I Just Won this R2R Tape on ebay

naturephoto1 · Aug 31, 2011

Hi everyone. I just won this R2R tape on ebay:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/300591869380?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649

I hope that it is the real (not reel) deal. It is supposed to be a side one Master of the album Watermark by Art Garfunkel and the cover letter attached to the box indicates that it is from The Mastering Lab which is the lab that mastered the album (at least this is what is shown on my LP cover).

According to the description and the info on the letterhead this is a 15 IPS Dolby EQed copy of side one of the album. So I am not sure at this point if this is a Master or a Master dub from The Mastering Lab.

Keep your fingers crossed that this is what I suspect that it is.

Roger was the only person on the forum that knew about the tape besides myself and he was kind enough not to bid against me on the purchase. Thanks Roger for that and the encouragement.

This will be my first 15 IPS tape for the new upgraded hybrid Ampex 440C/B R2R tape deck that I hope that Wayne will have completed with the correction for moving from fast to play without stretching the tape. I hope that the machine is shipped shortly and I can confirm what this tape is in the not too distant future.

I asked that the seller of the tape roll the tape onto the reel and not just to leave it as he shows it in the photos for the ebay sale.

I will let everyone know my findings once I can confirm what the tape is and its performance and take and post some photos. It is too bad that there is only a side one and not the second side to the album as well.

Rich

stellavox · Aug 31, 2011

Good luck Rich

Info indicates that it is a copy.

Interestingly enough, the info did not indicate which Dolby encoding method used. If "B" there are a lot of decoders available. If not you have to consider finding a 301 or the later units with the "Cat 22" cards. The "B" calibration tone is "steady"; the "A" tone "warbles".

Stock "A" decoders have balanced input / outputs (using XLR's) and you have to calibrate the Dolby tone on the meters by varying the output from the playback deck. Probably not worth it if you only have one tape.

Charles

naturephoto1 · Aug 31, 2011

stellavox said:
Info indicates that it is a copy.

Interestingly enough, the info did not indicate which Dolby encoding method used. If "B" there are a lot of decoders available. If not you have to consider finding a 301 or the later units with the "Cat 22" cards. The "B" calibration tone is "steady"; the "A" tone "warbles".

Stock "A" decoders have balanced input / outputs (using XLR's) and you have to calibrate the Dolby tone on the meters by varying the output from the playback deck. Probably not worth it if you only have one tape.

Charles

Thanks for the information Charles. Would a copy be the equivalent to a Master dub/copy? The tape is recorded according to the letterhead at 15 IPS and presumably done by The Mastering Lab itself. Regardless, I hope that it will sound special on playback, but I will have to wait and see.

Rich

naturephoto1 · Aug 31, 2011

I took a chance and sent an e-mail off to The Mastering Lab about the tape to see if they could provide me with any information. I know that it is a long shot and they may not want to be bothered, but they may have information and may be happy to provide some assistance. If I hear anything I will post their response.

Rich

RogerD · Aug 31, 2011

Hi Rich,

It's worth a shot. You never know what's out there. I was bidding on tapes this morning and a 2 track wurlitzer tape went for 200+ and a stereo copy of the original soundtrack of the movie "Spartacus" went for 9.99, I was the only bidder. That Spartacus tape is very rare,but it just depends what people perceive as worthy.

I really like Art Garfunkle and if it is a master or a dub for that matter,it's a excellent gamble.

Just to add the Garfunkle tape at 15 ips should sound excellent.

The playback side of tape technology has always been behind the record side,so in that regard I don't think the playback "wall" has been hit yet.

MylesBAstor · Aug 31, 2011

naturephoto1 said:
Hi everyone. I just won this R2R tape on ebay:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/300591869380?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649

I hope that it is the real (not reel) deal. It is supposed to be a side one Master of the album Watermark by Art Garfunkel and the cover letter attached to the box indicates that it is from The Mastering Lab which is the lab that mastered the album (at least this is what is shown on my LP cover).

According to the description and the info on the letterhead this is a 15 IPS Dolby EQed copy of side one of the album. So I am not sure at this point if this is a Master or a Master dub from The Mastering Lab.

Keep your fingers crossed that this is what I suspect that it is.

Roger was the only person on the forum that knew about the tape besides myself and he was kind enough not to bid against me on the purchase. Thanks Roger for that and the encouragement.

