My new TASCAM 388 + LOTS of pictures!!
- Thread starter cjacek
- Start date
A Reel Person
It's Too Funky in Here!!!
LED counter.
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cjacek
Analogue Enthusiast
Mark7 said:Yep. I bought mine right here in Leicester (from the local branch of music tech chain Academy Of Sound, no less) for a princely £190. (smug)
That's not a bad price at all ..
I always was under the impression that this type of gear is pretty scarce in the UK and the rest of Europe, so I guess you must feel lucky to have bought the 388 so close to home ? Recently I've seen a UK person bid on a 388 based here on ebay Canada .... The shipping costs would be terrible! 
Anyway, I'd love to see your 388 picts as well!~Daniel
cjacek
Analogue Enthusiast
A Reel Person said:The dents are very minor, to say the least. The VU meter window may be gently coaxed back into place, by manipulating it from the front, and/or back simultaneously. Make sure to unplug it before sticking your hand inside!
That's my NWR page, referenced up there, (on page 1). I'm very proud of my recordings, and my 388 stuff is some of my best. I get lots of hits every month. Come again!
I love the 388, for all it's worth. It sounds great, & has awesome features. The 388 is the Stealth Bomber of Portastudio format recorders! Shh, it'll be our little secret! Before you know it, there'll be a big rush on 388's, and they'll be bidding upward of $1000 again.
The best I've done was $305 for a 388, but I know a kid who got one for $120, and I calibrated it for $80, so he was out-the-door for $200! That's value!
Thanx again, congratulations, and like e'one else, I'll await your first 388 production!
Thanks Dave and thanks for the repair tip! Yeah, I see 388's becoming the next "thing" in recording and bids going up accordingly! If TASCAM were to put out just one of its Analog recorders then I'd surely vote for the 388. It beats the HELL outta all of the digital crap that's out there now.... by a long shot! But then again you 388 guys already know this ..
~Daniel
A Reel Person
It's Too Funky in Here!!!
Yeah!
I know when I got my (first) 388, to open up the box and behold it nearly took my breath away! Since then, I've become quite fanatical about the 388, a fascination of which probably borders on OCD! (Inside joke!)
I know when I got my (first) 388, to open up the box and behold it nearly took my breath away! Since then, I've become quite fanatical about the 388, a fascination of which probably borders on OCD! (Inside joke!)
A Reel Person
It's Too Funky in Here!!!
...
I got my first brand new piece, the Tascam 244 in 1982, and I paid about $1150 for it.
My second acquisition in 1983 was the brand new Tascam 38 and M30 mixer, for which I paid ~$1999 for the 38 and about ~$900 for the mixer.
That's it for 80's gear.
I was happily recording away for the next ~15 years, then I popped my head out of my burrow, and scored the brand new 424mkII in 1997, for $429. I believe it had just been reduced from $479. Either that, or I paid $479,... and I can't remember clearly.
FF to Y2k, when I bought my first Tascam off Ebay, the 388, for which I paid appx. $712 + shipping. I was in a frenzied bidding war for this item. It came in very good condition, properly boxed and shipped. About 2 months later, it blew one of the drive transistors on the left reel motor, I believe because of static electricity, and I was doing a lot of FF/RW shuttling at the time.
Anyway, I troubleshot this 388 issue at length, and had it narrowed down to what I suspected was a bad transistor. Bought the transistor replacement, & all that, but in the end I decided it was just easier to take it down to Tascam to have it serviced. Tascam promptly replaced the blown drive transistor I'd been focusing on for weeks, and it was another $125 well spent. I simply didn't have time for all my various fixit projects. I did, however, have to tinker for several more hours on my own to get the Reel/Servo's balanced out.
Since then, it's been fine, but I've scored another [3] 388's on compulsion,... to where I now own a total of 4. My original intention was to SMPTE sync them all up for a 32-track/32-channel/32-buss 388-mega-plex,... but it's a project that's not reached fruition. The issue of sync on the 388 is a deep subject, and has hardware specific issues.
Right now, I have one 388 in the main studio, and another 388 in the B-studio, and another [2] 388's just sitting under wraps in the garage,... (appreciating in value, is what I like to think!)
I just calibrated the (2nd) 388 in the B-studio about 5 months ago, but I haven't recorded extensively in a very long time. I have the best of intentions, but little energy for projects. Working nights does that to'ya!
Oh well, big dreams and so little time!!
I got my first brand new piece, the Tascam 244 in 1982, and I paid about $1150 for it.
My second acquisition in 1983 was the brand new Tascam 38 and M30 mixer, for which I paid ~$1999 for the 38 and about ~$900 for the mixer.
That's it for 80's gear.
I was happily recording away for the next ~15 years, then I popped my head out of my burrow, and scored the brand new 424mkII in 1997, for $429. I believe it had just been reduced from $479. Either that, or I paid $479,... and I can't remember clearly.
FF to Y2k, when I bought my first Tascam off Ebay, the 388, for which I paid appx. $712 + shipping. I was in a frenzied bidding war for this item. It came in very good condition, properly boxed and shipped. About 2 months later, it blew one of the drive transistors on the left reel motor, I believe because of static electricity, and I was doing a lot of FF/RW shuttling at the time.
Anyway, I troubleshot this 388 issue at length, and had it narrowed down to what I suspected was a bad transistor. Bought the transistor replacement, & all that, but in the end I decided it was just easier to take it down to Tascam to have it serviced. Tascam promptly replaced the blown drive transistor I'd been focusing on for weeks, and it was another $125 well spent. I simply didn't have time for all my various fixit projects. I did, however, have to tinker for several more hours on my own to get the Reel/Servo's balanced out.
