[ARSCLIST] Best practice: mixed acetate and polyester reels with sticky shed

[Eric Jacobs <EricJ@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I have Scotch 201 (acetate base) and Scotch 206 (polyester base,
back coated) in two dozen alternating segments.  The Scotch 206 
is very sticky.

I was able to separate the 201 and 206 so that the 206 could be 
baked apart from the 201 (not to be baked).  The STUDER A820 has 
only rolling contact when spooling, and I set the tensions very 
low and the library winding speed at 3 meters/sec.  This allowed 
spooling of the sticky segments, which had to be done prior to
baking in order to separate the polyester from the acetate.

So here are my thoughts and questions:

1.  For future playback, would it be better to splice all the 
    polyester together, each segment separated by leader, and the 
    leaders annotated as to the order of the segments?  Ditto 
    for the acetate.  Pros: Future baking becomes vastly simpler.  
    Downside: the non-sequential segment order needs to be 
    documented in the metadata, in the filenames of the preservation 
    masters, and possibly annotated on the tape itself (on the 
    segment separation leaders).

2.  Or would it be better to re-assemble the reel in its 
    original segment order (alternating polyester/acetate)?
    Pros: we preserve the original order of the tape.  Cons:
    someone in the future may have to repeat the exercise of 
    separating the segments yet again for baking?

3.  I prefer to insert leader between the segments when there is
    azimuth variation between the segments, as it allows for 
    easier identification of each segment and cueing each 
    segment for individual azimuth adjustment (thank goodness
    for calibrated azimuth adjusters).  Cons: you double the
    amount of splices in the tape pack.

To date, I generally perform (2) above - especially if the polyester
segments do not require baking.  I often get Scotch 201 and Scotch 
176 in combination, and this is usually in good shape (ie. no baking
required).  I perform (3) if there is variation in the azimuth between 
polyester and acetate segments.

Just today I was wondering if (1) above would be a better approach
when dealing with sticky shed in a mixed polyester/acetate reel?
Odds are, anyone who will attempt to play such a sticky tape 
in the future will have to go through the exact same exercise of 
separating and baking.  So why not leave things in a better state 
for the next audio preservation engineer?

Eric Jacobs

The Audio Archive, Inc.
tel: 408.221.2128
fax: 408.549.9867
mailto:EricJ@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
http://www.TheAudioArchive.com
Disc and Tape Audio Transfer Services and Preservation Consulting