Tascam MS-16 transport

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joshdfrazier
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Tascam MS-16 transport

Post by joshdfrazier » Mon Aug 24, 2015 10:43 pm

Hello, this is my first time posting here. Been reading for a couple of years though.

I recently purchased a secondhand MS-16. Sounds great, and I love it, but the transport is weird. It's very sluggish. RW/FF are both slow to start, but once it gets going, it's too fast, and the tape winds horribly on the reel! Stopping the tape takes some time, too.

It's definitely not unusable, and is manageable, but I'd like to know if there is anything I can do about this? I've made some adjustments to the tension rollers during playback and ff/rw, but it hasn't made a huge difference. I suppose if I could change only one thing, it would be the ridiculous speed at which this thing fast forwards and rewinds.

I've also read that this machine has a wimpy transport, and maybe i've just become spoiled with the responsive transport of my tascam 388. When I opened it up, I did notice that the motors looked quite small...

Thanks in advance!

kslight
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Post by kslight » Tue Aug 25, 2015 5:36 am

Have you tried a new reel of tape? And does the ease of startup change depending on where you are on the reel (beginning/middle/end)?

Is yours a 15 ips or 30 ips?

I had a MS16 (30 ips) and I thought it had a good deal of power, though my 388s are better I think....but it did have problems starting up with bad tape. You do have the same adjustments as you would on the 388, but if you can't dial it in there I would try new tape before anything.

The Scum
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Post by The Scum » Tue Aug 25, 2015 9:40 am

Stopping the tape takes some time, too.
That sounds like the brakes aren't working.

The wind speed is adjustable with trimpots on the transport. There's a calibration procedure in the service manual, but it takes tools the average person doesn't have.
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joshdfrazier
audio school
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon Aug 24, 2015 10:31 pm
Location: Baltimore, MD

Post by joshdfrazier » Tue Aug 25, 2015 10:13 am

My machine is 15ips, made sure of it with tape prices what they are. I've actually ONLY used new tape. RGMI SM911, to be specific. The startup speed does change depending on where I am in the reel. Obviously, if I've just started winding the tape on the takeup reel, it takes longer than, say, in the middle of the reel.

I believe I found the trimpots for ff/rw speeds, i'll check the manuals procedure for calibrating those.

I thought it might be the brake, too! Is that something that is easily adjustable? The manual mentions brake torque adjustment.

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