Re: [ARSCLIST] Loss of Lubricant and A- and B-winds

["Marie Azile O'Connell" <marie.oconnell@xxxxxxx>]

Hi Richard

Oh yes, we had the Ampex beasties too!  We had all manner of tapes, and if I was
in my office right now, I could 'reel' them off to you!  As you well know,
baking does NOT always work.  Hence, other methods had to come into play, so to
speak, like the Intravenous Dripbag invention.  

May I quote something from the workers who were chainsawing the trees off my
house after Katrina......"Git her dun, git her dun"!  So, in the drastic cases,
we archivists have to be inventive and Git Her Dun!  If it works, use it.

Yes, those cassette tapes from the destroyed Biloki Public Library were just
charming - mostly molded casings, a smell so bad it is unmentionable, with
unknown things floating in them!  Just use your imagination!

Cheers

Marie O'Connell

Quoting "Richard L. Hess" <ArcLists@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>:

> Hi, Marie,
> 
> I hope you don't mind my copying the Ampex list on your reply.
> Amepxians: Marie is the Kiwi who played hundreds of tapes wet and now 
> she's been de-watering (I think that's the kind term for the liquid) 
> cassettes from Biloxi (sounds like a line from Guys and Dolls) - 
> she's at the Univ of Mississippi now.
> 
> There had been some off-list confusion:
> SSS=StickyShedSyndrome
> LoL=LossOfLubricant
> 
> Anyway, I don't know if diameter has something to do with it, but 
> there are other corollary facts that relate: typically a machine that 
> handles 10.5" reels will have a tighter wind. Oh, the bad winds from 
> Wollensaks and other small machines are amazing!
> 
> I use Nakamichis for most of my transfers and their attitude is 
> "pressure pad, we don't need no stinking pressure pad" and when you 
> press PLAY they go and unceremoniously shove the unsuspecting 
> pressure pad out of the way.
> 
> I re-shell cassettes but that only helps with slip sheet and guidance 
> problems, it doesn't seem to help LoL.
> 
> I see LoL more on cassettes than anything else, but it does show up 
> here on Sony reels mostly. I take it you didn't have any Ampex 
> 406/407/456 in NZ as those are prime SSS tapes here.
> 
> Cheers,
> 
> Richard
> 
> At 01:08 PM 11/11/2005, Marie O'Connell wrote:
> >Yes Richard, that is very interesting.  When I was back in New 
> >Zealand the only
> >10.5 inch reel to reel tapes that I found to have sticky shred syndrome,
> were
> >AGFA PEM 469 and PYRAL.  Strangely, unless, I came across a 10.5 
> >inch reel with
> >splices in it and different types of tapes combined (this happened when
> >broadcasters would be out in the field, using a Uher and then they 
> >would splice
> >them altogether onto a 10.5 inch reel), all the other tapes did not present
> >with LoL or SSS.  Now why is this?  The larger hub perhaps?  I have 
> >always been
> >puzzled by this, but I do know from an older radio technician that 
> >they used to
> >get larger platters of tape, which were about 16 inches across, and they
> would
> >use these for recording, on 10.5, 7 & 3 inch reels.  This tape had no
> markings
> >on the backing and were usually in standard red or green boxes.
> >
> >Cassettes are a different kettle of fish altogether.  Since I have been in
> the
> >USA, I have worked mainly with cassette tapes.  There are some brands that
> I
> >just cringe at when I open up the case.  Ones that come to mind are Radio
> >Shack, Concertape, BASF, to name a few.
> >
> >They all have there own little quirks and kinks, so to speak, that you need
> to
> >be prepared for!  Some, the felt just falls out straight away; some break
> at
> >the hub and you know they are going to, so I encourage them by doing a fast
> >forward or rewind so they break at the hub.  If I don't do this, the 
> >next person
> >after me may not know what to do!  My 'favourite' cassettes, NOT, are in
> the
> >molded casings....the ones you have to BREAK open......oh joy.
> >
> >Any thoughts on the 10.5 inch reels?
> >
> >Cheers
> >
> >Marie O'Connell
> >Sound Archivist/Sound Consultant
> >Center for Oral History & Cultural Heritage
> >The University of Southern Mississippi
> 
> Richard L. Hess                   richard@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Aurora, Ontario, Canada       http://www.richardhess.com/
> Detailed contact information: http://www.richardhess.com/tape/contact.htm  
> 


Marie O'Connell
Sound Archivist/Sound Engineer/Sound Consultant
Center for Oral History & Cultural Heritage
University of Southern Mississippi
Phone: 601-266-6514
Mobile: 601-329-6911