Re: [ARSCLIST] Wishing for old tapes, was Yet another great box set from Mosaic

[David Lennick <dlennick@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

At one time (the time being 1960), Agfa Magnetophonband Typ C in a cardboard 
box could be purchased for $1.49 at TelTronics on Yonge Street..I know, I 
bought two rolls of the stuff. At that time the only way to spool it onto small 
reels was to place it on an old record player and let it play through the heads 
of the Wollensak. I probably tried fast forwarding long enough to have the tape 
start flying off the pack and getting totally tangled. It also broke VERY 
easily, was barely usable for recording on, and as Richard points out, was 
slightly wider than the quarter-inch stuff we know.

The packages are printed in German and Russian, and have the words "Made in 
Germany -- Russian Zone" stamped on the labels, along with the words "schwarz" 
and "Metallkern" and the numbers "0/1801" on a dotted line next to the words 
"Band Nr".

Somewhere among the tapes I stowed from my parents' basement, I may actually 
have some of the tape, containing low level Bob & Ray airchecks.

dl

Richard L. Hess wrote:
> Oh, and the vast majority of the WWII era German tapes are still 
> marginally playable -- at least the ones that I have seen. The 
> Magnetophonband Typ L which is the homogeneous PVC material still works 
> well, although its magnetic characteristics are, ummm, interesting by 
> today's standards. Magnetophonband Typ C if stored in the original metal 
> cans is at grave risk of vinegar syndrome -- it is a coated acetate 
> material.
>
> I even played one reel of 1930s carbonyl iron tape from Jack's 
> collection, but it had nothing but tones on it. It's the gray tape.
>
> Anyway, I'm glad everyone likes the Mosaic box set!
>
> Cheers,
>
> Richard
>
> Be careful, the tape is 6.5 mm wide, not 6.35 mm.
>
>
> Richard L. Hess                   email: richard@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Aurora, Ontario, Canada       (905) 713 6733     1-877-TAPE-FIX
> Detailed contact information: http://www.richardhess.com/tape/contact.htm
> Quality tape transfers -- even from hard-to-play tapes.