New 388 with sudden stopping problems, please help!

[telecasterrok]

I'm having trouble with the Tascam 388 that I just won off of eBay (my first analog tape deck)....

1) I cleaned the tape heads and put some brand new lp35 tape on...
after about 2 minutes of recording, it started having the following problem: it will randomly stop after a few seconds of playback or recording, and also has trouble rewinding. once it successfully starts rewinding, though, it will keep going with out trouble. fast forward seems to always work.
I'm so bummed, the eBay ad said that it was in excellent working condition... what could be the cause of this?

[sweetbeats]

Where did you get the tape from?

[telecasterrok]

Hey sweetbeats... I got it from usrecordingmedia.com

[cjacek]

Did you by any chance have the machine shipped?

[telecasterrok]

yes.... it was shipped from Colorado to Austin, TX

[cjacek]

While it's certainly possible that the seller mis-represented, I'd also seriously look at possible / probable shipping damage. The manual tells you how to take off the main parts off the recording section and also, while you're at it, take off the bottom. Check if there is any abnormal misalignment or bends / brakes in the chassis, motors etc.... I've seen too many shipping disasters where the unit looked fine outside but had lots of internal injuries.

Unless the unit was properly boxed and palletized, I'd look into shipping damage first.

In the future, don't buy anything sight unseen, which has to be shipped, especially something as elaborate and heavy as the 388.

---

[telecasterrok]

well, I looked inside the beast and everything looks great... after I reassembled it, I put some tape back on, and guess what?... the problem has gone away. ??? I'm a little dimayed because I don't know what cause the problem and if it will return, but I'm happy that it's working!