The Tascam 388

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pino19
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Post by pino19 » Tue May 09, 2017 8:53 am

hi,

does the 388 make any sound/humming while on?

drumsound
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Post by drumsound » Sun May 21, 2017 1:08 pm

A good friend and client just posted this. He did it on his 388
http://www.amanwholived.com/blog/2017/5 ... -to-boogie

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markjazzbassist
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Re: The Tascam 388

Post by markjazzbassist » Sat Sep 16, 2017 5:31 pm

prices have gotten outrageous lately. it was my first real analog Reel to Reel so i've looked at getting one recently (why i bailed on that though is at the end of this thread). I bought my original one for 400 bucks (and bought a parts one a few years later for the same price). I saw them rise to around 800-900 and still saw the value, mixer and reel all in one for that much, separates plus cabling, etc would be around the same. ok. saw them rise to 1000 and thereabouts, still ok in my mind, expensive but i get the want and desire.

now i see them all over reverb, ebay, CL for $1800 !!!!!!!!! yes i said 1800 dollars!!! like they just doubled overnight or something. This makes no sense as at that much you could get a solid mixer and reel that would considerably out perform the 388. world gone crazy.

kslight
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Re: The Tascam 388

Post by kslight » Sat Sep 16, 2017 8:02 pm

markjazzbassist wrote:
Sat Sep 16, 2017 5:31 pm
prices have gotten outrageous lately. it was my first real analog Reel to Reel so i've looked at getting one recently (why i bailed on that though is at the end of this thread). I bought my original one for 400 bucks (and bought a parts one a few years later for the same price). I saw them rise to around 800-900 and still saw the value, mixer and reel all in one for that much, separates plus cabling, etc would be around the same. ok. saw them rise to 1000 and thereabouts, still ok in my mind, expensive but i get the want and desire.

now i see them all over reverb, ebay, CL for $1800 !!!!!!!!! yes i said 1800 dollars!!! like they just doubled overnight or something. This makes no sense as at that much you could get a solid mixer and reel that would considerably out perform the 388. world gone crazy.
Very "reel" value these days, haha, I had no trouble finding buyers for 2 of mine last year within a few days of each other for about $1500 each, locally in not even a super popular market (KC) so $1800 isn't crazy to me at the national level.

Also the maintenance fees can be considerable so I totally think that's reasonable for a good one, to someone in the market.


And while I agree the 388 is sonically flawed, I think a good analogy is like an instant film camera. It is fun to use, instant gratification, self contained, has a characterful tone (good or bad depending on the goal), and is far less expensive to use than something Pro level.

Banana Crotchbuckle
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Re: The Tascam 388

Post by Banana Crotchbuckle » Thu Nov 16, 2017 6:44 am

I have a 388 question (good to see this thread is still alive). Had one for years, sold it for a move, picked up another recently and except for some blown lamps the sucker is 100% - except for one thing: when a track is recording there is an audible pop on the tape (recorded) one full revolution of the reel later on any track that is recording. What the hell is that?
i 've got my own map, sucker

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shedshrine
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Re: The Tascam 388

Post by shedshrine » Sat Feb 03, 2018 7:39 pm

.
EDIT: PHotobucket is under new management or something, all photos have been restored. I was dreading the thought of replacing every freaking image on the first 8 pages or so of this thread.
Last edited by shedshrine on Sat May 19, 2018 7:42 pm, edited 2 times in total.

mjt335
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Re: The Tascam 388

Post by mjt335 » Thu Mar 22, 2018 12:30 pm

Having a little issue with channel 2 on my 388. I've been through the entire thread as well as the 388 maintenance/repair thread and haven't seen this addressed anywhere. My apologies if I missed it.

I did find the same problem on this thread in the HomeRecording.com forum, but it didn't appear to be solved there. He seems to have articulated it well, so I'm copying his description of the issue below...

"Track 2 meter does not read on record function enabled (red light on track 2). So no monitoring of input regardless of what channel is used to assign to track 2. The actual input does work on both Line & mic in (channel 2) and I can record on track 2 fine enough (assigned from whatever channel). The VU meter does show signal on playback AND IT CONTINUES TO SHOW LEVEL ON TAPE EVEN WHEN THE TRACK 5 RECORD FUNCTION IS ENGAGED (which is when it should be reading the line/mic in)."

EDIT: Heads have been cleaned and de-magged and the problem is still occurring.

Any ideas or input would be appreciated!

Thanks,
Mike

zenbubblegum
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Re: The Tascam 388

Post by zenbubblegum » Wed Sep 12, 2018 7:37 am

Hi. Does anyone here know where I could get my 388 serviced in the UK? I'm in the south of England, just below that there London. Anyone had any good results with a local tech? Is there anyone still out there who really knows old Tascam machines and could check mine over? Thanks in advance.

