Tascam 38 problems with Cue Lever

Joyo

New member
Hello, I’m a newbie to reel to reel recording and have just made the switch from portastudios to a Tascam 38. I read in the manual not to let the tape go too close to the heads when using the Cue Lever however whenever I press play or record the tape jumps up and the lever becomes useless. I’m not sure if it’s supposed to do this but from what I read in the manual it says that it can accelerate the head wear, which I don’t want. It also has this issue where at certain parts of the tape theres a screeching sound (not feedback) however this only appears on track2. It’s a preowned tape but I was told it was blank, unless the previous owner was recording a noise album on track 2 I’m not sure what could cause this. Could they be linked?Does anyone know of this problem and how I could go about fixing it. Thanks
 
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AFAIK the cue lever is only for fast-forward and rewind modes, it doing nothing in PLAY mode is probably normal.
The idea is that normally two metal posts pull the tape away from the heads during fast wind to stop it wearing them down. The cue lever allows you to move the tape closer to the head anyway so you can faintly hear the recording during fast wind to look for the start of the song (or do the cliché tape rewinding sound effects).

When the machine is playing or record the tape is pressed fully against the heads - you need this to be the case or it won't work properly, so unless I'm missing something the cue lever business is probably working as designed.
Not sure about track 2, though. If it persists it might be worth swapping the channel card for track 2 with one of its neighbours and see if the problem moves.
 
Hi thanks ? glad to know I’m not going to destroy my machine! I fell for the romanticising of analog and tape and I am just now learning there’s a lot that can go wrong, but it’s worth it too see the tape spin and to hear that warm sound.
Thanks again, Jo
 
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