Sticky Shed and Quantegy GP9

[rbwtapeinterlink-Bob]

Good morning all,

I've read some comments and concerns regarding some of Quantegy's tape offerings, but my interest is in their GP9 tape. The fine gentleman who sold me his Tascam 42B tape deck has offered to sell me a number of reels of Quantegy GP9 for a very good price. My concern is the potential of "sticky shed". I am sure this gentleman thought he was purchasing the best tape available. Plus, these tapes came in a heavy plastic case.

He purchased them back in 2006 and 2007 I believe. He used an excellent audio system turntable and top-of-the-line cartridges to record some of his most precious records. I am not sure he was a guy who spend time in forums like this one, so, may not have known if there were possible problems with the tape. Please comment if you've had personal experience with this tape. By the way, this gentleman says he has never had any problems with this tape. Not being a techie kind of guy I tend to believe him. Thanks all.

bob w.

[Listens2tubes]

GET em! Tape that new should be fine. Plus should SSS show it's sticky self there's always the Nu Finish fix as described in two stickys here  http://www.tapeheads.net/forumdisplay.php?f=4 I call this a win/win. :-)

Enjoy.

[rbwtapeinterlink-Bob]

Good morning Listens2Tubes,

Thanks for chiming in for me on this. Actually the seller has 6 GP9's, 1 RMG 900 and 1 RMG-LPR 35 he wants me to get since he won't need them anymore. For the minimum price he is asking, how wrong can I go? Again all of these tapes were purchased between 2006 and 2007.

bob w.

[ironbut]

Hi Bob,

IMHO, for recording, use the tape that your machine is adjusted for.
One of the first things you should think about doing is having a machine (that is new to you) gone over and adjusted by a good tech. While it's there, I think it's well worth the extra money to have the machine's record electronics adjusted for a current production tape.

I don't have any experience with GP9 and if the price is right, it might be worth giving it a try. But for the "long haul", I'd go for RMGI or ATR tape.
I have my machine adjusted to RMGI 911 at the moment simply because the bias/eq is similar to RMGI LP35 and I like having the choice of using the longer tape. But, if I was doing more "mission critical" recordings and wanted the best headroom, I'd switch to ATR.

I've often said it before, but another great reason to use one of these current production tapes is to support these two remaining manufacturers of reel to reel tape. Without these guys, we'd be at the mercy of used tape sellers completely and it would probably end efforts like the Tape Project.
Of course, the amount of tape that each of us use is a drop in the bucket but not when you consider that there are over 1000 members of this forum,.. well, you get the idea.

[rbwtapeinterlink-Bob]

Hello Steve,

I certainly agree with you fully. I plan to purchase 10 reels of RGM 468 for use as a recording tape for my many LP records from RMG International. It's most important to support the remaining reel to reel tape producers.  Is this a good tape or should I be looking at something else? Once I know this is a good tape to go with, I will then plan to have my 42B gone over at my local tech shop. He has worked on my Tascam 32-2B and did an excellent job. I will have him set my new Tascam up for this tape. As aways Steve, thanks much for your input.

bob w.

[ironbut]

I think that 468 is an excellent choice!
That's what Paul decided to record the Tape Project tapes onto and whatever he thinks is gold as far as I'm concerned.

[rbwtapeinterlink-Bob]

Hello again Steve,

I am happy to hear that Tape Project uses 468 as their tape of choice. I will get my tape decks set up for this tape then. By the way, Doc B notes that alcohol can be used for cleaning the tape path to include the tape heads. In the past I have purchased head cleaner from Ebay, but never knew what I was getting in the bottles for $9 or 10 dollars. My question is, will Isopropyl alcohol 91% be OK? DocB states he has seen alcohol at 94% which I guess would have to come from a Lab? I won't use this stuff until I get word from my forum friends.
Thanks again.

bob w.

[ironbut]

Hey Bob,

I use 91% from CVS and I've never had any problem.
I also use Laser Media Head Cleaner from US Recording Media when I have really stubborn gunk to clean (like residue from sticky shed tapes). It's nice to have something a little stronger than just plain alcohol every now and then.

[High and Outside]

Bob,

When 3M got out of the tape business, they sold all their formulas to Quantegy. Quantegy tried to manufacture one of the most popular 3M formulas, 996, but couldn't get it to match well enough to sell it as 996. However, the closest they could come was still a good tape, so they put it out as GP9. Both tapes, 3M 996 and Quantegy GP9, were notable for low distortion in the midrange.

Unfortunately, I can't agree that GP9 doesn't exhibit sticky shed. I have had to bake piles of GP9. You can use old tape for any purpose you wish, but when recording anything you'd like to have stay recorded, think about using new tape.

Regarding the NuFinish fix mentioned above: it looks interesting, enough so that I will be trying it out myself. In the meantime, if anyone here tries it due to the earlier post, please remember that it was recommended on the forum by a member, but is not (at least for now) a recommendation from The Tape Project.

[rbwtapeinterlink-Bob]

Hello Paul and I hear you. When I purchased the Tascam 42B the seller also had a number of reels of GP9 he had recorded on One Time. At the price he was selling them for, I thought they were a great buy. Although I am not in love with most of the music he recorded I did listen to the recordings of Diana Krall and Bill Evans. I did not notice any shedding even with a high powered flashlight and mag glass. Of course I did not play all of the tapes. There still might be some problems with some of them, though I hope not.

bob williams