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 7 to 10 days. We will then complete transfer and export the files to a USB Flash Drive. We then box your tapes and drive 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.

Sticky-Shed Syndrome and Tape Baking: In the 1970's many tape companies changed the formulation of a binder that holds the oxide layer (this is the layer that contains the recording) of the tape to the backing. Unknowingly this binder becomes unstable over time due to the absorbtion of moisture from the air. If not delt with the oxide layer can literally stick to the transport of the tape machine and shed from the backing of the tape. If this happens, the tape is destroyed and there is no way to recover the recording.

Tape Baking is a common practice for temporarily repairing sticky-shed syndrome. Generally, tapes are baked at low temperatures for relatively long periods of time, such as 130 °F to 140 °F (54 to 60 °C) for 1 to 24 hours depending on the width of the tape. Baking a tape will temporarily remove the moisture that has accumulated in the binder. A treated tape will function like new for roughly few weeks before it will reabsorb moisture and be unplayable again. Tape Baking is a service we offer on site. The cost is $10 per reel. Commonly affcted tape stocks are Ampex/Quantegy, and Scotch/3M. Tapes from TDK, ATR, and RMGI can sometimes need baking. While tape from Maxell, BASF, AGFA, and EMI are rarely affcted. For more information you can check out this article on the subject HERE.