The Tascam 238 rocks.
- shedshrine
- deaf.
- Posts: 1868
- Joined: Tue Jun 01, 2004 5:47 pm
- Location: sf bay area
Big thanks Konrad "purerad" of homerecording.com for getting these scanned.
Here is the Tascam 238 product brochure for posterity.
Click for Huge hi-rez PDF images of the brochure
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Click here for Tascam 238 FAQ
Click here to hear from techs who worked on Dolby S repairs tell all!
Tascam 238 schematics!
Tascan 238 service manual
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TapeOp member cjogo's soundcloud page of 238 recordings
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6 pics of the infamous Tascam 238 capstan motor.. (click to enlarge)
Last edited by shedshrine on Sun Aug 07, 2011 5:56 pm, edited 6 times in total.
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- gettin' sounds
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If anyone needs spare parts PM me. My 238 has fatal problems in the power supply and motor that will cost me more to fix than the deck cost me and I would love to help someone keep theirs running. My life just hasn't been the same since my 238 died, and I sold my 488mkII when I got it because I figured I didn't need 2 8-tracks
"some kinds of love, the possibilities are endless"
- inverseroom
- on a wing and a prayer
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- Contact:
- shedshrine
- deaf.
- Posts: 1868
- Joined: Tue Jun 01, 2004 5:47 pm
- Location: sf bay area
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- takin' a dinner break
- Posts: 194
- Joined: Sun Jun 15, 2003 6:40 am
- Location: a mile west of the crossroads & the old circus grounds
Still have a 234 in pretty darn good condition. Although I've transferred everything of consequence to HD. I keep it clean and actually run it now and then to keep the thing loosened up.
It does have a pleasing sound to my baby boomer ears.
dino
It does have a pleasing sound to my baby boomer ears.
dino
I'd gladly trade everything I have now for a nice sounding room and a bucket of 57's
- shedshrine
- deaf.
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- Joined: Tue Jun 01, 2004 5:47 pm
- Location: sf bay area
- richierichie
- ass engineer
- Posts: 41
- Joined: Wed Jul 30, 2008 11:49 am
- Location: Edinburgh
so, speaking of the infamous capstan motor, does anyone have a schematic? digging into the deck, it becomes pretty quickly apparent that the circuitry, not the "motor" itself, is what fails. i keep on putting off shelling out $100 to get a new motor for mine because i remain convinced there must be one of those little dinky resistors or diodes or whatever else is on that board that i could replace for pennies... but without values, nowhere to start
Village Idiot.
Hi!floid wrote:so, speaking of the infamous capstan motor, does anyone have a schematic? digging into the deck, it becomes pretty quickly apparent that the circuitry, not the "motor" itself, is what fails. i keep on putting off shelling out $100 to get a new motor for mine because i remain convinced there must be one of those little dinky resistors or diodes or whatever else is on that board that i could replace for pennies... but without values, nowhere to start
Actually, I think it's the little SMT caps on the controller board that fail. Here's a guy who done some groundwork and come up with a fix:
http://thesquarewaveparade.com/tascam122.html
I have a dead 122MKII and a 238 in the garage waiting to try this on, but I have yet to work up the courage.
BTW, big +1 on the 238! I've got mine racked-up like an oversized portastudio--a 238, a patchbay normalled to a Rane SM82 mixer, and an ART TubePAC mic-pre/compressor, all in a six-space rack. Perfect for demos or simple tunes, then bounce-able to DAW for mixing.
Regards,
Joe
- shedshrine
- deaf.
- Posts: 1868
- Joined: Tue Jun 01, 2004 5:47 pm
- Location: sf bay area
Nice find Joe!germaniac wrote: Actually, I think it's the little SMT caps on the controller board that fail. Here's a guy who done some groundwork and come up with a fix:
http://thesquarewaveparade.com/tascam122.html
..And about the second shirt design. Enough interest for maybe a short run via someplace like this?
http://www.uberprints.com/studio/
(hmm.. that image definitely wouldn't blow up cleanly which means a picture of the unit taken but without the cool metal reel to reel cassette.
Any chance someone is able to provide a high res picture of the original brochure? )
Edit: like this one. (thanks Jeff Peletz, homerecording.com)
Different version by Jeff, a 1920x1080 wallpaper here;
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h2...5wallpaper.jpg
Last edited by shedshrine on Tue May 01, 2012 9:27 pm, edited 3 times in total.
Yes yes, thank you, why didn't i think to search for other units using the motor. ... SMT, man i was looking and looking for that term when i posted earlier. The main reservation i have about the fix, is that he's fixing the all-too-common runaway speed thing, whilst mine's moving sloooooooooowwwwwwwly. that'll at least be something to start on though, perhaps one of these days i'll finally be able to fire up the 238, 246, and 388 simultaneously, switch on all the dbx and interconnect everything with yet more dbx, so i can drift and bounce on the resulting waves of tas-figermaniac wrote: Hi!
Actually, I think it's the little SMT caps on the controller board that fail. Here's a guy who done some groundwork and come up with a fix:
http://thesquarewaveparade.com/tascam122.html
Village Idiot.
Well, the fix-it guy (Steven) says the caps fail "closed" decreasing capacitance and speeding up the motor. But caps can also fail "open," which could increase the capacitance, and could slow down the motor. So it's most likely the same problem, bad caps.floid wrote: The main reservation i have about the fix, is that he's fixing the all-too-common runaway speed thing, whilst mine's moving sloooooooooowwwwwwwly.
Regards,
Joe
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- takin' a dinner break
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[quote="richierichie"]I picked up a 234 last year and love it. You can push the tape soooo much harder than a standard 4-track.[/quote]
That was my observation also.
I used to hump the damn thing all over hell and back, just having a ball recording friends. Once you figure out how much to push it to get the desired amount of trash-itude it?s a fun machine to have. Have you tried mixing down to it? Left =1 & 2, Right = 3 & 4
dino
That was my observation also.
I used to hump the damn thing all over hell and back, just having a ball recording friends. Once you figure out how much to push it to get the desired amount of trash-itude it?s a fun machine to have. Have you tried mixing down to it? Left =1 & 2, Right = 3 & 4
dino
I'd gladly trade everything I have now for a nice sounding room and a bucket of 57's
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