Re: [ARSCLIST] Ampex 456 - tip of the iceberg...chemistry

[Tommy Sjöberg <tommy.sjoberg@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

When I was working on a digitizing project a few years ago we had 
lots of Agfa PEM468, and all of them ran without problems. Maybe 
there was a small batch of 468's that we never encountered...

Anyway, that 468 would be troublesome is surprising to me (I could be 
wrong, of course). PEM469, on the other hand, nearly always had 
problems. Unlike the 468 it didn't have the number printed on the 
backcoat in blue lettering. Also, unlike both Ampex and Scotch, its 
sticky substance was an almost clear yellow, and usually took longer 
to cure in the convection oven. It usually played fine in the end, 
however.

Tommy Sjoberg
Center for Swedish Folk Music and Jazz Research
Stockholm, Sweden



> That was my experience with 468 as well... Although I thought it sounded
> very good.
>
> No free lunch....
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Association for Recorded Sound Discussion List
> [mailto:ARSCLIST@xxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Karl Miller
> Sent: Tuesday, June 20, 2006 9:53 AM
> To: ARSCLIST@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Ampex 456 - tip of the iceberg...chemistry
>
> On Sat, 17 Jun 2006, Steven Smolian wrote:
>
> >  Was Agfa 468 polyester?
>
> I believe it was. My experience with it was miserable. I had never seen
> tape ooze before. It was a mess within a few years.
>
> Karl