Help! I hurt my Tascam 388, degaussing went wrong!

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Notsmiles

New member
Hello, new to the forum.
I was recently just digging into my tascam, finally about to record on it.

Cleaned the heads, made sure it was unplugged, turned the degausser on 6 feet yadayada. Got to the end of the head stack, and the degausser i was using has a pushbutton to operate and I released it only an inch from the heads.

I know I screwed up really bad, but is there any way my heads are still okay? How would I test to see if they have a charge?
Someone please help me, these heads were immaculate, and it's seemingly impossible to find a replacement set:confused:

Someone help me
 
Yes I think you must need to confirm that they're damaged.

And having a push button on a Demagnetizer seems like a really bad idea because of what you just described.
 
IIRC the symptom of magnetised heads is that tape passing over it will have the high frequencies erased somewhat. So it might be worth recording 10Khz, 16Khz or whatever the 388 can comfortably handle and see if that deteriorates over multiple playbacks.

That said, I agree with the others - repeat the degaussing process.
 
Okay so I redegaussed, used a new non push button model. Tried record but on playback I could just barely hear the recording. Are my heads shot? Should I have used the other wand?
 
Bring a nail next to the heads...if it gets pulled out of your hands and stuck to the heads...they're shot. :p ;)



I seriously doubt that you ruined the heads.
There have been tests done that 100% disprove the myth that if you accidentally shut a head degausser off too close/too soon, it will permanently damage the heads.
 
tape is threaded correctly. The only thing that could be wrong is the PGM master faders got bent, and the connections might be failing, but would that just make the volume low, or would it cut out the volume completely.

There's recordings on the tape from me and the previous owner's band, i can adjust with the the submixer and the stereo master fader.
 
Are you experienced at recording? When you recorded did the levels show the proper levels? On playback did you try just the recorder or did you try it on another machine?. Also the question has to be asked, are you sure it worked before you Degaussed the heads?
If someone else has a new machine and is reading this, TRY the darned thing before you start messing with it, and if it aint broke don't fix it...
Sorry to sound harsh, but just like computers, when I did Tech support for Gateway, I saw so many computers rendered inoperable by people flashing the BIOS and having it go wrong, when there were no issues with them except a newer rev was out..
I wish you well and hope you get it straightened out.
 
I have recorded before, I had the levels set up exactly as the manual directed. To playback I just rewound it on the same machine. I hadn't tested it before I degaussed it. I should have, that i know now. I purchased it from a guys who's band used it back in the 90's to record a couple albums, one of which I have on the tape I used. It's VU meters flash at the correct levels, everything seems to check out. And before it was stored for 10+ years it was gone through completely by a local electronics shop, and brought up to spec.

The only thing that I can see being damaged that would cause the monitor problem would be the PGM Master faders because they are right before the monitor submix, but I can adjust the submix and it affects the sound. I can hear sounds they are just very muted. And like I said the fader shafts got bent, and it broke one of the knobs, but if they were damaged would any signal be going through. Or does this just sound like a user error? I have reread the manual countless times and it seems like I have it in playbakc mode, it's just quiet.
 
Perhaps this has been asked before but have you tried a different tape?, or different Microphone? What Mic are you using? Are you recording line in from a guitar or other instrument? If using a Mic is it Dynamic or a Condenser? if it is Condenser do you have the phantom power switch on, or have good batteries in the mic? Just so many questions....
 
Let's assume for a sec that it's user error and what you're hearing is crosstalk rather than the proper output signal

What outputs are you listening off of? Have you tried using the headphone output?
Assuming that you've plugged the thing into an amplifier, have you tried listening to all of the following:
The main output bus?
The monitor bus?
By they looks there's 8 outputs for an external mixer. Have you tried listening to those?

Also, looking at pictures of the thing there seems to be an output section on the far right, just under the transport. I can see a volume control, and a set of push-buttons. Is the 'stereo' pushbutton enabled?
 
I am using the headphone output, and it is a low volume. I have recorded tracks onto brand new RMGI LPR35 tape (the proper modern equivalent of the tape the machine was made to use), so it can't be sticky shed.

The PGM Master faders that feed into the monitor submix on the Tascam 388 got bent, and I am wondering if this would affect the output volume. I have everything set correctly to listen back, I have followed directions correctly from the manual, but it is quiet and the PGM Master Faders do not do anything to affect the volume, and I think that might be the problem as they got bent fairly badly so maybe they need reseated?

Can someone with experience on a 388 tell me if I'm in need of new PGM Master Faders or not? Or does it sound like a didn't press a send button?
 
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The faders may be repairable, but I'd have to see inside. You can open them up. There are small metal tabs that are bent to hold the resistive element to the fader body. Use needlenose pliers to carefully bend the tabs straight and lift off the bottom of the fader...be mindful of the orientation of the parts...they need to go back together they same way they came apart.

But aside from the messed up faders issue, if adjusting the position of the BUSS MASTER faders doesn't change the level of the signal going to the monitor mixer, I think something else is going on. Damaged faders either don't work at all, or work intermittently...but if they are passing signal it should be affected by the position of the slider.

I have a hunch you are having a problem with the hex inverter U4 on the BUSS B PCB. That chip is responsible for auto-switching the source when you have MONITOR selected over by the headphone level pot. U4 switches the source to the L-R BUSS from the MONITOR BUSS if any of the L-R assign switches are latched (in the down position). It also mutes the output of the monitor mixer. I've experienced a couple different scenarios when U4 fails. Your symptoms seem like they might fit into one of those two categories.

When you are listening in the headphones, with all L-R assign switches in the up position, you say the BUSS MASTER faders have no effect on the level. Do the monitor mixer level and pan pots have any effect on what you hear in the headphones?
 
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