Hey there IS a Tascam 8-track tape machine here at the 2018 Namm!! (Wed-setup day)

[bookumdano4]

But it's a surviving 38 from yesteryear, on display in a huge glass case along with zillions of other Tascam historical stuff.... da88s etc. I told the Tascam guy, "wtf.... you DO realize THIS will be the centerpiece of the booth???????. He said, "I agree". I said, w-h-a-t are you guys waiting for? He told me. I told him the reasons weren't very good. He said, I agree. Oh well. i gotta remember that when I predict the future, I've gotta get more details in.

 

If you're going to the show, forget going into the main halls first. Hang a right and walk up to the new hall built just outside the arena area. That's where a lot of action is.

 

Of course, then go to the main building to see the guys who couldn't get spots in the new building.

 

I'm going to some meetings and then nose around the new hall again. I want to see the new u67. It wasn't out this morning.

[techristian]

I had a 38 !!

 

Dan

[Beck]

Very cool. I still have a lot of analog stuff in perfect working condition.

 

Tascam TSR-8 1/2" 8-track w/dbx (brand new heads recently)

Tascam 32 1/4" half-track (also brand new heads)

Tascam 22-2 (X2) 1/4" half-tracks

Akai GX-77 1/4" quarter-track

RadioShack 1/4" quarter-track (made by Tascam)

Tascam 246 4-track on cassette w/dbx

Tascam 102 (x2) cassette decks

Tascam 133 half-track on cassette double speed (strange bird)

 

I have a bunch of outboard noise reduction... Dolby B, C, A, SR, DBX 1 and 2.

 

And tons of brand new tape in all the above formats. All of it stable binder era... no Sticky Shed.

 

^^^

None of the above is for sale. I'm just showing off...

[Beck]

Shucks, forget to mention my Fostex R8 and Sony Super Beta Hi-Fi SL-HF350. The latter still seems new because I haven't used it much.

[bookumdano4]

Essentially, to the left of the room, there's a new Neumann u67, a new 30-foot long analog soundtechniques console a few yards away from that.... and then the Tascam 38 in a glass case a few dozen yards away from that..... and the monolith from 2001 Space Odyssey.... no... I mean Slate's booth or Motu or somebody in between as you walk in.

 

Probably has some cosmic meaning somewhere or other.

[MikeRivers]

Awww . . everybody has a U67. Besides, the U67 sound that's so in demand today is from a mic that's been aged at least 40 years. A brand new one will sound different. So buy one now and give it to your grandkid.

 

Check out the new C37 (Sony) with the Tonelux badge.

[Phil O'Keefe]

 

Check out the new C37 (Sony) with the Tonelux badge.

 

I saw that - it looks and sounds impressive.

 

[Phil O'Keefe]

But it's a surviving 38 from yesteryear' date=' on display in a huge glass case along with zillions of other Tascam historical stuff.... [/quote']

 

I saw that too.

 

I never had a 38, although I've owned a couple of 80-8's, which was the model before the 38.

 

[JazzMastaJim]

 

I never had a 38, although I've owned a couple of 80-8's, which was the model before the 38.

 

I have an 80-8 sitting on the desk next to me, as well as an A-2340SX; next to them are two Tascam DX-4D four-channel dbx I units. All covered in clear plastic bags. The last time I tried to use the 80-8, the tapes were delaminating and the oven trick didn't seem to work very well. But most of my dad's old 1/4" tapes from the 1950s still play!

[Phil O'Keefe]

 

I have an 80-8 sitting on the desk next to me, as well as an A-2340SX; next to them are two Tascam DX-4D four-channel dbx I units. All covered in clear plastic bags. The last time I tried to use the 80-8, the tapes were delaminating and the oven trick didn't seem to work very well. But most of my dad's old 1/4" tapes from the 1950s still play!

 

If it's a gas-fired oven, it won't work. You need to use an electric convection oven to properly bake tapes.

 

 

[Luke17]

 

If it's a gas-fired oven, it won't work. You need to use an electric convection oven to properly bake tapes.

 

 

Oh...like in 'If knew you were coming I'd've have baked a tape'?

[Phil O'Keefe]

 

Oh...like in 'If knew you were coming I'd've have baked a tape'?

