tascam 388 help

andyplovnick · Post by **andyplovnick** » Fri Aug 10, 2007 6:03 am

hello
i recently inherited a tascam 388 that is in pretty amazing shape for it years. it has been kept in a roadcase and smoke free blah blah. anyways, i am kinda green with this thing and i was hoping somebody could help me. when i load the tape (according to the diagram in the manual) it fast forwards and rewinds no problem, but when i try to play or record it stalls. everything clicks into place but the reels dont turn. im pretty sure it has something to do with the tension, because i tricked it into thinking it had tape in it and everything worked fine when i pressed play. so im assuming the problem is with something i'm doing and not a malfunction. can anybody help get to the bottom of this? all help is appreciated!
thanks
-andy

andyplovnick · Post by **andyplovnick** » Fri Aug 10, 2007 7:59 am

or does anybody have any general loading tips or anything?

the velour fog · Post by **the velour fog** » Fri Aug 10, 2007 8:31 am

congratulations on getting a 388. here's a manual.

http://www.marjorie-plastille.com/

follow the loading instructions written there. if you're still having problems, you probably have to replace a blown fuse or a belt, or both.

good luck.

andyplovnick · Post by **andyplovnick** » Fri Aug 10, 2007 8:43 am

i actually have the manual and followed the diagram but i appreciate the gesture!

shedshrine · Post by **shedshrine** » Fri Aug 10, 2007 8:56 am

You'll probably want to check the belt and fus...

Damn, for a name like "gunshy" you sure are quick on the draw!

andyplovnick · Post by **andyplovnick** » Fri Aug 10, 2007 9:02 am

so even though it plays fine when it thinks it is loaded and even though it fast forwards/rewinds it could be the belt or fuse? interesting...i will check it out when i get home thank you!

shedshrine · Post by **shedshrine** » Fri Aug 10, 2007 9:12 am

a new pinchroller might be needed. If that, a new belt and good fuses doesn't do it, it might need tension adjustment. that's done with the servo controls under the grill next to the fuses, but hopefully the regular maintenance stuff already mentioned will take care of your issues.

the velour fog · Post by **the velour fog** » Fri Aug 10, 2007 11:03 am

shedshrine wrote:You'll probably want to check the belt and fus...

Damn, for a name like "gunshy" you sure are quick on the draw!

ha! i always run for the 388 threads, cause they're the only ones where i might actually be helpful.

gabe real · Post by **gabe real** » Sat Aug 11, 2007 2:12 pm

i would not recommend trying to adjust the tension.
pain in the but. i messed mine up thinking i was cool.
had to send it to tascam for repair.
try the belt, fuse, and pinch roller before you mess with tension servos.
the little adjusters are fragile and break easy. plus you need calibration tools.
leave that to a pro. most likely its the belt, i had the same problem.
tascam did do a complete re-haul on mine.its pretty much brand new.
its a very cool machine.

this board is a great place for this info.
many people helped me here so im returning the favor.

heyjones · Post by **heyjones** » Wed Aug 15, 2007 11:45 am

I picked up a 388 a couple weeks ago off of craigslist, and I tracked some drums on it this past weekend. Instead of bouncing those tracks down, I want to dump them into Pro Tools and do all my overdubs there. I remember coming across a post somewhere mentioning a good way to do that, but I can't find it now for the life of me. I have a Digi 002 Rack. Any suggestions?

the velour fog · Post by **the velour fog** » Wed Aug 15, 2007 11:53 am

heyjones wrote:I picked up a 388 a couple weeks ago off of craigslist, and I tracked some drums on it this past weekend. Instead of bouncing those tracks down, I want to dump them into Pro Tools and do all my overdubs there. I remember coming across a post somewhere mentioning a good way to do that, but I can't find it now for the life of me. I have a Digi 002 Rack. Any suggestions?

you have the option of pulling straight off the tape, or by using the PGM outs. either way you'll need an rca-1/4" snake. the nice thing about using the pgm outs, is it runs through the channels again, and you can make a rough mix in the transfer. switch the tops of your channels to RMX for playback. then use the pgm buttons to assign that channel to a pgm channel. remember to pan the channels so it's only going to one channel. good luck.

TACOVAN · Post by **TACOVAN** » Fri Aug 24, 2007 7:14 am

i have a similar setup (388 & digi002).....using the PGM RCA outs- has anyone tracked to tape & p-tools at the same time?

also.... this was on craigslist here in NYC last week:

"Some type of music equipment(soundboard, synthetisizer?) left in my basement. TASCAM 388 - STUDIO 8. Takes two to lift it. Take it away."

shedshrine · Post by **shedshrine** » Fri Aug 24, 2007 8:56 am

i have a similar setup (388 & digi002).....using the PGM RCA outs- has anyone tracked to tape & p-tools at the same time?

I have never synced the two, but I do love the hybrid setup. (I'm getting my Digi 002 console back from Black Lion next Wednesay.HD package mod)

But there was somebody on here recently wanted to sync two 388's..

also.... this was on craigslist here in NYC last week:

"Some type of music equipment(soundboard, synthetisizer?) left in my basement. TASCAM 388 - STUDIO 8. Takes two to lift it. Take it away."

That's a damned lie. It only takes 1 1/2 people to lift it!

Andy, any luck with your unit?

curtiswyant · Post by **curtiswyant** » Fri Aug 24, 2007 10:00 am

shedshrine wrote:
i have a similar setup (388 & digi002).....using the PGM RCA outs- has anyone tracked to tape & p-tools at the same time?
I have never synced the two, but I do love the hybrid setup. (I'm getting my Digi 002 console back from Black Lion next Wednesay.HD package mod)

But there was somebody on here recently wanted to sync two 388's..

also.... this was on craigslist here in NYC last week:

"Some type of music equipment(soundboard, synthetisizer?) left in my basement. TASCAM 388 - STUDIO 8. Takes two to lift it. Take it away."
That's a damned lie. It only takes 1 1/2 people to lift it!

Andy, any luck with your unit?

We all know quality of music gear is proportional to weight!

drumsound · Post by **drumsound** » Fri Aug 24, 2007 1:22 pm

I've never used a 388, but I know a few things about tape machines in general. Have you cleaned the entier tape path? If the tape is leaving a lot of residue that might be why it won't run in play. Clean the path really throughly and then try to play the tape. If it runs for a while and then stops or gets stuck, move the tape off the path and look for gunk. IF there's lots of gunk, get rid of that tape or bake it if it's something you need. Re -clean the path and try a new tape and see if it's OK.

If there isn't a bunch of gunk and the tape desn't move the above posts should do it.

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