Looking for advice: Just Snagged a Tascam 58 + M50 mixer for... $100

Good luck.

I don’t recall what kind of detail I put in my M-520 thread about getting channel modules out, but, from memory, there are screws on the dark brown horizontal panel in front of the VU meters, right behind the channel modules...remove those. That will allow you to tip the meter bridge and backplane back like you’re opening the hood of a Corvette as one unit exposing the interior of the jack panel and all the wiring from the jack panel to the modules. When you tip that back you’ll expose two screws for each module. Remove those. Then there are two more screws at the front of each module under the trim strip that is in between the upholstered wrist rest and the modules. Remove that trim strip and you’ll see the other screws. Once the 4 screws per module are out the entire module can be removed in its entirety after you unplug everything that goes from the module to the jack panel and the motherboard. Once you tip the meter bridge back it will make more sense.
 
Awesome, exactly the info I needed to start in on this job! Thanks man!

Are there any ribbons to be careful of in there? (I’ve learned how fragile some of those old ribbons can be te hard way...)

Excited to get this bad boy cleaned up!
 
The channel cards don’t interconnect via ribbon cables on the M-50/M-500 series. It’s all mini Molex connectors to the backplane and motherboard. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t exercise care in handling them.
 
Hey, thanks for all the help guys!

Yesterday I got some time to dig into cleaning the first 4 channels and... Aside from 2 or 3 switches this baby is sounding GREAT now!

Hoping another pass on some of the BUSS switch buttons will bring them back. They're crackly but do pass sound so there's hope!

Now just need to find time to clean all the other channels... haha
 
Thought I'd give an update!

I've gotten the first 8 channels cleaned up and working nice and smooth so far. Still channels 9-12 and the master channel / bus / monitor section to get into. Trying to find the time, but getting there.

In testing everything though... I've come up on a new issue. I think maybe it needs a break adjustment? When i hit stop after playing, a little bit of tape slops out and it loses tension. So I have to manually tighten it back up before playing again.

The weird thing is that if I rewind it stops well, as well as fast forward? Also seems like the RTZ / return to zero works pretty good, but sometimes stops about a second or two off.

Any suggestions? I've made sure it's not in "edit" mode which I think would enable a similar effect right?

Also, as a total noob... Can someone explain to me the difference between "sync" and "repro"? I've read the pages in the manual and it left me sort of confused as to when I'd want one or the other. I'm sure once I start recording it'll click... But a layman explanation would be nice to have :)

Thanks everyone for all the help you've lent me so far!

Cheers!!
 
In testing everything though... I've come up on a new issue. I think maybe it needs a break adjustment? When i hit stop after playing, a little bit of tape slops out and it loses tension. So I have to manually tighten it back up before playing again.

When you hit STOP does the pinch roller immediately drop away, like prompt and crisp, or does it look even the slightest bit lazy about disengaging from the capstan shaft?

The weird thing is that if I rewind it stops well, as well as fast forward? Also seems like the RTZ / return to zero works pretty good, but sometimes stops about a second or two off.

In my experience it’s not totally abnormal for the RTZ function to land the tape 1-2 seconds off of 0. This could maybe be improved with a brake adjustment, but maybe not, and before we get into that tell me about the pinch roller actuation as asked above.

Any suggestions? I've made sure it's not in "edit" mode which I think would enable a similar effect right?

Maybe I’m not understanding what you are saying/asking here, but I don’t think EDIT mode has any relevance to the issues you are experiencing. EDIT mode releases the brakes and drops the lifters so the tape is against the heads allowing you to manually scrub the tape across the heads by rocking the reels. The servo system is engaged so you can rock either reel and the other reel motor maintains constant tension regardless of whether you are feeding or taking up with the other reel. The pinch roller is disengaged so the capstan is not part of the picture in EDIT mode.

