tapetape.com: Reputable?

[letsjumpnow]

Hey all!

I just ordered four reels of 1/2" from tapetape.com. The guy sounds like a nice guy, but I ordered Quantegy 456, and I got four reels of 3M 996 Mastering tape. To my knowledge I have no way of knowing whether or not this is Quantegy tape, and furthermore, I don't know if it's even really one-pass.

I've heard from some recording dudes in town that they don't trust the business at all, and that you'll ask for Quantegy and they'll send you 10+ years old, crummy pre-Quantegy Ampex that has dropouts, or that the tapetape guys will tell you that it's Quantegy tape on another kind of reel when it really isn't.

Am I or them paranoid, or do I have a problem on my hands?

Thanks!

Alec

[drumsound]

I've ordered miles and miles of 3M996 from TapeTape. I've had very few problems and Bill has hooked me up with other reels if I had a problem.

996 is bias compatible with 499. And it is what GP9 was based on (so the legend goes).

[letsjumpnow]

Hey, you're in Bloomington IL, I'm in Bloomington IN! Thanks for the help!

Anyway: why would I get 996 when I ordered 456? How do I know if those (456 and 996, not 499 and 996) are bias compatible? I mean, if he was gonna send me the right tape on a different roll, shouldn't he have left a note or something?

Can anyone else chime in on this situation?

Thank you in advance!

Alec

[E.Bennett]

our experience with tapetape.com was really poor. we ordered some quantegy 456, but received old ampex 456 with sticky shed. we called to explain the problem with the order. bill told us to ship back the order so that he could send a new batch out. we paid to ship the tape back. we never received our tape or a refund after several phone calls, letters and empty promises. we lost out on the cost of the tape and shipment both ways.

i would not recommend tapetape.com to anyone.

[permanent hearing damage]

had the same problem with sticky shed. i think the reels were 406, too. never ordered again.

[???????]

this thread actually made me have a bad dream last night about ordering tape. haha.

[davidollard]

I've had two separate shipments of NOS BASF 911 from them in the last couple of years. Right product, good prices, fast shipping. Bill is easy to work with.

I'm happy....

[drumsound]

Hey, you're in Bloomington IL, I'm in Bloomington IN! Thanks for the help!

Anyway: why would I get 996 when I ordered 456? How do I know if those (456 and 996, not 499 and 996) are bias compatible? I mean, if he was gonna send me the right tape on a different roll, shouldn't he have left a note or something?

Can anyone else chime in on this situation?

Thank you in advance!

Alec

I assume the 996 was a shipping mistake. The joint is run by humans and sometimes they make mistakes.

I don't think 459 and 996 are bias compatible

[@?,*???&?]

Yes. The dealer is for real and he's located in Hollywood. I've gotten tape from him before and had absolutely no issues with it. He's getting down to bare minimum stock and having just spoke to Phil Paske this past Monday- RMGI is not using TapeTape as a dealer in Los Angeles. From what I understand, TapeTape deals in old formulations that come from film and tv lots that saw very little, if any use.

[honkyjonk]

My experience has been that the guy is super nice, always sounds like he's eating a sandwhich (I'm paraphrasing someone else, but only because it's true!) and makes a mistake on about 60 percent of your orders.

But when he does he remedies it by paying for shipping back to him and sending you the right thing. I ordered tape from him one time, it turned out to be sticky shed, but I only found that out about a year after the order because I just didn't get around to using that reel until then. I called him up, no problem, he even replaced that.

So, if you're willing to wait, you can get a good product but he does seem pretty disorganized.