Just wanted to introduce myself.

@best-groove Thank you for the welcome! :)

Used a Techniques 1500 (may have been a 1700) around 1980 in a Hollywood duplication studio (made duplicates of radio commercial tapes for national/local distribution). Very nice machine! Didn’t they make R2R decks which recorded at 30 ips way-back-when? Ultimate sound! Finally, don’t forget to demagnetize your razor blades before making a splice!

Yes @dweller , there were decks that recorded at 30ips. Before my time.

Ryan, it's so cool you are in touch with Brian Wilson.
And very cool that you're working with pro gear. My favorite deck was the Ampex 440, a real workhorse. Definitely need to have an engineer on staff to keep those up and running.

There are threads about tape stock and which is the best new production brand... SO expensive.

@lowrider57 FYI, I have an Ampex 300 3 track, I COMPLETELY forgot that one, and it's my biggest deck! Big as a refrigerator! 3 350 tube preamps! Yes, the 440 is a nice deck. :)

Ryan, do you have a studio setup with a console? Can you tell us what associated gear you are using?