Tascam 388 problem

[sheise]

Hello,

I just bought a 388 off ebay and am trying to get it up and running. But I am having some trouble with the Rewind function. It either rewinds extremely slowly or will rewind only for a couple seconds at a slow speed and then just stop moving. The Play and Fast Foward seem to work fine and I'm pretty sure that I have the tape loaded properly. The machine was sold to me as being in perfect condition so I wonder if it is something that I am doing wrong. I would be thankful for any help.

Steve H

[Mark7]

Sounds like a motor problem.

How are the pinch rollers?

And the other rubbery bits.

[sheise]

I believe the pinch rollers are in fine shape and working smoothly.
I assume there are 2 different motors for going foward and reverse?
could something have happened during the shipping?

[Mark7]

Could have. Unfortunately I have no idea how to fix a motor problem.

[Herm]

Ah! first make sure the tape path is real clean. It could have a bunch of sticky tape built up on everything, Also how old is the tape you are using ?
Is it Ampex 456, 457 something that is real old?
That could be part of the problem also. Dont use old tape on your machine.

[sheise]

I'm using Quantegy 457, brand new.
I'll check the tape path as soon as I get home. That could be it.

[sheise]

Thanks for the help! I've got it working now. It was the pins by the heads that the Tape Lifter controls. they did have a small build up of stickiness.
thanks.

[Mark7]

Cool

I love my 388

Hope you have lots of fun with yours