Re: [ARSCLIST] Risk assessment tool--off brands

[David Lennick <dlennick@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

"Michael Biel m.biel@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx" wrote:

>
>
> Early on in my career I made a point of sticking the tape reel label onto the
> inside cover of the tape box.  This is partially helpful when I look at
> whitebox tapes in my own collection.  Those from the Irish/Ampex Opelika
> Alabama plant usually have three numbers in different shaded boxes on the tabs.
>  The first digit is Ampex's series quality number, and in whitebox is always
> zero.  The second digit is the thickness indicator.  So 031 is 1 1/2 mil, 041
> is 1 mil, and 051 is (heaven forbid) 1/2 mil.  Concertape, Emerald, Shamrock,
> Irish -- it was all the same, except it was all different.  In the early 70s
> when I was still in the Chicago area I used to go to Olson Electronics main
> warehouse and was allowed to go thru their factory cartons of 50 reels Shamrock
> and look at each reel and select which ones I wanted as long as I eventually
> bought 50.  Of course I always selected the backcoated black oxide.
> SCREEEEEEEEEEEECH!!!!!  In every carton of 50 there were always three other
> types: black oxide non-backcoated, brown oxide non-backcoated, and brown oxide
> grey graphite-lubricated backcoated for continuous loop cartridges like
> Fidelipac and 8-track.  The ones I have of these three types are still just
> fine.  And I was making sure I DIDN'T get those!  In Radio Shack stores the
> Concertape boxes were shrinkwrapped so you got what you got. Opening the boxes
> was like scratching off the numbers on a lottery card.  That's why I started to
> go to Olsen because their Shamrock was not shrinkwrapped. I thought I was
> winning the lottery.

I bought mine from Teltronics in Toronto, and the boxes were never
sealed..naturally I bought the "good" stuff, which was back-coated 1200' brown
oxide which invariably turned out to be 456 (and of course you know the rest of
that story). With the 1-mil Shamrock, there were two distinct types of back-coated
black oxide..one was thinner, the thicker stuff had more of a dark brown color, but
both are NG today....as is the uncoated black oxide stuff. The 1.5 mil uncoated
black oxide tape seems to have survived (was that 291?) as has the uncoated brown
oxide (631). The .5 mil uncoated black oxide was the first go go squealy on me, a
long time ago (unless you count the white box Soundcraft 1800's which actually came
in a blue box, were cut slightly wide and squealed on first use, back in 1967).