buying tascam 388 tape

wearedios · Post by **wearedios** » Mon Jul 21, 2008 2:56 pm

hi folks, are there any 388 users out there with a good idea of where to buy tape for the machine? ive been getting 457 tape on ebay used and have been having problems with them so i decided to just buy new tape. having trouble finding a place that sells it, let alone at reasonable prices. one place i found seems to have different lengths of 1/4" tape ranging from 1200' to 3600'. can i use any length on my 388 or is there a specific length i should use. appreciate you looking.

-joel

Teacher's Pet · Post by **Teacher's Pet** » Mon Jul 21, 2008 3:52 pm

I'm using a Teac 3340 and not a 388, but I've been using this place because it's local (for me):

http://www.tapes.com/

It's in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. And, actually, I did once have a bunch of reels shipped and it wasn't too bad.

Now I'm not seeing it on the site, but they sold me 7-inch reels of new RMG 1/4" tape for about $12 each. The longer lengths must be on the bigger reels, which won't fit on your 388. I would call and ask. The guy was friendly.

Some folks have reported problems with the new RMG tape, but it worked fine for me. (Though I am no expert and I'm sure others will chime in if I am leading you astray.)

You must be Joel from Dios Malo... I saw you guys once with Fiery Furnaces, I think, at Northsix in Brooklyn, if memory serves. I remember I dug it -- and my lady dug it so much she bought the cd that night and then the next one when it came out.

Cheers, and good luck with the mighty 388.

- Robin

PS I think you also posted about the squeaky tape in another thread -- I've had old cassettes do that, I think. Not mechanical squeals from the machine but really bad squeaks coming through the speakers. Maybe try cleaning the tape path and try a new reel, my guess is that it's an old, dried-out batch of tape.

shedshrine · Post by **shedshrine** » Mon Jul 21, 2008 4:28 pm

The 388 wants to see 7" reels of 1800 ft 1 mil tape. It's what it was designed for anyway.

If its Quantegy, you want the 457, which was just 456 in 1 mil thickness.

Their 407 will also work.

(I havent' had to buy any of the new stuff as I bought 12 reels of 457 when QUantegy went under a couple years ago.)

Would the 457 you bought happen to be Ampex?
Don't buy that 457 as a lot of it had sticky shed problems.

1.5 mil will work, like 456, but it's harder on the motors and heads, and isn't recommended by Tascam (per phone call to their parts + repair dept awhile back.) Thicker tape will also nullify the 'auto tape stop at end of reel' function too if that's important to you.

littlesongs · Post by **littlesongs** » Mon Jul 21, 2008 4:29 pm

I do not know your location, but if you are on the left coast, you might try the folks at Splicit in Coquille, Oregon. They are a good outfit.

mc437 · Post by **mc437** » Mon Jul 21, 2008 5:15 pm

The 388 was originally designed to use Maxell 35-90. You can find it NOS on ebay sometimes. I've been using Quantegy 407 and it works just fine.

eh91311 · Post by **eh91311** » Mon Jul 21, 2008 5:16 pm

shedshrine wrote:The 388 wants to see 7" reels of 1800 ft 1 mil tape. It's what it was designed for anyway.

If its Quantegy, you want the 457, which was just 456 in 1 mil thickness.

Their 407 will also work.

(I havent' had to buy any of the new stuff as I bought 12 reels of 457 when QUantegy went under a couple years ago.)

Would the 457 you bought happen to be Ampex?
Don't buy that 457 as a lot of it had sticky shed problems.

1.5 mil will work, like 456, but it's harder on the motors and heads, and isn't recommended by Tascam (per phone call to their parts + repair dept awhile back.) Thicker tape will also nullify the 'auto tape stop at end of reel' function too if that's important to you.

In Southern California, try Ametron in Hollywood (www.ametron.com) , they have RMGI and possibly NOS Quantegy 457 and 407.

futureprimitive · Post by **futureprimitive** » Mon Nov 07, 2011 8:08 pm

I recently just got a Tascam 388 and had a question about tape.

Roughly how many minutes does the 1/4" x 1800' RMGI LPR35 tape equate to?

I'm looking to order some tape but wanted to make sure I'm getting enough for an upcoming project that i'm doing.

Of course any updated info on purchasing it would be helpful. I'm in San Francisco, and there use to be a place in Oakland called Leo's Pro Audio that sold RMGI tape. It would be cool to find a place where I could pick it up in person.

Thanks all.

shedshrine · Post by **shedshrine** » Mon Nov 07, 2011 9:10 pm

futureprimitive wrote: Roughly how many minutes does the 1/4" x 1800' RMGI LPR35 tape equate to?

Forty minutes

(per page 35 in the manual..)
Tascam 388 manual

futureprimitive · Post by **futureprimitive** » Mon Nov 07, 2011 10:32 pm

awesome. thanks!

eh91311 · Post by **eh91311** » Wed Nov 09, 2011 4:30 pm

Right now, Full Compass has RMGI 7" LPR35 1800' tape at good prices.

percussion boy · Post by **percussion boy** » Thu Nov 10, 2011 2:24 am

futureprimitive wrote:I'm in San Francisco, and there use to be a place in Oakland called Leo's Pro Audio that sold RMGI tape. It would be cool to find a place where I could pick it up in person.

Try R&M Pro Audio in San Francisco (415-386-8400) -- they used to feed 456 to my Otaris.

They're old school SF, a small family business, I'm a little surprised they're still in the phone book.

shedshrine · Post by **shedshrine** » Thu Nov 10, 2011 3:25 pm

Kind of related. Mentions brand switch causing shedding due to width differences..

Sweetbeats:
"Ampex/Quantegy tape is ever so slightly more NARROW in width. Ampex tape slitting equipment was not as precise as pretty much everybody else's, and Ampex made their width spec slightly more narrow than the standard to avoid their tape being WIDER than the standard. The downside to this is Ampex/Quantegy tape "country-laning" in the tape path if the guides are set for or if a wear pattern was created by tape precision slit to the international standard (this includes EMTEC, RMGI, 3M, etc.) If your heads have edge slots, no worries. If they don't, or if your guides/lifters have significant wear patterns that were created by Ampex/Quantegy tape, then you may have edge shed issues or edge track issues when you switch to tape that was slit "right". You may want to rotate your guides and lifter posts."

http://homerecording.com/bbs/general-di ... -a-334442/

detroitdiesel · Post by **detroitdiesel** » Thu Nov 10, 2011 4:59 pm

Slightly off topic:

I have a reel cut on a 388 back in 1991 and I'd be interested in swapping it for the tracks off it. (No EQ, no nothing)

If you have a daw that can generate wav files or preferrably SDII files, i'd be interested. (mono files at 24/44 just snailmailed to me) To mix in DP.

There isnt GP9 just available off the shelf? Try 7" reels of 456 on ebay.

PM me if interested.

DD

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