replacing 388 VU lights.

[thegunshyboy]

how difficult is it? just trying to figure out if i should do it myself, or take it in to be fixed.

[thegunshyboy]

Bumpity, Bump!

[Mark7]

Hey Gunsy. Sorry I didn't mention this earlier but you might want to try posting the question at Tascam Forums.

[A Reel Person]

If you're a hardcore DIY'er, then it's "easy". For the rest of us, it's pretty challenging.

Not having done this myself, I can't give you a step-by-step, but in general you have to disassemble the 388 enough to gain clear access to the VU meter panel. I believe this is best done from the very top panel access, but there's a fair amount of disassembly work to gain full access to the meters.

Once you've gained clear access to the meters, each meter must be removed from it's mounting and disassembled further. I know that once you have the meter in hand, you must carefully remove the plastic window from the body of the meter. Then you have clear access to the little bulb for replacement. I believe the 388 (small) meter bulb is a solder-in type of bulb.

Then, reassemble all components in reverse order of disassembly.

Sounds easy, huh?

Sorry if this post was too general to be genuinely helpful. It's not like you just take off a few screws, flip it over, pop it out, and back together again. Thankfully, as far as I know, all my 388 VU meter bulbs light properly. On the other hand, I do have an M35 and an M312 that need a similar bulb replacement,... something I've indefinitely postponed until I have the time and the will to tackle the job properly.

Good luck.

[Herm]

I have taken a 388 completly apart and I dont think I would even try it and just live with it.
One thing I found out about the 388,s is that some of the circuit boards can and will break at the connections when pulled out.
Some of the connectors on the circuit boards do not want to come out and they can break loose from the board.
Its just not worth the gamble.

[SteveMac]

I've never a 388 but I replaced all the meter lights in my M-308. It was a hard to do but worth it. I had to remove the side panels then side screws for the meter bridge. Then through the bottom there were 3 screws that loosened the whole meter bridge. Those were a pain to get to. You pull the whole meter bridge up and then you have to take each meter apart very carefully. The meter boxes clear front covers are taped on so you need to cut the tape on each box to get them apart. Then you get to solder the bulbs in which was the easy part. The bulbs I ordered took about 3 months to arrive.

It's probably harder with 388 though. The 388, would I imagine have alot more obstacles.

[OnkelH]

Hi SteveMac,

Just caught this via Google. I wouldn't know a 388 or 308 from my a--- or elbow but can't stand dark VUs on my DJ gear. Sounds like the bulbs you found are the ones I need. About 3/4 in. long and seem to operate at 16v DC ?? With very thin axial bare-wire leads at each end ??. I've searched a lot on the web and not found anything like 'em. Can you give me a lead on make/model and where you found them ?

Many thanx. O.H.

[SteveMac]

Originally Posted by OnkelH

Hi SteveMac,

Just caught this via Google. I wouldn't know a 388 or 308 from my a--- or elbow but can't stand dark VUs on my DJ gear. Sounds like the bulbs you found are the ones I need. About 3/4 in. long and seem to operate at 16v DC ?? With very thin axial bare-wire leads at each end ??. I've searched a lot on the web and not found anything like 'em. Can you give me a lead on make/model and where you found them ?

Many thanx. O.H.

Yeah, those sound like the ones. They look like little tubes? They were hard to find and I actually found them buy doing a search by part number from one that I had bought at a local electronic store (they only had one). I'll get back to you shortly with the place where I got them and the part number.

[SteveMac]

I think this is where I got them. http://www.partstore.com/?s=M2K503 I thought it was called Partsolver but they might have changed it. The part # is VLL0019 and was made by Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Probably in Japan which is why they took so long. Good Luck!

[Herm]

I think the 388 uses two differant bulbs. On the large meters they may be snap in and on the small ones I think they are solder in.
But I may be wrong.

http://mysite.verizon.net/resopl6x/