388 Calibration / Service question...

G

Goldenvoice388

New member
So I hauled my 388 into the only tech in town - a 50 something employed by a reputable sound company. (also hasn't messed with analog in years) Also took the calibration tape, a new 456, and the manual.

He called and said it was ready to go, but after questioning him on a few points, I'm wondering if he could have thoroughly adjusted the beast.

He mentioned he did not record anything onto the new 456 - that he only needed the MRL tape.

Could this be true? Would he not need to record the test tones back into the 388 in order to set the record levels and bias? Or are these adjustments not available on the 388???? ?

Note: the main reason I felt this machine needed help was: Particularly noticable on the center tracks - when I record @ 0 db, playback is over +3. Can this be remidied without recording back onto the tape I'd be using????

He said he studied the manual, and made all the nessesary adjustments...

I'm going to pick this up from the tech in the morning, and any info I can gather now might be of use.

Thanks one and all...

Goldenvoice :cool:
 
Yeah, that is true.
The tech does not need to record anything onto the tapes, just needs the test tape to set up the levels.
You should have asked him to do a quick n' dirt test tape for you though (record the tones onto the blank tape) so you wouldn't have to use the expencive test tape every time you want to adjust the meters.
See ya,
M
 
not sure about the 388, but on most reel tape recoeders after calibrating the playback heads you also need to record a tone from a generator to set azimuth and bias as well as the metering

I'm calibrating my first teac a-6100 as we speak :o
 
Yes, he would need to use the blank tape to to set recording level.

Direct him to page 1-23, section 1-5-5.
 
Goldenvoice388 said:
So I hauled my 388 into the only tech in town - a 50 something employed by a reputable sound company. (also hasn't messed with analog in years) Also took the calibration tape, a new 456, and the manual.

He called and said it was ready to go, but after questioning him on a few points, I'm wondering if he could have thoroughly adjusted the beast.

He mentioned he did not record anything onto the new 456 - that he only needed the MRL tape.

Could this be true? Would he not need to record the test tones back into the 388 in order to set the record levels and bias? Or are these adjustments not available on the 388???? ?

Note: the main reason I felt this machine needed help was: Particularly noticable on the center tracks - when I record @ 0 db, playback is over +3. Can this be remidied without recording back onto the tape I'd be using????

He said he studied the manual, and made all the nessesary adjustments...

I'm going to pick this up from the tech in the morning, and any info I can gather now might be of use.

Thanks one and all...

Goldenvoice :cool:
Click to expand...

A full alignment includes record alignment (bias, EQ) and playback alignment (Test tape/levels).

Both should be done as head wear/circuitry drift affect both modes.

You have to record to align record mode otherwise, you can have some funky sounding tracks later on. I am guessing it is a two head machine as those are a pain in the rear to align in record. Three head decks are easy.
 
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