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From: rich%island@uunet.UU.NET (Rich Fanning)
Newsgroups: rec.audio.high-end
Subject: Re: Tape etc.  (replies, various)
Message-ID: <7190@uwm.edu>
Date: 24 Oct 90 12:50:09 GMT
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Approved: tjk@csd4.csd.uwm.edu


In article <7134@uwm.edu> Steve_Graham@ub.cc.umich.edu writes:
>RE: (New subject) 3M-150:  I had the occasion to record on a piece of this
>tape today.  The stuff hasn't been made for years, and this reel was probably
>20 years old.
...
>A few dropouts in spots were the
>only really noticeable sign of this tape's age.  (And this stuff doesn't get
>all gummy.  Progress???)

I had much the same experience with several reels of Scotch 150, 206 and 207.
These tapes were from 1970-1972, and I had no trouble with squeal, gumminess,
or oxide shedding.  And they had hardly been cared for ideally: most of the
time was spent in my parents' humid basement.  There was even a bit of
mildew on some of the cardboard boxes, but my transfers to cassette tape
went quite well.

Several reels of cheap Radio Shack Concertape also survived.  It doesn't sound
very good, but it's probably as good as it ever was. :-)

I also have some acetate tapes which were recorded in 1962-64, and these
are still playable too.  One brand, that is.  The other brand shrank
and curled up so much as to be unplayable.

-- 

	 Rich Fanning         {sun,ucbcad,uunet}island!rich