Tape Baking and Sticky-Shed Syndrome
Over time some older tapes may develop Sticky-Shed Syndrome. In the late 1970’s tape manufactures changed the formulation of a binder that held the magnetic recording surface to the mylar backing of tape. Over time moisture can cause this binder to become sticky and cause the magnetic recording surface to shed off of the mylar backing when used. A process known as “Tape Baking” can make affected tape temporarily usable for up to a week, giving us time to do the transfer. The risks of baking are minimal at best. However, using tape affected by Sticky-Shed Syndrome without baking it first is extremely risky as the recorded surface may be permanently damaged. Not to mention resulting in all but unusable digital files, as the shedding fouls the tapes heads causing muffled, or muddy sounding audio. If Tape Baking is needed there is an additional charge for this service. There is no flat rate for this service since the baking process can take anywhere from a few hours to two days. If this issue is present on any of your tapes, we will contact you to discuss your options.
For more information of Sticky-Shed Syndrome click HERE.
How the process works: It's a good idea to contact us first. This way we can discuss your project and answer any questions upfront. We can also give you the address you need to ship the tapes to. After that, box up your tapes and ship them to us (priority mail is highly suggested). We will contact you when your tapes arrive, and give you a turn around time for when the transfer will be complete, usually within 5 to 7 days. We will then complete the transfer, burn the files to a CD/DVD (free) or, transfer the files to a USB 2 Flash Drive ($10 fee for an 16GB Flash Drive) or a drive you provide (free). We then box your tapes and disks/drives up and ship it back to you via Priority Mail. Pretty simple. Prior to mailing your media to us, please print out and sign this Liability Release Form. Then please include the signed and dated form in your shipment.