 

 

If you don't have a cake baked, I'll settle for some pie... or tape. Whatever you have.

 

 

[Phil O'Keefe]

For those who couldn't make it to NAMM, here's a photo of that TASCAM 38...

 

 

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[JazzMastaJim]

 

If it's a gas-fired oven, it won't work. You need to use an electric convection oven to properly bake tapes.

 

 

It was an electric oven, but not convection. Now that I have a convection oven, I might try it again.

 

I first learned about this when I read an article about Yes remastering some of their old tapes several years ago.

[Phil O'Keefe]

 

It was an electric oven, but not convection. Now that I have a convection oven, I might try it again.

 

I first learned about this when I read an article about Yes remastering some of their old tapes several years ago.

 

Shoot for around 140 degrees F. and bake them for about 4-8 hours (use the 8 hour time for 2" tapes), then let them cool for an amount of time that is equal to the amount of time you baked them for before attempting to play them back. When you do play them back, I recommend transferring them to a new medium simultaneously - IOW, make some digital copies as you play them back, then save those in a couple of places and work from those copies rather than playing the baked tapes repeatedly. The tapes can go back into storage, but they'll probably have to be re-baked if you access them again in the future - especially if that's a few months after their last baking.

 

 

 

[MikeRivers]

Tape baking comes up frequently on the Ampex list for obvious reasons. It seems that the longer you bake it, the longer the tape lasts without going sticky again. 24 hours for 1/4" tape seems to do a more satisfactory job than the 6-8 hours of the folklore.

 

The problem is that the binder absorbs water (everybody knows that), but the reason that it absorbs water is that its molecular structure breaks down. Baking allows, or at least encourages the binder molecules to get back to they way they're supposed to be, and that's what takes the extra time. Once the molecules are re-oriented properly, then you can drive the water out and it will stay out until the binder breaks down again. But when you get it right, the tape can last for many years before it needs baking again.

 

At the recommended temperature of 135 to 140 degrees, you can bake it as long as your patience allows without damaging the tape or the recording. Heat in that range does not cause or accelerate print-through as many fear. The worst damage you can do by baking, even for 6-8 hours, is with a tape that has splices. The splicing tape adhesive softens and bleeds, making the tape sticky on the back side, which transfers to the oxide side of the adjacent layer.

[JazzMastaJim]

Thanks for the info, Phil & Mike! My plan was to transfer them immediately to DAW, but I quit when the first attempt at baking didn't work. There's nothing of any commercial value on the tapes, but it's material that I don't want to lose.

[Beck]

I've used a small Nesco food dehydrator for years to bake tapes. Other brands will work as well. I use an Acu-Rite digital thermometer with a remote probe that goes inside the dehydrator so I can monitor temperature. Once it gets up to temp it doesn't vary so much as a degree for the hours I run it. It's rock solid. Basically a small portable convection oven. I bought a couple extra trays and cut the bottom out of one to use as a spacer to make room for 1-inch and 2-inch tapes.

 

One hazard of using a gas or electric kitchen oven is that they can go up and down quite a bit in temp to maintain the average you've set it to. It's like cooking and why we preheat ovens. But even after preheating in a conventional oven the heat source, gas or electric element, shuts off and on. That's fine for food, but depending on the oven you can overheat a tape and destroy it.

 

Also many newer tapes made after a certain date are not prone to "sticky shed." 3M/Scotch, Ampex/Quantegy and BASF/EMTEC changed the formulas of problem tape. BASF only had a couple models with problems. The worst was PEM 469, which was made to be an Ampex 456 compatible. PEM 468 on the other hand never had any problems and is one of the best tapes for archiving.

 

The trick is knowing what tapes are what by model and year, which I do. So if anyone has any questions about a specific tape I'll be happy to help. If you don't have any numbers I can tell you by the box style alone... if it's in the original box of course.

 

Now and then to my chagrin my Nesco dehydrator turns my tapes into various fruits and vegetables, as you can see from the attached pic.

 

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[MikeRivers]

I've had a tape come out like jerky, but then, making jerky is one of the things that a food dehydrator is good for. Mine came with a packet of seasoning.