What supplies do you need the most?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Splicit
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Some of those Ampex reels look the 3 screw standard (and the Tascam) while others are indeed the nice 6 screw design, the 996 and maybe the Zonal, I believe. It'd be worth asking the seller about it. :cool:

Did the 1/2" Zonal come on the nice, thick, 6 screw reels?

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Beck said:
Well that was one thing, so that's good news... :)

Other than that, paper and Mylar leader tape in 1/2"

Also, I don't know if anything can be done about this, but let RMGI know that one of the benefits of the old BASF/EMTEC over AMPEX/Quantegy was the six-screw precision reels. They were part of the reason the tape spooled more evenly than Quantegy. I really miss that and the printing on the back of SM468. Maybe as a distributor your input would carry more weight than individuals.

Another possibility is to source out precision reels if they are still being made somewhere. That way we could buy pancakes and choose the reel we wanted. When I got my first reel of RMGI ½” the first thing I did was spool it onto an old BASF style reel. I hate to say it, but frankly the metal reels RMGI uses are not so good.

I’m sure I’ll think of other things, but these come to mind at the moment.

Thanks for asking!

~Tim :)
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+1 on six screw reels and pancake tape. Time for that method to come back.
Also 1" paper leader please.

Danny
 
trancedental said:
I've got 2 of the 3 types of 1/2" 6 screw precision reels that Becks attached photo above shows. One is the same as the AGFA shown & is a BASF by EMTEC version, the other is an Ampex with the grey plastic centre.

The old 6 screw Ampex is the heaviest with thickest sides, the 6 screw BASF sides still have much more thickness than recent RMGI 3 screw reels I've bought. The mid '90's Ampex & later Quantegy 3 screw reels are the most flimsy of all!!!!!

No doubt IMO that the precision reels make a very big difference to tape handling.
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Hehe. I have long suspected that is why so many guys BROKE the hub adapters on MS-16's. Maybe those dang 3 screw reels are not as tall as the old 6 screw heavy gauge aluminum reel? I bet they wondered why that no matter how hard they twisted, they couldn't get the hub tight.
 
After personally noting the major benefits of the thicker, more heavy duty, 6 screw precision reels, I'd be willing to pay a premium for tape mounted on these. What can this 'premium' be, perhaps 30%? :confused: That'd be a small price to pay IMHO.:)

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What if I got sizes other than 1/2" but found or had 1/2" hubs made???:confused:
 
sweetbeats said:
What if I got sizes other than 1/2" but found or had 1/2" hubs made???:confused:
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Man, that's a great question 'cause I wanted to do exactly that a while ago. You see, I obtained some really cheap 2" tape (actually GP9 on those red reels), on those thick flanges, 6 screw type. I wanted to use just the flanges and find 1/2" and 1/4" (6 screw) hubs but nothing came of it, couldn't find any or when I found some 6 screw reels, it was too much $$ for the shipping (just to use the hubs from these) but I never actually thought of having the hubs made. Might be on the expensive side though, unless you had the tools to do it yourself. Might be cheaper to just get those ATR reels for $42.;)

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I didn't receive a reply re shipping from the ebay seller I contacted so although he advertised "worldwide" I won't bother following that one up.

In the meantime, I've been wondering about DIY'ing the hubs and in thinking about it, it wouldn't be difficult to make the flanges out of aluminium sheet...............maybe once I've finished the studio "rebuild", sorted out and cleared the workshop, prioritised all the jobs waiting for my time, I'll have a little play with..........
 

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sweetbeats said:
What if I got sizes other than 1/2" but found or had 1/2" hubs made???:confused:
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Yeah you can do that. The flanges for a particular type of reel are all the same. The hubs are just different widths. It has to be the same type of reel though. Different manufactures had different ways of mating the flanges to the hub. So for example an Ampex hub would not fit with BASF flanges. I would only try to look for other hubs though. It would be a trick to have hubs made.

It’s usually going to be easer to find everything together. And it doesn’t matter what kind of tape was on the reel of course if you just want the reel. The heavier 6-screw hubs were also used for videotape, Instrumentation tape, and digital tape.

On the question on which reel type is better… I like the traditional Ampex/Quantegy style the best, but the other types are really just as good. The metal flanges are a bit thinner, but still thicker and sturdier than the flimsy standard reels of today. They are also balanced, so are a true precision reel.

And for me it gets a little complicated because I have a few quirks. One being I like the same style reels on my machine when I’m recording. So when I use Quantegy tape I use that same style of precision reel, and when I use my older BASF SM911 I have to use the reel in the top photo to match. :o :D
 
CJ,

Thanks for that. I'm going to fish around locally before I worry too much more about importing and I'm thinking even more about machining my own reel once I have other things under control around here. I have enough spare standard reels to sacrifice one for R&D in necessary :).

ChrisO :cool:
 
:mad::mad::mad:

Just saw another listing from the same seller for what looks like the exact same item I paid for!

:mad::mad::mad:

Waiting to hear back from them but it serves me right for trusting a 0 feedback buyer. :(
 
Hey Cory, initially, that this was a 0 feedback seller didn't necessarily bother me as much, especially that a scam artist would probably pick something less obscure to sell BUT that he has now re-listed, is a bit worrisome... Still, he may have more of these reels that he's selling 2 at a time [and reusing the same pict]. I don't have a good feeling about this but I could be wrong. Let us know how it goes.

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Hopefully it simply means the seller has a few of these that they're listing two at a time. :)

By the way, what's with the tags below? Shouldn't a professional be controlling this? :D
 
Tags gone now...you scared them, Beck.

Okay. Phew! The Seller emailed me back. They are actually from a law firm. I apologized profusely for freaking out and asked for their forgiveness and understanding. :o

There are 2 sets of 2.

I'm trying to see if they'll let me have the second set as well, but they may say no and if so I'll try to bid for them unless somebody else really wants them...I don't want to be greedy, but it would be nice to have matching reels for supply and takeup for both the 48 and the 58.

These look like pretty nice reels...they have the thick flanges.
 
Man, that's great Cory! Phew!:eek::D

Yeah, smooth talk them into selling you the other 2, combined shipping of course. ;)

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