TASCAM 388: What does it mean when ...?!!

gentlejohn

gentlejohn

New member
... post -recent service, you've been recording to Tracks 1 through to 8 with no fidelity issues on that front then, completely out of the blue, you can't record oto Track 1 anymore? So far I've tried:

- Recording Line In (and when that didn't work, with an XLR Mic signal) into Channel 1 and assigned to Channel 1 . (I get the VU Meter registering an imput signal but, on playback, just a feint, barely audible replay of signal on playback).
- Again recording Line In then with XLR Mic signals inputted to any other channel (eg: source signal inputted to Channel 5 then assigned to Channel 1) = same problem.
- Recording to other tracks then attempting to bounce tracks down to Channel 1 = again, practically non-existent playback signal on Channel 1 (with barely any VU Needle movement which was animated when tracking!)

I've demagged and isopropyled the heads (I clean the head regularly as a matter of course anyway!) but still, no joy.

Any thoughts? Can one track just go down like this? (Channel 1 was working fine last session!) All the other channels are replaying back fine with strong playback signals.

I don't know what I can be doing wrong here?? I'm all out of ideas now - my 8 track has seemingly become a 7 track overnight! Any insights much appreciated!
 
Does track 1 play back pre-recorded material okay? i.e. Have you tried playing back something that was recorded in a prior session before this happened?
(If you don't have any, try recording on track 8 and flipping the tape over)

Possible causes include the relays which switch between playback and record, loose or dirty connections on the channel cards.
 
Ahh! Yes, it does. Just rolled back the tape and found some earlier pre-recorded stuff. Channel 1 is playing fine. The machine hasn't been knocked, moved AND has recently been fully serviced. IN light of this I'm scratching my head as to how/why this channel could have gone down so quickly without warning. Like I say, working pefectly fine only yesterday.
 
Do you have anything plugged into the send/rcv jacks for channel one?
You can always try the good ol' smacking of the TV set method..
Give the 388 a few smacks on either side on the wood panels at the same time. Not too hard though!
That could jostle something....and....you could try re-seating the record/playback 1 card. Again,carefully as to not damage the pin connectors.
 
Okay, so if it plays back okay, the problem is isolated to the recording circuitry. Again, a stuck relay is a common culprit for that.
If you're feeling particularly adventurous you might want to try swapping two of the record/playback cards over, e.g. channel 1 and channel 2 and see if the fault magically moves to the other channel - but only if you're reasonably confident taking the machine apart. (J.Harv mentioned that as well)

And yes, while I wouldn't recommend it, hitting can also un-stick the relays if one of them has jammed.
 
OK Guys, THANKS! Re: 'Hitting' the machine. Ha! Right now I feel more inclined to 'kick' it! I can't understand how it could possibly have screwed up yet AGAIN so soon after a full, pro service. I really can't seem to get off the blocks with this unit. EVERY time I try to make a definitive recording with it something (else) goes wrong! Hmm ....
 
I have the exact same problem with Track 8 on my newly acquired 388.
I did all what you did for testing and ruling out user stupidity.

But i have absolutely no signal not even "faint". You can read up my thread
in the Tascam Section of the forum, I get no answers there, in the
future i post in the AnalOnly Section.

Dont hit your Tascam makes you look like a monkey.

I think it's faulty Faders or corrosive/loose elements in the Signal Chain.

Update: mine is not reproducing signals that had been prev. recorded
on TR1. After flipping over the Tape and running it "backwards"
there is nothing heard on TR8...time for surgical tools
 
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...

I think you should clean the heads with some concerted effort. A stubborn bit of oxide would give the symptoms you describe. Oxide shed would be minimal or worse, depending on what kind of tape you're using.
:spank::eek:;)
 
Oh Man, I feel your pain 688! Wouldn't it be just great if important gear like this 'just worked' eh? I appear to have been trying to crack on with the 'simple art' of music making for the longest time now with this unit yet still feel I'm getting nowhere fast this end! Everytime I seem to get one thing sorted, another issue presents itself or something goes down = "ARRGH!" (I actually bought this machine to make stuff easier!)

Trouble is, I'm the least technically-minded person you could ever meet so .... I dunno? In hindsight, maybe I (re-)picked the wrong gear to make muzak with as I haven't made much at all since (re-)acquiring this Tascam model (I've yet to finish a single song in fact!) Everytime something goes wrong I need to pay out to have it looked at (plus the service co. I use are based on the other side of the country!) then, when I get it back, it's only a short matter of time before something entirely different else packs in!

I'm now about to go out to my recording space and literally just KICK the thing to see if that helps matters? Give me strength!

