoated mastering tapes from the seventies and early eighties plus certain pre 1995 Ampex tapes. Quantegy doesn't have this problem as it uses the new improved binder.

~Daniel
 
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