Ampex 1800
Little is documented about the Ampex 1800 as a standalone model, because it wasn't a piece of equipment. It was a blank recording tape stock. What survives in period sources confirms the basic specs: 1/4-inch-wide tape on a 7-inch reel, 1800 feet long, with a 1.0 mil polyester base. Tape-Recording (January 1969, p.95) listed it under Ampex stock number 941 at $4.95, alongside competing formulations from Audiotape, BASF, and Irish. A 1968 advertisement in HiFI-Stereo (February 1968, p.109) promoted the tape as professional-grade stock. It urged consumers to "put your great sounds on Ampex tape!" and offered a special trial of the 7-inch, 1800-foot reel.
The 1800 also appears in a few classified ads from 1979. Audio (March 1979, p.126) carried an offer of twelve reels for $18 postpaid, which suggests the tape stayed in distribution well over a decade after its initial listing. Beyond those directory entries and classified references, nothing else has turned up in the available record - no original production run, no packaging variations, no specific applications.
- Type: Blank magnetic recording tape
- Width: 1/4 inch
- Length: 1800 feet
- Reel size: 7 inches
- Base: 1.0 mil polyester
- Period price: $4.95 (1969, stock no. 941)
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