Tascam 38 heads?

[Devin Bernard]

Hi there,

First time poster here, but I've been reading the forums for a while. I'm thinking of buying a Tascam 38 off a guy in town, and he says the out side tracks are not good. Can this be fixed, or can the heads be replaced easily? And does the whole head stack need to be replaced? I've never owned a machine like this my self, just recorded on them, so I don't know lot of the technical/repair stuff. Thank you!

 

[Beck]

It depends what he means by "Not Good." The outside tracks do tend to wear out sooner than others, but they also get clogged with dirt, grim and tape residue if the previous owner did not keep a regular cleaning/maintenance schedule.

If the heads are indeed worn then yes you can replace them with new heads or less worn used heads with lots of life on them.