I am about to start a project of transferring quarter-inch audio tape that is 40-years old. I would appreciate any suggestions about preparing this tape for transfer or should I just rack it up and run it? I am transferring from a 4-track TEAC to a hardrive for later editing and transfer to CD.
I am prepared for splices to drop away but is there anything that I can do in advance to reduce tape breakage or flaking?
Full Version: Preparing Old Tape for Transfer
I think that casette tapes can be "helped" by spraying the tape on one side <the wound reel, the edges of the tape> with silicon spray and allowing it to sit for a day or two for the silicon to seep into the oxide and the carrier to evaporate. Any tape geeks who can sonfirm this?? 
Have the playback deck correctly calibarated. Apply the right processing (dolby, dbx, etc)
I would also ask this on Steve Hoffman's forum, he obviously has a lot of experience with such things:
http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=5
http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=5
Sorry if this reply is too late... This is from Bob Orban's "Maintaining Audio Quality in the Broadcast Facility" paper from orban.com
QUOTE
“Sticky Shed Syndrome”
Tape manufactured from the 1970s through the 1990s (particularly by AGFA, Ampex,
and 3M) may suffer from so-called “sticky shed syndrome.” When played, the
tape sticks to the guides of the playback machine and severe oxide loss may occur.
The generally accepted cure is to bake the tape at 130° F (54° C) in a convection
oven. One recommended device is the Snackmaster Pro model FD-50 made by
American Harvest. Don’t use the oven in a household stove or a microwave oven.
Baking time ranges from about 4 hours for ¼" tape to 8 hours for 2" tape, although
it's not critical. You can't over-bake unless you leave the tape in for a day or so; if
you under-bake and the tape is still gummy, you can bake it more. After you shut
off the heat, leave the tape to cool down to room temperature before attempting
to play it.
A baked tape should be playable for about a month. Although many tapes can be
re-baked as necessary, this is not always true; baking has risks. It is desirable to
make a high-quality digital archive of the tape on its first pass through the playback
machine after baking. This will minimize the probability that the tape will suffer
catastrophic damage later on.
Tape manufactured from the 1970s through the 1990s (particularly by AGFA, Ampex,
and 3M) may suffer from so-called “sticky shed syndrome.” When played, the
tape sticks to the guides of the playback machine and severe oxide loss may occur.
The generally accepted cure is to bake the tape at 130° F (54° C) in a convection
oven. One recommended device is the Snackmaster Pro model FD-50 made by
American Harvest. Don’t use the oven in a household stove or a microwave oven.
Baking time ranges from about 4 hours for ¼" tape to 8 hours for 2" tape, although
it's not critical. You can't over-bake unless you leave the tape in for a day or so; if
you under-bake and the tape is still gummy, you can bake it more. After you shut
off the heat, leave the tape to cool down to room temperature before attempting
to play it.
A baked tape should be playable for about a month. Although many tapes can be
re-baked as necessary, this is not always true; baking has risks. It is desirable to
make a high-quality digital archive of the tape on its first pass through the playback
machine after baking. This will minimize the probability that the tape will suffer
catastrophic damage later on.
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