Tascam 244 Project

Trovador98

Trovador98

New member
Hi guys,

So after my success getting a cheap craigslist 464 up and running (recall that somebody used a ordinary blue rubber band for the capstan belt and it threw shredded rubber all over the place) I decided to have a try at the 244 that I picked up for $50.

It looks to be in fairly good shape with the exception of all of the transport related buttons are misaligned. After getting it I realized that the buttons are fused to the face plate and have little plastic tabs that are meant to flex. My guess is that they are all broken off the tabs. Not sure how Im going to handle that yet. Ideas?

First thing's first - I can't seem to be able to pull off the dual function knobs! Is there a trick to this or should I get a tool to help me yank them off? I was pulling pretty hard with my fingers.

Back plate is easy to get off and I found nasty black tar where there once was a capstan and control belt. It's crazy....all of the rubber in this thing had virtually turned back into crude oil. I cleaned it up with 100% isopropanol and about 100 q-tips.

Belts and idler tires ordered.
I have a new pinch roller for my 246 that I assume will work. Need to replace VU bulbs then figure out these broken buttons.

But how do I pull these knobs!?! Haha...

Brian
 
Brian - the dual function knobs do come off - mine were difficult and I had to lever them off by carefully slipping a screwdriver (5 mm or so blade) beneath the lower sleeve.

The transport tabs on one of my machines were all broken - I managed to fix it by taping a piece of leather over the buttons on the chassis and taping the tops of the control in place on the bottom of face plate. Still working after 6 months use!

If you have lots of black tar everywhere some might have got on the motor spindles and slowed them down - I found the control motor on mine had completely seized because of this - but was ok after cleaning.

Hope this helps. Best of luck!


PS I put LED lamps in one of my 244s and they seem to work ok
 
The pinch roller is the same on the 244 and 246 so yr straight there. That Dr Zee site should be yr savior for all things 244 so definitely check it out. I've found that removing the face and replacing the idler tires only, opposed to the whole idler housing assembly, is pretty tough but has to be done as Tascam doesn't sell that part anymore.

The buttons issue may prove challenging too. Def keep an eye out for parts on that auction site that everybody is talking about ;)
 
Yes. Check the Dr.Zee site. I used that when fixing up my 244. Belt change,idler tires and pinch roller.
 
You should put up a picture of what the transport button guys look like. If it is the same assembly as the 234, I have the assembly I could sell for a reasonable price.

PM me.
 
Findlay said:
The transport tabs on one of my machines were all broken - I managed to fix it by taping a piece of leather over the buttons on the chassis and taping the tops of the control in place on the bottom of face plate. Still working after 6 months use!

I put LED lamps in one of my 244s and they seem to work ok
Click to expand...

Hi Findlay

I'm very interested that leather fix for the buttons. Do you have any pictures?

Also, can you direct me to the LED lamps that worked for you?

Cheers!
 
Sorry I haven't got any pics of the leather fix - I'll post them next time I open up but it will be a while until I get back to the location I have that machine. It is dead easy - I just cut a patch of leather to cover the the buttons on the metal chassis about the same size as the plastic button assembly on the top plate and stuck it down onto the chassis with a strip of gaffa tape at the top. Then fixed the plastic buttons in place under the top plate with another strip of gaffa tape running along the at the top. I used a separate small bit of leather for the cassette lid button, which had also broken. I'd definitely take up Sweetbeats' very kind offer though if the 234 parts fit.

Here's is a link to the LEDs - I bought tham from eBay's UK site and used warm white 5mm:

Diffused LEDs 1.8mm/3mm/5mm Red,Blue,White,Green,Yellow,Orange - 1st CLASS POST | eBay

You need to get a trimmer pot to go with each LED to control the brightness - I think I used 250K verticals and set them around halfway. It all fits OK in the VU bay. They use much less current than the original lamps and are virtually everlasting. I like to use the VU meters on this machine as a monitor for a digital Tascam recorder, which has hopeless metering, knowing they will never blow!

Hope this helps!
 
Findlay said:
You need to get a trimmer pot to go with each LED to control the brightness - I think I used 250K verticals and set them around halfway. It all fits OK in the VU bay. They use much less current than the original lamps and are virtually everlasting. I like to use the VU meters on this machine as a monitor for a digital Tascam recorder, which has hopeless metering, knowing they will never blow!
Hope this helps!
Click to expand...

Does that mean it's using a DC bus for the lamps on this machine? I replaced all the bulbs on my MX80 with LEDs, but they run off 6VAC so they flicker at 25Hz which can be annoying sometimes, especially when trying to shoot video of the thing.
 
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