Another 388, many problems here!

[unarmedman]

Hey everyone, thanks for helping me with the RTZ problem on my 388. The Caikleen RBR is ordered, so we'll see if that help solve the tach wheel not always catching the tape.

This thread is in honor of a second 388 that I have, that has several problems that are worse than the other one. Here they are:

1) Bad distortion when recording on channels 5 & 6. They sound fine in the monitors before I record, which tells me that the problem could be in the heads. Can anyone confirm this, or suggest another possible cause? Would any of this be easy/cheap/ or worthwhile to fix?

2) Channel 1 seems completely dead, at least on the mixer. No signal is reading on the VU meters, or coming out of channel 1. I don't know how the heads are here; this is clearly a mixer issue.

Any suggestions or estimates as to what these problems might be and how much it might cost to fix it?

Thanks again in advance for any help!

-Eric

[A Reel Person]

Have you tried popping the top off and reseating the audio cards? That's always a good step in troubleshooting. Perhaps your Channel 1 may be revived by pulling and reseating the audio card. Plus, in determining what is causing the Tracks 5/6 audio distortion, you may swap that card for another "known working" card in the card cage. If the problem follows the card, it's a bad card, or if the problem stays on Tracks 5/6, it's something else,... possibly including the head.

It almost goes without saying that you have to make sure the head is spotlessly clean!... (before proceeding to more heavy duty troubleshooting).

PS: the audio cards are arranged thusly:...
---1/2---|---5/6---
---3/4---|---7/8---
... where two tracks are handled by each card, total of 4 cards.

It's a little hard to tell sometimes, but you have to determine what's more at fault,... the mixer "channels" or the tape "tracks". Sometimes an ASSIGN button or something else on the mixer channel can have a problem, and other times it's in the "tracks", and the audio cards thereof.

Ah, on careful rereading of your post, it's assumed that "Channel 1" and "Tracks 5/6" may both have a problem,... one issue in the mixer section and one in the tape section,... and that may be the case. The channel cards in the mixer and the audio cards for the tracks are separate,... just to state the obvious!

Good luck!!!

[jpmorris]

Originally Posted by unarmedman

1) Bad distortion when recording on channels 5 & 6. They sound fine in the monitors before I record, which tells me that the problem could be in the heads. Can anyone confirm this, or suggest another possible cause? Would any of this be easy/cheap/ or worthwhile to fix?-Eric

Have you tried recording channels 5 & 6 and then turning the tape upside-down so that they play back on 4 & 3? That would let you know if it's recording the signal OK (in which case it would presumably be the repro electronics not the head).

[tremusic]

hi folks. i'm tre. i am in the middle of a recording project with my 388 and i started having this same problem. track 5 is getting distorted all of a sudden. it was working fine and then starting distorting during playback.it's a track that was previously playing back fine. when panned to the left speaker it sounds ok, but then panned to the right, it is so distorted that it's almost sounds like digital distortion. i found this thread and opend the top cover as suggested, but i see 6 cards, not 4. are the bottom two cards stereo channels or something ? i assume that the 5/6 card is the one at the top in the second column from the left ? also, i tugged on it, but it didn't budge. should i be very very gentle when pulling the card or should i use force ?

thanks for all of the information that you have submitted so far. your threads are the reason that i registered today. i hope to use this forum alot.

- tre

[A Reel Person]

The cards can be a real b!#*% to get out, and you can pull as hard as you can, as long as it's straight up. Even get a friend to help pull. Just make sure you're a bit more deliberate when replacing the cards, so that the pins and connectors mate up correctly. No use in bending or breaking a pin when you were originally in there to try to fix something.

[tremusic]

thanks reel person ! i didn't have to take it out, actually. just jiggling it seemed to do the trick. you're awesome.

[A Reel Person]

After about 20 years, there are some machines that will develop intermittent connections, just due to age and atmospheric conditions. Cigarrette smoke and even common urban smog can cause connectors to tarnish, and it can be hell on rubber parts! Even common humidity can cause connectors to tarnish, after a decade or two! Just FYI!

If it goes intermittent again, you may want to fully reseat the card. Worst case, and you really don't wanna go there,... is that there may be a marginal connection or intermittent solder joint on the motherboard. Leave that for later, though!!

Cheers!!

[unarmedman]

Hey, thanks for the tips reel!

I haven't had a chance to reseat the cards yet; I'll be working on that probably monday or tuesday!

-Eric

[unarmedman]

Ok - I reseated the audio cards, which appears to have revived track 5. So, at least something was accomplished!

However, track 6 is still just a poor as before. Interesting thing happened though:

I was testing the tracks by recording over a bad take on a session for a band I recorded (using my working 388). I just went ahead and decided to record over the vocal track (which was track 6), and when I played it back, you could hear the distortion for a moment MIXED with the original take! Then, the distortion faded away and you could only hear the original take. This seems odd to me, because that would indicate something wrong with the erase head, no?

I'll try swaping cards tomorrow to see if the problem follows the card or possibly the head.

Originally Posted by A Reel Person

Ah, on careful rereading of your post, it's assumed that "Channel 1" and "Tracks 5/6" may both have a problem,... one issue in the mixer section and one in the tape section,... and that may be the case. The channel cards in the mixer and the audio cards for the tracks are separate,... just to state the obvious!

Also, for CHANNEL 1 - where do I find the card to fix that issue? Can you reseat the mixer channel cards?

thanks again!

-Eric

[Herm]

To get to the channel cards you have to take the bottom off.
The channel cards all have wire connectors to them I think there is like 5 differant connectors on each card.