For $200 I'm expecting the worst...

[sweetbeats]

[famous beagle]

Are you bringing it home?

[bachelorb]

Nice find!! Fix it up and sell it to me!!!! .... I'll give you $225......

[sweetbeats]

Yeah I'm gonna go get it, go through it and flip it if it's functioning well, part it out if it's DOA...money is a serious ongoing issue with medical debt and continuing divorce-related legal expenses. So I keep my feelers out for easy flip opportunities. I feel a bit low-life-ish for this, but desperate times...you know how the saying goes.

I'm fully expecting for $200 there are issues with the unit, the manual is a mangled photocopy, the remote is a home-brew, and the tape is all shamrock.

[RFR]

Hey why not. In someone else's hands it could be a doorstop. In your's it could become a decent functional machine that will provide joy to someone else.
So if you make some dough in the process, all the better.

[Level Anything]

Hopefully, it'll only need some minor repairs. Seems like the owner might not be in touch with what these have been selling for as they might have to sell it for even more (and probably have gotten it.) Last summer I saw an ad for one that said "For sale. 388 8-track. Old machine from the days when people used tape. Don't know if you can even buy tpe anymore but it could make a nice mixer! $150!!"

I contacted that guy so quick, but it wasn't quick enough cuz someone was already on the way to pick it up. The ad had been up on craigslist for only an hour. There's a lot of people with older analog gear that think it's worthless and just want to make a quick $100 so hopefully it's one of those situations man. Keep us posted.

[sweetbeats]

It's a busy Tascam day...

Just dropped the 238 off at FedEx...it, along with the RC-88 remote, MMC-100 interface, and a couple 8-channel snakes sold for $600 + S&H...I think I spent like $500 altogether on it including the new capstan motor assembly and servo from Teac. But that was over a couple-three years, so a little profit and a return on my investment is really good right now.

And then in a couple hours I take off for a 6-hour round trip to go collect the 388 that is the subject of this thread. Talked to the seller on the phone and he seems on the up-and-up...curious to see what I actually bought.

[bachelorb]

Made money, and got a new toy....... Sounds like a win/win to me......

[sweetbeats]

Well, the new "toy" is going to get a going-over and turned around for hopefully a profit.

On an unrelated note I'm still driving the same station wagon I've had since 1997. It's a '91 model. It's the same one I used to retrieve the Tascam M-__ from Burbank, CA back in 2009. I recall having a safety inspection done on the car before I made that 2,300 mile round trip. They told me I really needed to replace my CV joints...they said they were really bad, like don't go more than 5,000 more miles on them. The car had around 160,000 miles on then. It has over 210,000 miles on it now...haven't done anything with the CV joints yet. I will say they make quite a clatter. Maybe this is the trip one of them fails. I keep tempting fate. At least I have AAA.

[sweetbeats]

Well, for now I'll just say it was a pretty good score...more than I bargained for.