We've always recorded with Dan Rathbun at Polymorph Studios in Oakland, CA on 24 track 2", and attempts otherwise have failed us (granted the medium may not have been the problem). We just tried a place in town that had the best outboard available (old UA compressors, nice tube preamps, etc.) and it just wasn't the same.
I have a 1/2" 16-track Tascam, and for a while there tape was completely unavailable. Then I got some Quantegy tape that was bad... four times in a row. They kept sending me more tape apologizing until I finally gave up and bought old stuff off of ebay.
Anyway, good luck with your workshop!
Those 16 tracks are awesome! You would want to look at:
http://www.atrtape.com/They're the company that was fixing all the old Ampex machines, and then when Quantegy went belly up, they realized they needed to make some tape of their own to keep their own doors open. I have had a bit of an issue with their formulation early on, but overall, it has held tight. The current formulation offers higher headroom than the old Quantegy, which might be nice for your machine. It can actually be aligned to +12! (not that I would suggest that for the old 1/2" machines).
There is a kid who interned with us at the studio, who moved out to the bay area a while ago, hooked him up with a job in the East Bay (closer to Silicon Vally actually) and has been doing well. They have some nice gear. Forget the name of the space.
The large format studios are mostly going away, and here in NYC that is very evident. Not long ago, I did get a chance to record at Avatar, which used to be the Power Station. Great history, and it was pretty amazing to be able to work in what would be considered to be one of the best rooms ever. Of course, at $2500/day plus gear rentals on good mics, that is not for every artist
Of course my studio is much more modest. We cater to the mid-level budgets. But as budgets are slashed, we find ourselves A) still in business, and B) doing much higher profile gigs. As the world turns...
