Head Removal On Tascam 388

Robbie Churches

New member
Hello.

First post!

My beloved Tascam 388 could do with the heads re-lapping. I have found precious little information on how to actually go about taking them off, with the idea being I send them away.

Any one personally gone through the process of doing this? Tips/tricks/pitfalls? I have seen/heard a little about removing the entire block, and that wiring is connected using some kind of large push connector? Makes it sound relatively straight forward? I plan to have the machine serviced once the heads are back in my possession.

As you can tell, I am scared s***less about messing something up; I have had a go at the 3 Philips head screws. They don't seem to be budging easy and appear to have some kind of thread lock on them (I could do with someone holding my hand and letting me know the best way to get these screws out, with out stripping them :))

Many thanks!
 
Do not remove the individual headstacks. Remove the entire headblock assembly. That’s what you send off for inspection/lapping/service. The erase and record/play headstacks plug in using multipin connectors. Do you have the service manual? There’s a free pdf of it floating around. Get it if you don’t have it and refer to the exploded views in the service section for how to remove the escutcheon and headblock assembly.
 
Perfect, thanks for the tips, managed to figure it out and get them off!

A side question—is it safe to use the mixer with out the head block in? Could it damage anything? I would love to make use of the mixer into my lap tops sound card whilst the heads are away!

Many thanks,
 
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