Since then, it's been fine, but I've scored another [3] 388's on compulsion,... to where I now own a total of 4. My original intention was to SMPTE sync them all up for a 32-track/32-channel/32-buss 388-mega-plex,... but it's a project that's not reached fruition. The issue of sync on the 388 is a deep subject, and has hardware specific issues.
Right now, I have one 388 in the main studio, and another 388 in the B-studio, and another [2] 388's just sitting under wraps in the garage,... (appreciating in value, is what I like to think!)
I just calibrated the (2nd) 388 in the B-studio about 5 months ago, but I haven't recorded extensively in a very long time. I have the best of intentions, but little energy for projects. Working nights does that to'ya!
Oh well, big dreams and so little time!!
cjacek
Analogue Enthusiast
To put this into a bit of perspective:
TASCAM 244
$2193.01 in the year 2003 has the same "purchase power" as $1150 in the year 1982.
and ....
TASCAM 38
$3693.60 in the year 2003 has the same "purchase power" as $1999 in the year 1983.
and ....
TASCAM M-30
$1662.95 in the year 2003 has the same "purchase power" as $900 in the year 1983.
ALL IN AMERICAN DOLLARS!
That's a lot of money Dave!
~Daniel
TASCAM 244
$2193.01 in the year 2003 has the same "purchase power" as $1150 in the year 1982.
and ....
TASCAM 38
$3693.60 in the year 2003 has the same "purchase power" as $1999 in the year 1983.
and ....
TASCAM M-30
$1662.95 in the year 2003 has the same "purchase power" as $900 in the year 1983.
ALL IN AMERICAN DOLLARS!
That's a lot of money Dave!
~Daniel
mikey@thecave
New member
GOT ANYMORE NUDES OF YOUR 388 
A Reel Person
It's Too Funky in Here!!!
Yeah, that!
In 1982 the 244 was state of the art equipment, and in 1983 so was the 38/M30. I lived in an apartment, and kept my "studio" in a double-sized closet, under lock, key and alarm!!
Pls see this thread for pics!!
http://www.recordingproject.com/bbs/viewtopic.php?t=9738&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0
In 1982 the 244 was state of the art equipment, and in 1983 so was the 38/M30. I lived in an apartment, and kept my "studio" in a double-sized closet, under lock, key and alarm!!
Pls see this thread for pics!!
http://www.recordingproject.com/bbs/viewtopic.php?t=9738&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0
Dr ZEE
Anti-Pro Circles Insider
Daniel! If I had a thing like this in my studio - i'd prolly' just keep it in its shiny condition as 'hot room decoration' ;-) ... seriously - it's a great lookin' unit.
while I'm here. May I ask a question. I'm on the hunt for some time now for an 8-track reel-to-reel. no luck so far
but I'm workin' on it.
So after looking at all these 'sexy photos' over and over ... I actually am thinking about maybe not to overlook this monster. The thing is, that I really don't need any of 'mixer section'... plus the size and the whole construction would be kind of a problem for me to "insert" a unit like this into my studio-room setup.... but what the heck, if the unit works great.
So my 'simple' question is (also to all of you guys, who have or had in the past this 'complex machine') ...how is the recorder/transport part of it. How does it do recording job, let's say comparing to machines like tascam 38 or tsr-8 .... I am not on the hunt for any other and more expansive machines. I have tascam 32 ... and I love what and how it does what it does... so that's why I am mostly looking into finding tascam 38, simply because it must be simpilar machine to 32. But I have no experience with any other multitrack tape recorders... so am I overlooking something? (except, I have teac a-3340s... which is great machine as I can tell, but really not enough to lay down recordings... well, the way I do it anyway, so I need at least 8-tracks) . I have started my recordings with stack of akai dr-4d(s) HD-recorders... then, computer-based etc... arghhhhhhhhhh (no comments here ) heh heh ...so there. DR4s actually sound not so bad, I must say, but since I am getting more and more into recording stuff like blues/guitar/band etc... and have got a bite of analog tape recording... I don't even want to think about laying my takes onto hard disc first.
ok, yada yada...
thanks for any tip or info, guys..
/respects
while I'm here. May I ask a question. I'm on the hunt for some time now for an 8-track reel-to-reel. no luck so far
but I'm workin' on it.So after looking at all these 'sexy photos' over and over ... I actually am thinking about maybe not to overlook this monster. The thing is, that I really don't need any of 'mixer section'... plus the size and the whole construction would be kind of a problem for me to "insert" a unit like this into my studio-room setup.... but what the heck, if the unit works great.
So my 'simple' question is (also to all of you guys, who have or had in the past this 'complex machine') ...how is the recorder/transport part of it. How does it do recording job, let's say comparing to machines like tascam 38 or tsr-8 .... I am not on the hunt for any other and more expansive machines. I have tascam 32 ... and I love what and how it does what it does... so that's why I am mostly looking into finding tascam 38, simply because it must be simpilar machine to 32. But I have no experience with any other multitrack tape recorders... so am I overlooking something? (except, I have teac a-3340s... which is great machine as I can tell, but really not enough to lay down recordings... well, the way I do it anyway, so I need at least 8-tracks) . I have started my recordings with stack of akai dr-4d(s) HD-recorders... then, computer-based etc... arghhhhhhhhhh (no comments here
) heh heh ...so there. DR4s actually sound not so bad, I must say, but since I am getting more and more into recording stuff like blues/guitar/band etc... and have got a bite of analog tape recording... I don't even want to think about laying my takes onto hard disc first.ok, yada yada...
thanks for any tip or info, guys..
/respects