cjacek
Analogue Enthusiast
Alright, let me preface by saying that I never thought I'd be getting a 388, let alone a low, low use, near mint one (some would say DEAD MINT), well taken care of or to be more accurate, "babied" by its previous owner who recorded Gospel music.
Though I always loved the all-in-one analog designs like the cassette portas, 244, 246 etc ... I had a secret love affair with the 388 (how sick is that!
) ... I, however, for one reason or another never really pursued with getting the 388. I already had gear and with the small condo appt that I was living in, it was certainly a challenge just to find room as is. Plus I never thought shipping a 388 was safe. Locally, in my years of living here, I saw perhaps 1 or 2, 388's listed for sale so I wasn't expecting one to show for a long while. While the chances of a 388 showing up here were low as is, the likely-hood of a low use, "minty" 388 was astronomically small. Let me digress here by saying that one of the more siginificant reasons that I actually seriously considered the 388 was after listenning to Dave's (A Reel Person) tunes on his site: http://www.nowhereradio.com/artists/album.php?aid=1609&alid=-1
I must have heard GOD, LONG TIME GONE, LOVE ME DO and MOONAGE DREAM a dozen times or more and each time I could not believe what could be accomplised with the 388 in the hands of a skilled musician. If I had never heard ARP's recordings then I doubt I'd ever seriously considered the 388, for on many occassions I read and participated in discussions on how "track width", the "narrow tape format" etc .... are all factors that degrade the sound blah, blah, blah ......... While the 388 is no 1", 8 track Ampex, it is shocking how good the 388 sounds! Add to this the cheap 1/4" tape (1 mill is recommended by TASCAM) and plentiful of tracks (8) with dbx or without (you choose), a full featured array of inputs and outputs and an amazing mixer which blows away all the Behringers, Mackies and such, 7 1/2ips ..., and not to mention the HUGE power supply (I opened the bottom cover to see) and you have a winning all-in-one studio that enables the musician to make commercial CD quality releases ..... It is only the musician and recordist who's the limiting factor as the 388 is plenty capable. I was wrong about the 388 and didn't believe it was "all that" (in the recording section mostly) .... The TASCAM 388 is ALL THAT and MORE! It is now my fav piece of gear and is one of those MUST HAVE's for the home recordist. Shit, I can even use its amazing mixer (which I feel is better than the m-300 series of mixers) to tie into and out of my TEAC 3440!
Ok, so just prior to me getting the 388, here locally, a mint 388 showed up in California and Dave (ARP) was kind to agree to pick it up for me, pack it and forward it to me .... As the possibility of actually getting the 388 off of eBay came closer I had to reconsider for various reasons, including space and logging the heavy 388 up 3 levels to my condo. Anyway, shortly after that an ad appeared in my "Buy and Sell" paper:
I freaked! (Btw, that's in Canadian dollars which translates to $400 USD). Still, I did not believe the ad .. I had to go see it. I couldn't refuse at least a look ..... So I drove in my small Volkswagen Golf and finally got to see the 388. It was exceptionally well taken care of with no dust anywhere. When I saw the heads and tape lifters, I knew the machine was a VERY low use one. Everything worked and even the manual was "mint" with extremely neat hand printing of notes to remember by the previous owner. It was so neat I thought it was originally written up as an after thought by TASCAM! LOL!! Anyway, the only reason the 388 could not be classified as new out of the box is because something, perhaps a mic stand or similar, fell on the mixer creating 3 small dents (kinda like a triangle) just above the PAN (above the slider), just above the reset button and on the actual large left plastic VU meter window (it is slightly cracked and pushed in). It was obviously a one time accident. (Pictures show it). If it wasn't for those, the 388 could be considered dead mint! (I got him down to $480 CND - he wouldn't budge further). Anyway, I'm not sure what to add to this but needless to say I'm so very happy that I finally have a 388 and can share my joy with you guys! I have nowhere to sleep but who cares as long as I have gear, right ?
Btw, my back went out, while handling the 388, and I was out of commission for a few days .....
I'm using Maxell UD 35-90 and Quantegy 407 so I hope that's ok ?
As I said before, I opened the bottom and found it sparkling clean with the capstan belt still quite tight and not loose at all .... Either the previous owner changed it or it's the original factory one ... This particular 388 is probably from the end of 1987 because the only empty take up reel that came with it states "Gospel" ... "8 tracks" and "January 1988".