PS: Don't get me wrong, speaking from experience purely as 'an end user', I KNOW for a fact that these 388 machines worked great 'back in the day' as I actually used to own one, one I purchased from new at the beginning of the 1990's. Guess what? I never had ONE single problem with it! It gave me years of hassle-free music making! Sadly it died a horrible death when it got dropped down an entire flight of steps during a house move and, instead of just replacing it (it was a write-off!), I took it as a sign and, at this juncture, opted to 'join the digital age' with the insurance pay out! (Its replacement was a Boss BR-8 portastudio if I remember rightly - I only had that for a short while while before upgrading to a 16-track digital multitracker (a Boss BR1600CD) then on from there to 'making music with computers'. The whole 'making music with a computer' thing never really sat well with me to be honest yet it took me the best part of a decade before I truly realised this!)

So ... last December, as an early Xmas present to myself, I decided to 'go back to basics' and invest in another Tascam 388 unit. I'd gotten really swamped by the whole digital thing and just fancied making some simple, homegrown, organic recordings once again. That was my plan anyway! Since acquiring another 388 I have to admit - it's been nothing but grief this end, just one thing after the other!

Bottom line? It's prevented me from getting going again with the music. I put the whole problem down to: 'AGE!' The first 388 I had (a brand new 'young pup' at the time remember!) was, well, 'AWESOME'! I could just hammer it & I did! I'd throw it in the back of my van for impromptu recording sessions at: mate's houses; school halls; open mic nights; etc ... Just moving it around left, right & centre - here, there & everywhere! I myself was young at the time too mind and must admit, I rarely bothered with maintenance! Very much an end-user: 'If it ain't broken, don't try to fix it' mentality! It never had a single service in all the time I owned it and I must have cleaned the heads perhaps, hmm ... three times maybe?! I didn't even know what a demagger was back then never mind own one! This said, that unit was 'rock solid'! Built like a tank & never a single bother - it just kept on going (& going!) without issue.

That's one of the main over-riding reasons I opted to get another 388 years down the line but this current one I own couldn't be more different!!! In the 8 months it's been in my possession it's had a full service & calibration (with MRL test tape); it's been back to the workshop twice; I've lost track of the amount of times I've cleaned the heads and demagged the thing YET it's been nothing but pure grief since day one!

Maybe I've just been REALLY unfortunate but, to a jobbing musician like myself, I seriously wouldn't recommended buying a vintage Tascam 388 nowadays going from this (second) experience with one!

PSS: That said, when they 'just work' they do sound great! Hopefully your experiences will differ to mine. GOOD LUCK WITH IT ALL!!!!
 
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gentlejohn said:
The whole 'making music with a computer' thing never really sat well with me to be honest.....
Click to expand...

When I first started using a DAW I initially felt the same way. Partly because at the time I still had and used a tape deck/console/outboard gear...and partly because at the time, there was a lot of digital hating going on because it was the "new thing".

So while I had the DAW, I stayed with the tape/analog process for the most part.....but at one point I simply forced myself to explore the DAW possibilities, and I quickly realized that combined with the tape/analog process, the two could work better for me than either alone.
The real key to accepting the DAW process was NOT to keep thinking about it as "making music with a computer"....but rather to realize that process-wise, it wasn't much different than tracking/mixing to tape, you simply had a visual presentation of that process.
I mean...what's a DAW but just a recorder/mixer/processing --- in a box.
Sure, if you get focused too much on the DAW bells & whistles, and start slathering on layers of plugs and MIDI and all that....it can get a bit more involved, but there's no reason to unless you want to.
Used in its basic form, "making music with a computer" is no different than making music with a tape deck/console/outboard.

AFA sonics and certain preferences for old-school knobs and faders VS a mouse and screen...yeah, it's something to adjust to, but nothing that should hinder music production, and if anything, you actually have MORE options with a DAW, so you should never feel short-changed and unable to make the music as you imagine it....especially if you combine both analog and digital worlds.
 
you still got 7 tracks left,plus you can bounce and there is no serious loss in fidelity if you know what youre doing,unless you overdo it.
look up some " classic albums " youtube or get some inspiration otherwise. the best records have been made on 4 or even 2 track machines.
lots of can's stuff i read somewhere was recorded straight into a revox a77 quarter inch.
or just do something else and come back later, sometimes things start to work again out of the blue.

just try to start a project with only 7 tracks, youll be surprised with what you come up you lazy man!:)

when i have fixed mine maybe its the cure for yours too idk, maybe its something like a 388 flu.
its not that serious.

arp, heads have been cleaned with isopropanol, i do it again under bright
light and with zoom lenses
 
I admire your patience people! OK, I have decided that I'm gonna now go take a sabbatical and try to come back to it all with a better (hopefully clearer!) frame of mind. (This could be: in a week's time; it could take a month; possibly even a year or, maybe never - WHATEVER!) Just a final :thumbs up:(for now at least!) to say thanks VERY much for ALL your help here folks. It's been good conversing with y'all! I'm sorry for all my banging on here. Miss ya already! :drunk: OK, signing off Dudes (and any Dudette's out there too!) "TAKE IT EASY!" (I'm gonna go try just that!) :drunk::guitar::drunk: PS: Will keep checking back in sporadically no doubt to hear your tunes so keep making & posting the music. CHEERS!
 