This will be my first 15 IPS tape for the new upgraded hybrid Ampex 440C/B R2R tape deck that I hope that Wayne will have completed with the correction for moving from fast to play without stretching the tape. I hope that the machine is shipped shortly and I can confirm what this tape is in the not too distant future.

I asked that the seller of the tape roll the tape onto the reel and not just to leave it as he shows it in the photos for the ebay sale.

I will let everyone know my findings once I can confirm what the tape is and its performance and take and post some photos. It is too bad that there is only a side one and not the second side to the album as well.

Rich

Rich:

One thing to check is whether or not the tape was used for mastering of the LP. If so, sometimes these tapes were re-Eq'd so that all the mastering engineer had to do is run tape--or how the producer/record company wanted the LP to sound, not necessarily what the master actually sounded like. As a result, sometimes these tapes may be a bit rolled off in the low end.

Good luck with your acquisition!

naturephoto1 · Aug 31, 2011

Thanks Roger and Myles.

I heard back from the Mastering Lab. They want to see photos so that they can help me out. I replied to them that the only ones existing at present are those on the ebay ad, but I would be happy to send them some once I had the tape in my hands. So, more information will probably have to wait until I have both the tape and my Ampex R2R in hand so that I can send the lab photos and also have a chance to listen to the tape itself.

I also put a plug in to the Mastering Lab about the forum and mentioned Bruce who I suspect Doug Sax and the others from the lab may well know.

Rich

Mike Lavigne · Aug 31, 2011

naturephoto1 said:
I took a chance and sent an e-mail off to The Mastering Lab about the tape to see if they could provide me with any information. I know that it is a long shot and they may not want to be bothered, but they may have information and may be happy to provide some assistance. If I hear anything I will post their response.

Rich

it's also possible they will tell you that either you erase the tape or they might sue you. you can buy stuff like this for the metal reel and tape and possess that, but the music recorded onto it is not yours to keep (or post about on the web) without potential issues.

would they actually make trouble for you?

will they actually help if it turns out it's a low generation master dub that came from their studio?

who knows.

there are lots of 'master dubs' that friends of some studio hack might have got over time, and now it was given to someone or thrown out at some point, and it ends up on ebay. an artist or record label would not look kindly on a studio allowing this type of stuff (if legit) to be sold on ebay. so the studio might need to at least make a fuss to protect it's reputation.

i'd be wary of contacting the studio to see it it's legit. listen first, then think about the best plan.

mep · Aug 31, 2011

Good advice Mike. Best not to open up a can of whoop-ass.

Fast/Forward · Sep 2, 2011

Ouch!!
Congratulations on your score. If I had known about this tape you would have payed more.
I have a number of 15 IPS master tapes copies. Most of these have customized data forms or sheets applied (pasted) to the box. Information about the tape; Master, Production Master, 1:1 copy, noise reduction processing used (Dolby A, or B, dbx, other), mono/stereo, tape speed, equalization (NAB/IEC, RIAA, track list, track times, test tone data (levels), catalog number and special notes regarding any issues of the specific tape. This data was usually checked off in boxes on the data sheets.
From my experience a sign of authenticity will be hand written signatures (original or transfer engineer) and dates of copying or use. These tapes were not handled casually!
A caution here. There is an eBay seller posting a lot of reel tapes of live or bootleg material. All the items are in new boxes with a standardized cover sheet. The sources of these tapes is most likely vinyl or cassette due to the vintage of the material. I could be wrong. Maybe he was at every concert with an Ampex reel in his back pocket.
Caveat Emptor!
Leslie

naturephoto1 · Sep 6, 2011

The Mastering Lab Art Garfunkel Watermark Side 1 R2R tape arrived this morning. Below are the photos that I was able to take of the box and the Tape Reel as they arrived; they are a little better than the ebay ad, but at this resolution... and the typing is just so good, but you can see The Mastering Lab Logo and name:

Additionally, I heard from Wayne this morning regarding my upgraded hybrid Ampex 440C/B R2R tape deck. Wayne indicated that Andy has sent the modified cards back to him and he hopes to have them either on Thursday or Friday. So, at this point there is only a fair chance that I will have the machine in hand and set-up and working before I go away to Florida between September 21 and September 28.

At this point, I would say that it may well be September 29 or September 30 at the earliest that I will be able to listen to and audition the tape to find out what is really recorded.

Rich

Fred · Sep 7, 2011

Congrats Rich! Hope it works out for you. I note the reel is a TDK reel. If TDK tape is what's on it, then you won't have any problems with the tape itself.

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I Just Won this R2R Tape on ebay

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