The Tascam 388

markjazzbassist · Post by **markjazzbassist** » Mon May 16, 2011 8:34 pm

well i got my tascam 388 last night. i'm so excited

it looks and seems to be in almost mint condition. the previous owner had it for 15 years and used it a handful of times.

here's a picture

the heads look almost new, barely used.

a couple questions

the headphone outputs are pretty noisy, is this normal?

also the hiss on the tape through playback is pretty noisy, i'm going to give it a good clean and demag, and then see if i should take it to a tech.

thanks! i read the whole thread 3-4 times, THANKS SO MUCH EVERYONE WHO CONTRIBUTED!!!!

i also have a physical and pdf of the manual, which was very helpful. what a great manual, got it up and running real fast.

Mark · Post by **Mark** » Tue May 17, 2011 12:47 am

Are you sure the dbx is on?

markjazzbassist · Post by **markjazzbassist** » Wed May 18, 2011 12:48 am

after a thorough cleaning of the heads, pinch roller, and whole tape path, my machine sounds a lot better. noise is gone with dbx, and very little without.

but there still persists some occaisional intermittent pops when i use headphones or the monitor outs. they don't register on the recordings or UV meters, but are audible. is this just old gear? or something worth looking into?

i'm going to try and record from the stereo outs and see if that's affected by the noise, if not then i'll just live with it.

markjazzbassist · Post by **markjazzbassist** » Wed May 18, 2011 12:48 am

repost, sorry

Mark · Post by **Mark** » Wed May 18, 2011 1:01 am

I've managed to put a new band together. So I might get a chance to record a full band on my 388

mechanicalmastering · Post by **mechanicalmastering** » Wed May 18, 2011 5:17 pm

Gawd I miss my 388

markjazzbassist · Post by **markjazzbassist** » Wed May 18, 2011 5:32 pm

just ran the stereo outs into my mbox, and listened through that output, no pops or clicks!

so it must just be noisy monitor outs and headphone outs, i can live with that for now (repaired later maybe).

But, HOLY COW, that tone through my mbox is exactly what i've been searching for. warm, thick, colored, it's really amazing. I'm so glad i got this unit

markjazzbassist · Post by **markjazzbassist** » Wed May 25, 2011 3:10 pm

how far from motors should you have your unit? i have mine about 4 feet from my dishwasher, is that enough?

i've noticed that when i run both at the same time, i get noise and clicks/pops in my 388, but when the dishwasher is off, the noise/clicks/pops are gone.

so i'm guessing i'm alright, just don't want to ruin my unit with other magnetism.

shedshrine · Post by **shedshrine** » Wed May 25, 2011 3:57 pm

markjazzbassist wrote: i have mine about 4 feet from my dishwasher, is that enough?

This is the only reason I could come up with for recording next to a running dishwasher..

Baby's Dishwasher Sound CD and MP3

"A Dishwasher CD?? I was skeptical at first, but now I am sold! Thank you for a product that really does work like you say. Bless you for helping parents!"

- Emma's Mom

markjazzbassist · Post by **markjazzbassist** » Wed May 25, 2011 3:59 pm

ha, well played. i'm guessing that distance is fine then. not sure how big magnetic fields are ??

cheers

Mark · Post by **Mark** » Wed May 25, 2011 4:05 pm

Have you tried not running the dishwasher occasionally?

shedshrine · Post by **shedshrine** » Wed May 25, 2011 4:33 pm

Try using a circuit your kitchen appliances aren't on if you can.

ryansupak · Post by **ryansupak** » Fri May 27, 2011 1:07 pm

....deleted...

ryansupak · Post by **ryansupak** » Sun May 29, 2011 3:01 pm

Next door to my studio, there is a wood shop. The wood shop guy has offered to make me some sides out of Maple, with a basic shellac "stain" (which is my personal preference), for $100. The original sides are in (2) pieces. One part "dips in" a little bit to account for the fact that the Meter Bridge is narrower. I asked him to build mine in (1) piece per side, with no "dip" for the Meter Bridge..

I told him I'd check on here to see if anybody else would buy some for around that price. (I'd imagine that wood choice and stain choice might change the $100 figure somewhat.) Obviously that price isn't etched in stone for internet/shipping orders but I suspect it wouldn't be a whole lot more or less...

rs

j.harv · Post by **j.harv** » Mon May 30, 2011 10:06 am

I made my own for my second 388 I just got.The originals were in rough shape,but one was good enough to trace.
I went to home depot and got a length of oak which is slightly narrower than the originals.I got the 2 bigger side panels out of this.I also bought some narrower oak for the smaller top pieces.Cut everything out with my dads circular saw did a little sanding then multiple layers of dark stain with a polyurethane built in.
They look really good.
The wood cost under $50.

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The Tascam 388

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