MANY PICTURES TO FOLLOW SO BE PATIENT!
Though I always loved the all-in-one analog designs like the cassette portas, 244, 246 etc ... I had a secret love affair with the 388 (how sick is that!
) ... I, however, for one reason or another never really pursued with getting the 388. I already had gear and with the small condo appt that I was living in, it was certainly a challenge just to find room as is. Plus I never thought shipping a 388 was safe. Locally, in my years of living here, I saw perhaps 1 or 2, 388's listed for sale so I wasn't expecting one to show for a long while. While the chances of a 388 showing up here were low as is, the likely-hood of a low use, "minty" 388 was astronomically small. Let me digress here by saying that one of the more siginificant reasons that I actually seriously considered the 388 was after listenning to Dave's (A Reel Person) tunes on his site: http://www.nowhereradio.com/artists/album.php?aid=1609&alid=-1 I must have heard GOD, LONG TIME GONE, LOVE ME DO and MOONAGE DREAM a dozen times or more and each time I could not believe what could be accomplised with the 388 in the hands of a skilled musician. If I had never heard ARP's recordings then I doubt I'd ever seriously considered the 388, for on many occassions I read and participated in discussions on how "track width", the "narrow tape format" etc .... are all factors that degrade the sound blah, blah, blah ......... While the 388 is no 1", 8 track Ampex, it is shocking how good the 388 sounds! Add to this the cheap 1/4" tape (1 mill is recommended by TASCAM) and plentiful of tracks (8) with dbx or without (you choose), a full featured array of inputs and outputs and an amazing mixer which blows away all the Behringers, Mackies and such, 7 1/2ips ..., and not to mention the HUGE power supply (I opened the bottom cover to see) and you have a winning all-in-one studio that enables the musician to make commercial CD quality releases ..... It is only the musician and recordist who's the limiting factor as the 388 is plenty capable. I was wrong about the 388 and didn't believe it was "all that" (in the recording section mostly) .... The TASCAM 388 is ALL THAT and MORE! It is now my fav piece of gear and is one of those MUST HAVE's for the home recordist. Shit, I can even use its amazing mixer (which I feel is better than the m-300 series of mixers) to tie into and out of my TEAC 3440!
Ok, so just prior to me getting the 388, here locally, a mint 388 showed up in California and Dave (ARP) was kind to agree to pick it up for me, pack it and forward it to me .... As the possibility of actually getting the 388 off of eBay came closer I had to reconsider for various reasons, including space and logging the heavy 388 up 3 levels to my condo. Anyway, shortly after that an ad appeared in my "Buy and Sell" paper:
TASCAM 388, studio 8, prof sound recorder, in mint shape, w manual, price $500. Tel: 604-836-XXXX
I freaked! (Btw, that's in Canadian dollars which translates to $400 USD). Still, I did not believe the ad .. I had to go see it. I couldn't refuse at least a look ..... So I drove in my small Volkswagen Golf and finally got to see the 388. It was exceptionally well taken care of with no dust anywhere. When I saw the heads and tape lifters, I knew the machine was a VERY low use one. Everything worked and even the manual was "mint" with extremely neat hand printing of notes to remember by the previous owner. It was so neat I thought it was originally written up as an after thought by TASCAM! LOL!! Anyway, the only reason the 388 could not be classified as new out of the box is because something, perhaps a mic stand or similar, fell on the mixer creating 3 small dents (kinda like a triangle) just above the PAN (above the slider), just above the reset button and on the actual large left plastic VU meter window (it is slightly cracked and pushed in). It was obviously a one time accident. (Pictures show it). If it wasn't for those, the 388 could be considered dead mint! (I got him down to $480 CND - he wouldn't budge further). Anyway, I'm not sure what to add to this but needless to say I'm so very happy that I finally have a 388 and can share my joy with you guys! I have nowhere to sleep but who cares as long as I have gear, right ?
Btw, my back went out, while handling the 388, and I was out of commission for a few days .....
I'm using Maxell UD 35-90 and Quantegy 407 so I hope that's ok ?
As I said before, I opened the bottom and found it sparkling clean with the capstan belt still quite tight and not loose at all .... Either the previous owner changed it or it's the original factory one ... This particular 388 is probably from the end of 1987 because the only empty take up reel that came with it states "Gospel" ... "8 tracks" and "January 1988".
MANY PICTURES TO FOLLOW SO BE PATIENT!
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