Tascam MSR-16 loose hub

[wildflower soul]

my left hub holds the reel a little loose cause it to shake a tiny bit during playing. while the other hub holds tightly. is there a way to tighten it or do i need to replace the entire hub?

[A Reel Person]

& that's the only point available to tighten. Try that first, & make sure it's nice & tight. Tighten, but don't overtighten.

You may also loosen the hub completely, remove it and inspect it.

Often, when this is the case, the hub must be replaced, because it's simply worn out.

[analogelectric]

I had the same machine but was unstable during rewind, not playback. Tightening the top screw doesn't (or didn't for me) do much. I've heard there are certain components underneath the hub housing where plastic washers used for equilibrium wear out over time causing instability.

One instant "get around to it later" fix was to lay the machine flat instead of upright (I don't know if you have the cage or whatnot for it) but if that still gives you problems I'd be wary of a quick home fix it job. Those things are built like tanks and don't disassemble easily.

You probably don't have to replace the entire hub. If you have the schematics that should've come with the manual and you have good troubleshooting skills then take a look at the guts to see if there's any abvious wear or any kind of alignment options shown in the schems.

I have noticed that the right hub is more unstable and I believe that's the side without the motor. I think it stresses it over time and it might be as simple as tightening up something within the housing.

Gee, I wish I had my schems in front of me right now. My MSR16 is on loan to a friend of mine atm. If I happen to see him (probably won't be till next week) I'll take a quick look under the hood.

-- Adam Lazlo

[wildflower soul]

yeah i dont have the manual.. i was gonna order it from tascam this week. the hub had broken plastic inside it... i'll definitly have to find a new one. usrecordingmedia said they arent getting any for a month.. i'll have to try ebay

[arjoll]

I have nothing constructive to add to this thread (other than the fact that it would be worthwhile contacting Tascam as they're pretty good for parts)....but I just had to say that one of my best memories from 1993 was helping a friend do some recording on an MSR-16 at Radio One, Dunedin (New Zealand).

Lovely recorder, and the headroom was amazing at 15ips with dbx.

The studio time was only NZ$100 per night from 6pm to 7am, and it was just after final exams at Otago University, so we did about 7 all-nighters in a row. Great fun for a then-21 year old!

The problem was that I had to return to Invercargill before the mixing. When I heard the final product, mixed by some 'pros' (who turned out to have no idea of recording, only live sound) it was nothing like what I 'heard' while I was recording the tracks. Very disappointing. Would love to have re-mixed the whole thing, but have just never had the chance and now I have no idea if the master tapes are still in existence.

Anyway that's my off-topic rave.....hope it doesn't offend!

Cya
Andrew