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vivalastblues
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Re: The Tascam 388

Post by vivalastblues » Tue May 07, 2019 6:35 pm

Hey everyone. One little problem on my 388. One channel won't send, or at least won't meter on the even program outs (2,4,6, and 8) and the Right stereo channel. Any ideas on what to do here? Every other channel works as it should.

Dandna
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Re: The Tascam 388

Post by Dandna » Tue Apr 28, 2020 4:23 am

As we're all in lock up over here in the UK I've decided to go over all my bits that need repairing, and the first thing is my not yet used 388. Ive posted this before but basically the problem is track 4 isnt working when you monitor or record. the channel receives a signal but the meter doesnt register and the track records blank. i have an old tape that plays back track 4 but nothing records onto it. everything else seems to be working fine, ive even swapped the cards over to make sure its not that but nothing changed.
this is a short video i made showing the issue. would love to know anyone's thoughts!
https://youtu.be/_hqf8H-V6vY

kslight
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Re: The Tascam 388

Post by kslight » Tue Apr 28, 2020 8:15 am

Dandna wrote:
Tue Apr 28, 2020 4:23 am
As we're all in lock up over here in the UK I've decided to go over all my bits that need repairing, and the first thing is my not yet used 388. Ive posted this before but basically the problem is track 4 isnt working when you monitor or record. the channel receives a signal but the meter doesnt register and the track records blank. i have an old tape that plays back track 4 but nothing records onto it. everything else seems to be working fine, ive even swapped the cards over to make sure its not that but nothing changed.
this is a short video i made showing the issue. would love to know anyone's thoughts!
https://youtu.be/_hqf8H-V6vY
I don’t remember if I’ve answered your ask before so sorry if you’ve already tried this. But I have fixed multiple machines with similar symptoms - the channel’s fader was intermittent/bad. I don’t guarantee this will fix it, but It is very easy to determine if this is the issue. Just take a working fader from another channel and swap with the other one.

Dandna
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Re: The Tascam 388

Post by Dandna » Wed Apr 29, 2020 8:59 am

Yes you did reply before but it completely slipped my mind to try your suggestion. I appreciate you reminding me, it will be the first thing i try. ill report back!

Dandna
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Re: The Tascam 388

Post by Dandna » Wed Apr 29, 2020 9:00 am

Yes you did reply before but it completely slipped my mind to try your suggestion. I appreciate you reminding me, it will be the first thing i try. ill report back!

Dandna
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Re: The Tascam 388

Post by Dandna » Thu Apr 30, 2020 11:55 am

okay, so had the Tascam on the bench today.
Tried swapping over the Channel PCB for channel 4 with channel 3, no change. can strike off the problem being channel related.
Swapped the faders between 3 and 4, no change, can also rule this out.

Next we removed the Monitor PCB, checked it over visually and put a multimeter over it to test all the points we could, everything seems fine with the card. checked the continuity of the cables for tracks 1-8 going to the motherboard (1) PCB and the Buss A PCB, all fine again.

Ive included some pics of the head, although i dont see why it would only be one track not recording, but just included them here in case anyone can see anything in them.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/bemdfqtkxx...204_4.jpg?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/6v2u5hays4...215_3.jpg?dl=0

one last thing - after we had put it all back together as i unplugged my guitar (which i had been using as a sound source to check the problem) I noticed the needle on the VU meter went up to just below -20.
Every time i held the tip of the jack onto the metalwork of the guitar the meter seemed to register a very low signal (i was using a balanced XLR to 1/4" jack to plug my guitar into the XLR input of the 388).

Does this prick up anyone's ears?

kslight
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Re: The Tascam 388

Post by kslight » Thu Apr 30, 2020 12:47 pm

Dandna wrote:
Thu Apr 30, 2020 11:55 am
okay, so had the Tascam on the bench today.
Tried swapping over the Channel PCB for channel 4 with channel 3, no change. can strike off the problem being channel related.
Swapped the faders between 3 and 4, no change, can also rule this out.

Next we removed the Monitor PCB, checked it over visually and put a multimeter over it to test all the points we could, everything seems fine with the card. checked the continuity of the cables for tracks 1-8 going to the motherboard (1) PCB and the Buss A PCB, all fine again.

Ive included some pics of the head, although i dont see why it would only be one track not recording, but just included them here in case anyone can see anything in them.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/bemdfqtkxx...204_4.jpg?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/6v2u5hays4...215_3.jpg?dl=0

one last thing - after we had put it all back together as i unplugged my guitar (which i had been using as a sound source to check the problem) I noticed the needle on the VU meter went up to just below -20.
Every time i held the tip of the jack onto the metalwork of the guitar the meter seemed to register a very low signal (i was using a balanced XLR to 1/4" jack to plug my guitar into the XLR input of the 388).

Does this prick up anyone's ears?
Can you route the input of channel 4 and record to another track? Or vice versa?

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