Also, as a total noob... Can someone explain to me the difference between "sync" and "repro"? I've read the pages in the manual and it left me sort of confused as to when I'd want one or the other. I'm sure once I start recording it'll click... But a layman explanation would be nice to have

So the part of the manual you really want to study is the signal source chart in section 4-2 of the operation manual on page 4-3. The chart tells you where the signal source comes from for a particular output depending on the individual track mode select switches, the global ouput source mode switches, and the transport status. So big picture-wise I’m going to tell you to study that chart and *yes* it will make more sense once you start using it...if you’re like me, with some things I can read it all day in the manual, but until I get my hands on it and try it out it won’t click. But... in a nutshell...

It’s all about overdubbing. The middle headstack (the “sync” headstack) can both record and play, and you can select by individual track whether each track is recording or playing back. Now why on earth would that be an included feature? Well, if the sync headstack could only record, and the repro headstack (the one on the right) was the only one that could play back, what would happen when, let’s say, you track drums on tracks 1, 2 & 3 and now you want to lay down the bass track on track 4? If the sync headstack could only record and the repro headstack did all the playback, you would be overdubbing the bass track via the middle headstack while monitoring your drum tracks off of the right headstack, right? Your bass track would be out of “sync” with the drum tracks because of the time delay introduced by the physical distance between the two headstacks and the time it takes for a point on the tape to go from the middle stack to the right stack. So the sync headstack does double-duty and can record *and* play simultaneously on a track-by-track basis depending on the status of the individual track sync mode and record arm switches...and the chart in section 4-2 lays out the detail. Hopefully that helps to give you a foothold on the concept.
 
Thanks so much for the reply Sweetbeats!

I’ll check out the punch roller and see how it’s behaving then report back.

And thanks for the layman sync / repro super helpful!
 
So I finally got a chance to try some more trouble shooting.

And now... seems the 58 won’t even play at all. Ff/ Rew work fine, but on play - it engages for a second, the pinch roller starts to go then it slows to a stop (in about 1 sec).

If I pull the tension arm a little bit I can get it going (while holdin the tension.)

I’m assuming it’s either the pinch roller is getting stuck or maybe it needs a tension arm adjustment?

I can’t really tell if the tape still spills out since it won’t play. But on fast forward and rewind it stops well...

Thanks for all the help here! Really appreciate it
 
I think you are going to need to capture and post some video of the problem. I don’t want to waste your time with an incorrect interpolation of the problem you are describing.

But in addition to that can you verify the capstan shaft is spinning before you hit PLAY and also afterward?
 
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It’s hard to see in the video without good lighting and with the camera moving around so much, but is your pinch roller even moving? Like when you hit PLAY is the pinch roller snapping to the capstan shaft and pinching the tape to the capstan shaft?
 
oh jeez... yeah the pinch roller is definitely not moving down into place. Is it possible it's gummed up with something?
 
That’s your problem. In PLAY the reel motors only provide holdback and takeup tension. The capstan drives the tape and the pinch roller pinches the tape to the capstan shaft so the capstan can do that driving.

Try moving the pinch roller manually. It should move freely albeit with some spring resistance...but you should be able to manually move it to the capstan shaft and let it go and have it pop back into the resting position. If it moves freely as I just described the next step is to remove the faceplate and verify the linkage between the pinch roller solenoid and the pinch roller arm is intact and in good operating condition. If it is, then the next step is to verify 24VDC is being applied to the pinch roller solenoid in PLAY mode.

If the pinch roller does NOT move freely it is possible the solenoid cushion has turned to goo and the solenoid plunger is effectively glued to the solenoid cylinder. Again, remove the faceplate and inspect the pinch roller solenoid and see if there is gummy goo between the solenoid plunger retaining clip (IIRC it’s an “E” type clip) and the cylinder.
 
thanks so much Sweetbeats! You are a wealth of knowledge and I'm grateful.

I'll have a look at it here and see what I can come up with. Thanks!
 
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