TASCAM 388 minor cleaning issue ?

[cjacek]

Hi,

So many 388 posts here so I guess it's the place to post! When I turn the eq knobs and some others, I hear *crackly* sounds that i want to get rid of. But my 388 does work fine otherwise. I got me some 5% can of caig deoxit as u guys recommended. How do I safely and effectively "cure" these crackly sounds ? I guess I need to open the bottom and then what ?

All your replies will be apprecitated.

[Herm]

You cant do anything from the bottom for your problem.
You need to start taking knobs off and spraying your cleaner down the shaft of the control. Turning it back and forth to work the cleaner into the wiper inside the pot.

[cjacek]

Originally Posted by Herm

You cant do anything from the bottom for your problem.
You need to start taking knobs off and spraying your cleaner down the shaft of the control. Turning it back and forth to work the cleaner into the wiper inside the pot.

Aftetr removing the knobs theere seems to be like a metal screw at the base. Do i unscrew it too ? I don't see how the caig liquid can go through without unscrewing that part also. also, where exactly do i spray. thanx Herm.sorry for the stupid questions.

[Herm]

You have to just spray down the shaft where the nut is. And hope some cleaner gets to the spot you need it. Give it a short spray and turn the knob back and forth. Hopefully that will work. And is about your only hope.
If the machine has been sitting quite a bit with out use the pots may get better on their own with use.

[cjacek]

Good advice Herm.

I found that just by working the knobs, this issue usually gets resolved by itself.

[Bort9]

What cleaner should I use for my 388 that I just purchased?
also, it didn't come with a takeback reel...I haven't tried it yet because of that. It was at his mom's house for 10 years and he said last time he used it it worked fine. I got a decent deal on it so I am not too worried if I have to get it repaired... If there is no tape in the machine will I should I still be getting a signal when I plug a mic in?
Thanks

[themaddog]

You should be getting some reading on the VU meters if a mic is plugged in and everything is set right. Do you have the manual? If so, check it on, as it details the procedure for getting a signal to the mixer, which sends the signal to the tape.

If you don't have the manual, you view an online version from this thread:

http://homerecording.com/bbs/showthr...ght=388+manual

Good luck,
-MD

[superbeatballer]

Originally Posted by cjacek

Good advice Herm.

I found that just by working the knobs, this issue usually gets resolved by itself.

I second this. I've never needed any cleaner in my 388 experience.

[Mark7]

Bort.

Plug a mic and a cable from a line level instrument into the mic and line inputs of channel 1 and a pair of phones into either of the headphone sockets on the front panel (stereo only).

Assign the channel to a buss (doesn't matter which one for now) and pan left or right accordingly.

Bring the channel fader, left or right pgm master fader (depending or which buss you're using) and stereo master fader up to between 7 and 8.

Turn up the volume on the appropriate channel in the monitor section (i.e. the one that matches the buss number you've assigned the channel to) and the headphones volume level.

Put the button marked Monitor PGM/Cue into the PGM position (down).

Set the input select switch in channel 1 to mic and, whilst singing or speaking into the mic, slowly turn up the Trim. If the channel's working properly you should be able to hear yourself in your cans.

Next switch the input selector to Line and play whatever you have plugged in there. Again if the channel is working correctly you should be able to hear whatever is playing.

Finally, repeat for all remaining channels.

[Bort9]

Hello, I went through all of the channels and I don't get any signal for any of them. Could there be a fuse that is blown?
please tell me yes...
Thanks.
Bort 9

[Mark7]

That's odd. If you followed my instructions you should get signal to the headphones/monitors.

[Bort9]

Hello all, I just wanted to let everyone know that I took my 388 into a specialist of teac/tascam gear and they found 2 fuses blown. It is up and running again.
Okay, so I have one more question. Is it going to be bad for the machine to use Ampex 456 one pass on the machine if I set it up for that initially? and what is the deal with this "sticky" that I am reading about...what are the dangers and how serious is this possible problem.
I included a picture of the box the tape came in.
Thanks for your help so far everyone. I just got my manual in the mail today from tascam. too!!
Bort 9

[Mark7]

Yay for simple fixes

Hope you get a lot of fun out of your new toy

[jpmorris]

Originally Posted by Bort9

Okay, so I have one more question. Is it going to be bad for the machine to use Ampex 456 one pass on the machine if I set it up for that initially? and what is the deal with this "sticky" that I am reading about...what are the dangers and how serious is this possible problem.
I included a picture of the box the tape came in.

If the tape is the same age as that box, it's a bad one. There's a certain amount of luck involved, but it's quite likely that the oxide will come off the backing and gum up the machine.
If it were me, I'd throw the tape away and keep the spool. Buy a 10.5 hub-only reel, and wind half of it onto the empty spool (you'll need a machine that can take 10.5" reels for that).

[Bort9]

I bought the tape one pass...so the box may be old. Does anyone know what the reel would look like for the tapes that may ruin my machine??
Thanks..I will include a picture of the tape.

[Herm]

Save yourself some grief and spend the 13 bucks on some new 407 qauntegy. The 456 tape you have could be a problem.

[Lt. Bob]

It won't ruin your machine if it has sticky shed ..... it'll just gum up the heads and they'll require cleaning. And you can bake the tape and it'll be fine. Just do a search on sticky shed and you'll find out how to do it.
If you play the tape and can hear it squeeking on the heads it has sticky shed or if the playback is really garbled .... probably stick shed.

Also ... yes .... just turning the knobs back and forth several dozen times will often clear dirty pots .....
but you can't spray cleaner around the shaft and expect it to get in there. It just won't. If you get into a situation where the pots really do need some DeOxit ..... then you're gonna have to dismantle the thing so you can get to the openings on the pot bodies. Probably a pain in the butt with that unit.

[Beck]

Originally Posted by Bort9

Is it going to be bad for the machine to use Ampex 456 one pass on the machine if I set it up for that initially? and what is the deal with this "sticky" that I am reading about...what are the dangers and how serious is this possible problem.
I included a picture of the box the tape came in.
Thanks for your help so far everyone. I just got my manual in the mail today from tascam. too!!
Bort 9

That box is from the sticky-shed era. Baking is fine for recovering music from a tape. Buying used "one pass" to record with, especially from the sticky formula days, is a bad idea. It won’t ruin your machine, but cleaning sticky-shed from the transport is a nightmare. It takes several cleanings to get it all.

Buying one-pass tape can be one of those “spend a lot of time and money trying to save money” sort of things. First, with all the new tape available there is no good reason to. Second, once a box is opened you don’t know how much it’s really been used. In fact, you can’t even be sure the tape on the reel is really what the box says it is. Basically you have a zero quality control situation.

Another issue... 456 will work on the 388, but it's thicker than what TASCAM recommends. Quantegy 407, 457, RMGI LPR35, or Maxell 35-90B will perform better on the 388.

~Tim

[Beck]

Originally Posted by Bort9

I bought the tape one pass...so the box may be old. Does anyone know what the reel would look like for the tapes that may ruin my machine??
Thanks..I will include a picture of the tape.

You can't tell by the reel because Ampex used that same style reel before and after they switched to the new formula tape.