Has anyone used this tape and have they had any problems with it?

Does anyone know or have any experience with this tape on ventage Teac Decks, like A-6300, A-4300SX, A-7010GSL. Bais, Eq., settings etc.

I have a chance to pick up 8 pancakes of the tape. Before investing in it I would like some information about the tape.

Thanks
RJS

Heres a .pdf of the Tapes Specs :)http://ampex.hughescatalog.com/Quantegy%20600%20Series%20Tape%20Specs.pdf

Thanks for that link. :) Do you have any similar links for other tapes?

Sure Brent, heres some on the new RMGI brand. Enjoy :)

http://www.rmgi-usa.com/spec_sheets.html

I bought about 20 reels of Ampex 642 in the late 1970's. All went bad and stuck to the heads. I wouldn't trust Quantegy to have changed the formulation to prevent that, since I have had Quantegy 407 go bad and stick to the heads in the same way. Now they are out of business, so if you buy this large quantity of tape and it goes bad, you are out of luck.

Sure Brent, heres some on the new RMGI brand. Enjoy :)

http://www.rmgi-usa.com/spec_sheets.html
Thanks again. :) Now if I could find one for the multitude of Scotch formulations. :D

My advice is decide on one tape, set your deck up for that and stick to it. The tapes that I have used and have had good results with, and haven't had problems with them decomposing are:
Scotch 206. 207
Maxell UD-35-90 and UD35-90B
TDK L-1800, and others. TDK is pretty scarce.
The Scotch Dynarange tape is ok, but the performance isn't so good, and the tapes, since they were inexpensive to begin with, are not usually in good shape.
Ampex 641 is a good, low noise tape with a brown oxide. It holds up well.

Thanks again. :) Now if I could find one for the multitude of Scotch formulations. :D
Well looky what I just found while doing a search for "audio tape coercivity":

Introduction to 3M Audio Open Reel Tape List
http://www.aes.org/aeshc/docs/3mtape/aorintr1.html

Here's the list in HTML: http://www.aes.org/aeshc/docs/3mtape/aorprod2.html
and here it is in .xls (Excel): http://www.aes.org/aeshc/docs/3mtape/aorprod.xls

I bought about 20 reels of Ampex 642 in the late 1970's. All went bad and stuck to the heads. I wouldn't trust Quantegy to have changed the formulation to prevent that, since I have had Quantegy 407 go bad and stick to the heads in the same way. Now they are out of business, so if you buy this large quantity of tape and it goes bad, you are out of luck.

Warren

Thanks for the information. On your experience with 642.

RJS

My advice is decide on one tape, set your deck up for that and stick to it. The tapes that I have used and have had good results with, and haven't had problems with them decomposing are:
Scotch 206. 207
Maxell UD-35-90 and UD35-90B
TDK L-1800, and others. TDK is pretty scarce.
The Scotch Dynarange tape is ok, but the performance isn't so good, and the tapes, since they were inexpensive to begin with, are not usually in good shape.
Ampex 641 is a good, low noise tape with a brown oxide. It holds up well.

Warren,

I got 10 reels of 641 tape off ebay any I used 3 of them any so far so good.
What do you set your machine for when using Apex 641. I got a Teac 6300 & I used high Bias and EQ.

All the others you listed I had good luck with except the Scotch 206 & 207, some are sheading the their back coating. So far the Maxell are the best.

I guess I will pass on the 8 pancakes of the 642.

I also found a place offering Ampex 632 on pancakes.
They claim " We found several sealed cases of this tape in a climate controlled warehouse. Of all the older Ampex tapes, the 600 series is the
only one that does not lend itself to the problems of shedding.
We've tested this tape on our own personal machines and found
the response to be excellent. This low noise, high output tape is
in limited supply. When it's gone....it's gone. "

Too me it looks like the same as 642, except 1.5 thick.

RJS

I'm pretty sure it is the 1.5 mil version of 642; don't buy it.
For 641, it's not a high bias tape, you should set the bias and eq to normal.




I guess I will pass on the 8 pancakes of the 642.

I also found a place offering Ampex 632 on pancakes.
They claim " We found several sealed cases of this tape in a climate controlled warehouse. Of all the older Ampex tapes, the 600 series is the
only one that does not lend itself to the problems of shedding.
We've tested this tape on our own personal machines and found
the response to be excellent. This low noise, high output tape is
in limited supply. When it's gone....it's gone. "

Too me it looks like the same as 642, except 1.5 thick.

RJS

I guess I will pass on the 8 pancakes of the 642.

I also found a place offering Ampex 632 on pancakes.
They claim " We found several sealed cases of this tape in a climate controlled warehouse. Of all the older Ampex tapes, the 600 series is the
only one that does not lend itself to the problems of shedding.
We've tested this tape on our own personal machines and found
the response to be excellent. This low noise, high output tape is
in limited supply. When it's gone....it's gone. "

Too me it looks like the same as 642, except 1.5 thick.

RJS
I've got a case of 632 pancakes on the way. From what I've read it's supposed to be a pretty good tape. Check out this post: http://www.tapeproject.com/smf/index.php/topic,236.msg1105.html#msg1105

I got mine on ebay for dirt cheap. It was an auction for 10 5000ft pancakes and I won the auction for only $35 bucks plus $10 shipping. I've been trying to find a bunch of empty reels or old tapes that I could rob the reels so I've got something to wind the tape on. Since they're 5000 ft reels there's no way all that tape will fit on a 10.5" reel.

It is unlikely that the tape will be good. As I said, every reel of 642 I bought and those my dad bought and those my friend bought disintegrated within 5 years of purchase. But you didn't spend much on them so it won't be a tragedy if they aren't ok. I hope that they are. Good luck!

I've got a case of 632 pancakes on the way. From what I've read it's supposed to be a pretty good tape. Check out this post: http://www.tapeproject.com/smf/index.php/topic,236.msg1105.html#msg1105

I got mine on ebay for dirt cheap. It was an auction for 10 5000ft pancakes and I won the auction for only $35 bucks plus $10 shipping. I've been trying to find a bunch of empty reels or old tapes that I could rob the reels so I've got something to wind the tape on. Since they're 5000 ft reels there's no way all that tape will fit on a 10.5" reel.

It is unlikely that the tape will be good. As I said, every reel of 642 I bought and those my dad bought and those my friend bought disintegrated within 5 years of purchase. But you didn't spend much on them so it won't be a tragedy if they aren't ok. I hope that they are. Good luck!
The stuff you had and this stuff are two different animals from what I can find. They changed the binder years ago, there are no sticky sheds problems with the newer stuff.

Let us know how it works for you.:thmbsp:

The stuff you had and this stuff are two different animals from what I can find. They changed the binder years ago, there are no sticky sheds problems with the newer stuff.
The big question is: Is this really the newer stuff? There is such thing as good Ampex tape, but it is impossible to identify without first playing it. But the Vast Majority of the Ampex forulation produced between the late 70s and early 90s all suffered from this problem, and play like they have a thin layer og bubble gum on the surface.

I only trust the "Quantegy" labeled tapes becuase they supposedly post-dated the whole sticky-shed Ampex era.