Okay.... so now you're taking a break from the 388... open'er up! Get a flashlight(torch for you;) )
Pull out the cards and go over them with a light. Look for cracked or cold solder joints, loose connections etc...I wasn't the most technical person, but once I got both my 388's, I went through them with a fine tooth comb. cleaning everything and solving a few problems by finding a few cracked solder joints. I usually do this anytime I buy vintage gear. Unless it's something to complex looking, I won't touch it. But now, I feel more technically adept by opening things up. Just do it with caution and be careful not to break anything. Take pictures along the way so you know how things go back together. It's actually a quite fun and
interesting thing to do. Just go in with confidence. You might just come across something that doesn't look right. Then post here and ask questions. Just don't drop it again while doing so.
 
1. Remove 388 top lid = CHECK!
2. Locate PCB card for Trk 1 & 3 = Took a while but got there so ... CHECK!
3. Attempt to remove said PCB card = NEGATIVE, it's not lifting easily and I don't wanna force it!
4. Rethink problem - feed some wire through holes in top corners of card & make two little hoops in order to lift card with equal pressure = NEGATIVE! Still not coming out even with controlled, applied lifting pressure :(
5. Terrified that if I apply anymore upward pressure than I have been doing I'm gonna break the board so ... STOP!
6. Give the card a little downward pressure to each corner where I've been tugging then replace lid = CHECK
7. Go make myself a coffee and accept that my 8 Track machine is now a 7 Track machine (at least until I can get it professionally looked at again).
8. Finish coffee and fire up studio to start a new recording session.
9. Record enable ALL tracks and run a line signal to check that the other channels are still working after my inept 'meddling' beneath the bonnet.
10. GUESS WHAT??? It appears I have recorded & can playback on ALL channels. Channel One is now working again! I didn't do anything. To re-quote the title of this original post: 'Weird scenes inside the goldmine!' (In a good way this time!)

PS: :thumbs up: Extra props to J.Harv for direction & encouragement - CHEERS! :thumbs up:
 
...

Chalk up another one for reseating the cards and reviving dodgy connections!

I think if you kept pulling in earnest, likely you'd bust your knuckles before breaking the card.

When they're in the motherboard with 20-odd connections, they can seem impossibly tight!

I've found sometimes that working on either corner in opposition, it can sometimes help, rather than a single pull straight up.

I've also used a mini flat-blade screw driver to pry at the corners. I have a mini flat blade that I bent into a hook for just such occasions.

All in all, they are a tough pull and you have to be careful, but to possibly damage the top corner of the card would not affect anything else, if that were the case.

I've always just pulled like there was no tomorrow, and it seemed to give. Any subsequent card pulls seem to go easier once you've broken it's virginity.

Anyway, you fixed it and that's all that matters!

:spank::eek:;)
 
gentlejohn said:
10. It appears I have recorded & can playback on ALL channels. Channel One is now working again! I didn't do anything.
Click to expand...

Actually...you did. :)
You worked the cards a bit even if they didn't come all the way out....and/or you moved something enough so that it reestablished its connection.

Not sure if your tech did it....but with an old machine like that, the first thing I would have done just from a maintenance point, would be to pull every card, every connector, and then apply some de-oxidizer/connection cleaner to the contacts, and also clean all pots, switches, etc.

Spent several days doing just that on my 2" deck when I first go it, even though initially everything seemed to be working OK.
The idea is that you want to start "fresh" when you have a 20-30 year-old deck full of diirt, dust, oxidation....even if t works, you still want to clean that off and work the cards, connectors, pots.
 
Thanks ARP/MIRO! I'm actually feeling rather pleased with myself I have to say. It's no big shakes I know BUT from a bit of amateur 'tinkering' (sorry, read: very technical 'reseating'!) I am now in a position where I can go ahead with a planned recording session. GO ME!!! :listeningmusic::thumbs up::listeningmusic:
 
This is great! These gremlins are expected once in a while.
Damn!!! Just yesterday I loaded a reel of tape on my 388 and hit FFW and the take up reel table started to spin but not the tape! The tape was kinda jumping around in place. Took the reel off and noticed the 3 plastic tabs that are on the reel table that lock into the tape reel have all snapped off!
Now I gotta break out the epoxy, glue the 2 that I found back on and make another from some scrap plastic.
Fun!
 
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