The Tascam 388

kslight · george martin Joined: 13 Oct 2009 Posts: 1253

Mine has been getting a ton of use lately as the official recorder for my upcoming comedy/music blog. Nothing to post yet, but getting close! Gotta love varispeed...

ckswartwood · audio school Joined: 26 Aug 2012 Posts: 1

I replaced the fuses. Capstan belt is new. New tape.
I have adjusted the tensions.
I definitely think that is adjustments needed on the reel servo board.
Please help!

https://vimeo.com/48226453

LimpyLoo · pluggin' in mics Joined: 02 Sep 2012 Posts: 30

Wow, nice to see this thread exists.

I just grabbed a 388, so I'm sure I'll be stopping in here quite a bit.

Peace! Very Happy

guitarboynb · Posted: Mon Sep 03, 2012 4:19 pm Post subject: 388

I just recorded an entire LP on it! And loved it!! That box has a soul all to its own... i'll post a track after I mix
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the silence between notes

curtiswyant · Posted: Sat Sep 22, 2012 4:04 pm Post subject: Re: The Tascam 388

Check out this recording studio footage from the band Summer Twins. If you look closely, you'll notice an "old friend".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=supo8WzAmeI

guitarboynb · Posted: Sat Sep 22, 2012 6:47 pm Post subject: Fixing 388

Anybody have any hints for changing out the take up table? I've read elsewhere that I have to take it out from the front, so I started unscrewing things, but I'm a bit nervous about it, and nothing seems to be budging... And I need to get this thing fixed to mix down!!
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the silence between notes

Neal Starrett · audio school Joined: 03 Oct 2012 Posts: 1

This was done on my brand new 388 the very first day I bought it in the 80's. I still regret selling her.

http://soundcloud.com/shifter-6/ancient-of-days

Mark · Posted: Wed Oct 03, 2012 2:34 am Post subject: Re: Fixing 388

Chris Graham Mastering · Posted: Wed Jan 02, 2013 3:28 pm Post subject: Nice!

A classic, what a cool funky piece of gear.
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illuminations · audio school graduate Joined: 18 Mar 2011 Posts: 16

I know this thread has been kind of dormant, but I was wondering if anyone could help with tension arm adjustments. Based on posts earlier in this thread I was able to get the tension arms into position in play mode, but I'm not sure what to do about FF and RR. Is there a way to do this without a tentelometer? Would I set the tape running about midway through a reel, fast-forward or rewind, then adjust the arms to the same place I would for playback, with the center of the arms aligned with the bottom of the rollers? When I FF the tension arm on the right is significantly higher, and when I RR the tension arm on the left is significantly higher, but it seems like maybe it should be this way?

The reason I'm trying to get it together is because I'm having some counter readout issues. It seems to count consistently when playing, but when I rewind, well hit RTZ, it always goes about 20 seconds past where I had it set to zero. I cleaned the bottom of the tach roller and the sensors underneath. One sensor has a tiny dot on it that doesn't come off when I rub it with a q-tip, but I can't tell if it is something on the sensor or just a slight inconsistency in the surface of the sensor. I don't really want to pick at the sensor and scratch it up. I'm waiting on some rubber cleaner to clean up the rollers, but in the meantime I thought I'd adjust the arms to see if that helps.

tooleyoclock

Love my 388. Love this thread for it's many helpful tutorials. I learned how to replace a fuse to get my baby up and running when it arrived DOA after winning it on eBay. New problem. I'm getting tired of using it as a 6 track recorder. Tracks 1 and 8 sound pretty crummy on playback. Those tracks kind of fluctuate in volume and just sound generally bad. So, I've just been not using them and tracking only to 2-7 and bouncing down a lot. What are my options for correcting this issue on tracks 1 & 8?
Thanks so much.

eh91311 · Posted: Sat Mar 23, 2013 7:16 pm Post subject: Re: The Tascam 388

If the edge tracks sound not right, it's probably a head wear issue. You might need to relap the record/play head. Contact JRF or IEC or Sprague magnetics. Better yet, take it in for repair & get a true analysis of the problem.

WhinyLittleRunt · ass engineer Joined: 27 Apr 2010 Posts: 42

I've solved that problem by running the tape back and forth (ff and rew) with the tape lifter engaged, so that it helped form the tape back to the head... not the ideal solution but it worked...

markjazzbassist · Posted: Wed Mar 27, 2013 1:31 pm Post subject: Re: The Tascam 388

i'm thinking about switching back to a 388. I upgraded to a TEAC 3340S with Sony MX-20 Mixer to get better track width and fidelity at 15 IPS. But now I'm missing the ease of use and all in one build of the 388. I need to do some testing today between 15 and 7.5 IPS to see if it really matters for Funk/R&B music that I'm recording (heck the mo bass of 7.5 might be better).

Am I crazy?
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Mark · Posted: Wed Mar 27, 2013 2:33 pm Post subject: Re: The Tascam 388

If anyone has a 388 and a 3340S maybe they could do a comparison of a first generation track from the 388 and a second and/or third generation track from the 3340S.

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