Tascam 388 weird noise.

C

classicrockman7

New member
Today I was recording the final bass tracks to my first ep on the 388 and i noticed a quiet fuzzy poppy noise, much like a dirty pot but at a slow speed. it was constant and i could not find out where it was coming from. It seemed to be only going through the output of the 388 (Which i had a grounded plug and wire professionally put on). At first i thought i had a weird power adapter for a big muff or something... that wasnt it. so i thought maybe a halogen light. that also wasnt it, so i unplugged everthing but the 388 directly into the extension cord from the wall, and the sound was still there.

I then continued to check the tascam, thinking maybe the motors where going out, so i unloaded the tape which stops the motors and the sound persisted. The weird thing is that if i turned the machine off for a few minutes and turned it back on, then the sound would go away, and come back in about five minutes.

I have no idea what is causing this. It wasnt making this noise yesterday, and i cant think of anything that is different other than the tyrential rains that often come to Salem OR where pouring.

Oh and i had the bass amp, plugged directly into the 388 via a xlr cable. but when i turned that off the sound stayed.

Can anyone Help? maybe tell me more tests to run? would it help to call Tascam?

Thanks
 
Hi there. I'm a former Salemite and a current 388 user.
Sounds like a ground loop to me, and I hope thats the case cause its an easy fix. Or, you might have a problem when sending an unbalaced signal to an xlr input.
BTW is Guitar Castle still in business. If so, say hi to T.K. from Ryan.
 
If it makes this noise with nothing plugged into it and no tape even on the machine, I would have to suspect a bad capacitor somewhere in a summing amp that is motor-boating; not charging and discharging properly.

Get it to a qualified service technician to trouble shoot it for parts that are thermally unstable. A freezing spray is generally used on a warmed up machine and parts under suspicion are sprayed and cooled to find the defective component.

Good luck.

Cheers! :)
 
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