[ARSCLIST] My Splice repair nightmare (was: Cassette surgery -- paging Dr. Hess)

[Matt Sohn <mahatma57@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

> At 07:32 PM 1/29/2006, Tom Fine wrote:
>
  > I actually received one of those to transfer where the tape had been
> repaired by KNOTTING it - a square knot...or maybe even a granny knot.
>

One time I got a set of three tapes to transfer. They were from the band
Royal Trux. When I put the first tape on, I couldn't tell if it was supposed
to be played at 7 1/2 or 15 IPS, or what was the head or the tail, since it
had material recorded both forward and backward, at more than one speed. All
three tapes were meant to be played at once. It was a conceptual piece.
Eventually I was able to figure out tops and tails and speed, but when I was
transferring the first reel, the machine suddenly went "Clunk" and stopped
dead. I had hit a splice point, and the splice was made with fiberglass
strapping tape!. This tape was heavily edited, all with the same strapping
tape, so I had to spool through the tape, cleaning and repairing all the
splices, before I could make a transfer. What a day!

-Matt Sohn