[ARSCLIST] Fwd: [ARSCLIST] Fwd: [ARSCLIST] A tape Vinegar Syndrome experience

[Don Tait <Dontaitchicago@xxxxxxx>]

  This is a good point. Much depends upon how reliable you know the source to 
have been concerning buying only one or another kind of tape, being 
meticulous about keeping that brand in its box or on its manufacturer-identified reel 
(which some people are/were not), and so on. And in some cases, such as 
archives, one may know little or nothing about the source's habits. In my case, the 
tape collections I obtained came from people I knew and I could be sure that if 
a tape box or any other identification named a certain manufacturer, it was 
accurate about the tape itself.

  Don Tait

  
>   I second Steve Smolian and others who would like to see some kind of
> information base about tape manufacturers and the quality of their product 
> over the years.

I've been reading this thread with a bit of an interest in the topic, but 
since I've only ever run across a few reels of acetate based tape, it's 
more cursory interest than anything else.

One thing I've noticed, though, is that many times, the name on the box, or 
the name on the reel are NOT reliable and the tape on the reel inside may 
be something altogether different.  So, would knowing the information that 
such an information base would contain be of any use?  If I have an Irish 
box with a reel inside that says Ampex, how will the information base help 
me if the tape on the reel is Scotch?

How are people determining what type of tape is actually on those reels?



-----------------
Diamond Productions
Specializing in analog tape & film preservation / restoration in the 
digital domain.
Dave Bradley   President