BASF

About

The BASF tapes were manufactured in (Western) Germany and were mainly aimed at the European domestic and professional market. For more information and history about the company, see wikipedia:BASF

Tape types

The Audio Engineering Society provides a list of all known Agfa, BASF and IG Farben tape types including their specifications.

Agfa, BASF, and IG Farben Audio Open Reel Tapes

Domestic tapes

Product name	Est. Prod. Start	Est. Prod. End	Oxide	Base Material	Thickness (micron)	Matt Back
DP 26	1966	1970	g-Fe²O³, acicular	PVC	26	no
DP 26	1996		g-Fe²O³, acicular	PVC	26	black
DP 26 LH	1970	1982	g-Fe²O³, acicular	PVC	26	no
DP 26 LHS	1975	1978	g-Fe²O³, acicular	PVC	25	no
DPR 26 LH	1973	1984	g-Fe²O³, acicular	PVC	29	black
LGH	1950	1954	g-Fe²O³, cubic	PVC	63	no
LGS 26	1958	1969	g-Fe²O³, acicular	PVC	26	no
LGS 35	1953	1969	g-Fe²O³, acicular	PVC	34	no
LP 35 LH	1969	1982	g-Fe²O³, acicular	Polyester	35	no
LP 35 LHS	1975	1978	g-Fe²O³, acicular	Polyester	35	no
LPR 35	1996		g-Fe²O³, acicular	Polyester	35	black
LPR 35 LH	1971	1984	g-Fe²O³, acicular	Polyester	36	black
PES 18	1961	1969	g-Fe²O³, acicular	Polyester	18	no
PES 26	1958	1969	g-Fe²O³, acicular	Polyester	26	no
PES 35	1958	1969	g-Fe²O³, acicular	Polyester	34	no
PES 35 LH	1967		g-Fe²O³, acicular	Polyester	35	no
TP 18	1970		g-Fe²O³, acicular	Polyester	18	no
TP 18 LH	1970		g-Fe²O³, acicular	Polyester	18	no

Tape catalogs

Magnetophonband BASF Leveringsprogramma

This small Dutch catalog dates from the 1960s and contains the BASF LGS and PES tapes, as well as the archive-box, splicing kit and tape clips.

LGS

This item describes the LGS series which contains 3 products:

LGS 52, a "standardplay" general purpose tape, produced from 1953 until 1969;
LGS 35, a "longplay" domestic use tape, produced from 1953 until 1969;
LGS 26, a "doubleplay" domestic use tape, produced from 1958 until 1969.

The tape was produced on a Luvitherm base.

The following information was taken from the Magnetophonband BASF catalog:

Type	Description	Purpose	Reel diameter (cm)	Length (m)	Playing time at 1 7/8 ips	Playing time at 3 3/4 ips	Playing time at 7 1/2 ips
LGS 52	Standard tape on Luvitherm base	The indisctructable tape for daily educational and professional use	13	180	60	30	15
			15	270	90	45	22,5
			18	360	120	60	30
LGS 35	Longplay tape on Luvitherm base	All purpose tape: strong and flexible; can also be used on 4 track recorders	8	65	22	11	5,5
			10	135	45	22	22
			13	270	90	45	22,5
			15	360	120	60	30
			18	540	180	90	45
LGS 26	Doubleplay tape on Luvitherm base	Extremely flexible; especially for 4 track recorders	8	90	30	15	7,5
			10	180	60	30	15
			13	360	120	60	30
			15	540	180	90	45
			18	730	240	120	60

Boxes

Cardboard boxes

The first series of the BASF LGS are packaged in a red fold-out cardboard box and contain the text "Magnetophonband BASF, Typ LGS" with the length of the tape underneath in meters and feet. The box design had some slight alterations during the years. It is not certain in which order the boxes were produced.

13cm box version #1 (1956)
13cm box version #2, indicating "langspielband"

The center logo was changed and text was added.

Red text was used for the LGS 52,
Green text was used for the LGS 35,
Blue text was used for the LGS 26.

13cm box version #3
13cm box version #4

Later, the specific tape type (LGS 52, 35 or 26) was added to the box design.

LGS 26, 8cm box
LGS 26, 13cm box

Archive boxes

The LGS 35 and LGS 26 were also available in a set of 3 pieces with an archive box. By sticking a pin through the holes on the upper and lower back corners, the boxes can be mounted together.

Reels

The reels used are see through and without color, although in the earlier series occasionally a green colored reel is used. This cannot be seen without opening the box.
The first series does not have any center label, later the label with the BASF logo was added.
The one side of the reel has a label with a green border, corresponding with the green leader tape of side one. The other side has the same in red.
Other differences are the addition of "Made in Germany" and "Made in W. Germany" on the side one and two labels.

Without text

Standard 13cm reel
Green 13cm reel
Green 18cm reel

Made in W. Germany

15cm reel, side one
15cm reel, side two

Made in Germany

18cm reel

As the 8cm reel is too small, it only contains the center labels.

8cm reel

In 1968 the center label and the green and red labels were updated.

15cm reel, side one
15cm reel, side two

Leader tape

BASF LGS tapes always come with a green leader for side one and a red leader for side two.
Between the leaders and the magnetic tape there is a sensing foil.
The green leader has text on it which tells us the type of tape and the production batch number.
During years of production, alterations to the text was made so different versions may appear.