Re: [ARSCLIST] Do these tapes need to be baked or not?

[Rod Stephens <savecal@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi Steve,

According to the articles I've read, not all the batches of 406 were
bad, so some checking of the actual tapes could save time and money, but
of course, with caution.

Rod Stephens
Family Theater Productions

Steven Smolian wrote:

> Don't spend time obsessing on this.  They are Ampex 406.  They fall
> into the
> 1975 period.  Ergo, they need baking.
>
> Steve Smolian
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Rob Sevier" <roughrob@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> To: <ARSCLIST@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Sent: Sunday, December 12, 2004 5:54 PM
> Subject: [ARSCLIST] Do these tapes need to be baked or not?
>
>
> > Esteemed Archivists,
> > I have ten or so AMPEX DBX 406 tapes, the latest of which was
> > recorded on
> > in
> > mid-1975. I've gotten several different reports as to whether or not
> > these
> > tapes need to be baked before playing them back. Is there a reliable
> > resource that can tell me whether or not this specific model has
> > problems?
> > Does anyone on the list have an answer based on experience? I've played
> > phone tag with someone over at QUantegy (who I understand bought AMPEX.)
> >
> > One possibility, if there is any doubt, is that I have one or two tapes
> > that
> > contain no music that I need at all (everything is contained on a
> > quarter
> > inch mix.) These unnecessary tapes were stored under identical
> > circumstances
> > as the tapes that I need to dump down. Would it make sense to experiment
> > first with the unnecessary tapes? How would I know if the process is
> > failing?
> >
> > Thanks in advance for the advice.
> > Rob Sevier