Tascam 388 Pitch / Speed issues Help

T

tinymotel

New member
Hey guys,

So I have an ill 388 here. On play, it's not holding it's pitch and is playing almost half speed. Though it sounds hillarous, I'd love to try and fix her up :)

Here's a quick video: (apoligies for the short clip, not much room on my phone)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Fu7vsl87gY

That track should be about twice as fast... At time's it seems like it's going to slow all the way to a stop but doesn't. I've switeched through the various speed modes and it doesn't seem to make a difference. Also it seems like the pitch control is having minimal effect to help the situation.

I figured someone here might have some knowledge to point me in the right direction towards trouble shooting.

So far I've just tried basic stuff. IE clean the tape path, tried a different reel of tape. I just put a new capstan belt on it, new reel tables and had it serviced less than a year ago. (though the tech took almost 6 months to get it back to me, so I'm hoping I can DIY the problem.)

Anyway, any pointers as to what I should check out first?

Thanks!
 
Are the tension arms varying their position with the speed changes? What is their average position when its playing? The video is so dark I can't really see anything. I'm not needing to *hear* what's going on...I need to *see* what's going on. Can you get it to reach a normal playback speed if you gently pull the right tension arm toward the front of the machine?
 
Hey thanks for the response!
Just my luck, I went down to check it just now and now I'm not even able to get it to play...

I flipped it over and the belt is still on tight.

It will rewind and fast forward and the load function still is working. I'm able to get both motors moving if I manually lift the tension rod with no tape, so I'm guess it's not a dead motor.

Does this sound like maybe a tension adjustment might be in order?

Just to note... The tension rods are slightly uneven when ff/rwd is engaged. (Not sure if that's normal or not) left rod closer to left reel on rwd and opposite for ff.

Thanks for helping me out!
 
Oh +1 to that ^^^^.

I was thinking not tape because you said you switched tape, but it could all be bad. It sounds like either tension adjustment issues or bad tape. I second lonewhitefly...what kind of tape are you using?
 
I've been using the RMGI LPR-35 tape. I only tried two reels, which both have had some use. Guess I'll dig into my tapes and see if another one will play.

Though I think it may be an issue with the capstan motor. After further investigation, I realized today that when I lift the right tension arm, I'm not seeing or hearing the capstan engage. (No tape loaded) It should right? I could be wrong, but I seem to remember being able to hear it turn on...

Thanks so much for bearing with me on this! Really means a lot to have support on this beast of a machine.
 
capstan does not engage until play and or record are pressed. How does the pinch roler look feel?

When you clan the machine are you finding residue?

My bet is SSS tape or a hardened pinch roller (in that order)
 
So, I found a fresh roll of tape. Gave it another cleaning through the tape path and loaded it up. Still no dice.

Residue was minimal on cleaning.

The pinch roller still has a bit of give to it, though I have no frame of reference for what it probably felt like when new...

Checking fuses is a great idea that I've overlooked thus far.

When I hit play, everything locks into place, but I don't hear any motor noise going on.

Hoping it's just a fuse! I'll pop it open and test those out tonight and report back.

Thanks again y'all. I really appreciate the help!
 
So I went through and checked the fuses tonight. They checked out, and just to double check I swapped in a fresh set I had as backup.

Still no go on the playing. Rewind FF still working, though rewind seems a little sluggish.

Anything else I can inspect before sending it off for a tech look at it? I'd hate to haul it across town only to have a tech tell me it was something simple like fuses.

Thanks so much everyone for contributing!
 
Good news! I got the 388 playing and back up to speed (almost) The capstan was jammed or stuck. I manually turned it a bit and it kicked into gear. (Not sure how or why that worked). Maybe there's decades of tape jammed up under there...

Problem is, it's making quite a bit of static noise. Here's a sample. Noise only happens on play/record even with all channels off, just the master up:
388 Noise - YouTube

Any ideas what is causing the noise or how to resolve it?
 
Glad you got it going. As to your particular situation. I dont know the answer. The closest I've ever been to the 388 was seeing it on the showroom floor when they came out.

However, with any piece of old gear, especially electro- mechanical, clean and lubricate is always the best advice I've been given.

It cant hurt.
:D
seeing the vid, it sounds like a mechanical noise being amplified.
 
When you spin the capstan without the 388 turned on, is it noisy. Kind of like a grinding noise.?
My 2nd 388 had a noisey capstan motor that was making it's way into the audio circuitry. When I spun the capstan while the unit was off, it was noisy, like there was sand in the motor. I had a spare capstan motor and installed it and everything worked great. I figured the old motor was shot so I pryed the top of and there was a bunch of dark carbon like matter in there. It was pretty grindy when it spun.
Hopefully you don't have a bad motor. If that is the case, there are places that can repair them.
 
Hey, thanks for that info J.Harv.

That sounds exactly like what I have going on here. I wonder if a through cleaning will help it out... The capstan definitely has a grinding noise when the deck is off and I rotate it manually.

I scored this 388 at an electronics recycling center 3 or 4 years ago. Don't think they really knew how to test it and were selling it for parts / not working. I saw it powered up and could hear the motors working when I pulled the tension arm at the recycling center. Walked out with it for $100 figuring it would be a cool project to get up and running. I got it home that day, loaded some tape and everything worked great except for a few VU lights.

Moral to the story being... I have no idea where this thing has been, or how many decades worth of dirt, grime and shed tape are jammed up under the deck there. I've never taken the reel section apart to look at what's going on in there or to clean it. This is probably a good opportunity to do so. Hopefully a new motor is not needed.

Does anyone have any tips when it comes to getting in there and cleaning it out? Always good to know where there's a possible washer that might drop out into the abyss of the circuit board or a spring that's gonna pop out at you.

Thanks!
 
You want to be careful with the capstan motor. It is a precision DC servo motor and they are sealed...in other words you're not dealing with an issue of dirt getting in, you are dealing with an issue of internal material disintegrating. And I honestly don't know how well you'll be able to disassemble and precisely reassemble. I've always figured if there are problems with a motor of that type, its time to source a new/used replacement, or find a shop capable of rebuilding them.

The symptoms described are consistent with a dead/dying capstan motor. That being as it is it may not be much of a loss if you make it worse by trying to get some more life out of it. Just make sure you have a clean place to work on it, and I'd suggest a soft longer bristled brush (like a good quality paint brush) for dusting whatever the loose material is out of it...be careful using compressed air to clean in this case to avoid blowing matter further in to where you don't want it. Make sure if it is a case that comes apart in an upper and lower half or something like that, you mark before disassembly to make sure it goes back in the same alignment...those are some thoughts off the top of my head.
 
Thanks for chiming in with that sweetbeats, and for the heads up before I went all Macgyver on this thing and possibly made it worse. Sounds like a tech will probably be in order and a possible re-build since parts seem to be few and far between./

Thanks!
 
You're quite welcome. You know, it might be crazy, but I make it a habit of checking with Teac Parts in Montebello CA. Can't recall the number off the top of my head, but Google it. It is possible they still have new capstan motors for the 388 and sometimes the prices are worth noting the bullet. Precision rebuild services on a small DC motor like that may or may not be cheaper than just getting a new motor if it is available.
 
Awesome, thanks for that. Just shot teac/tascam parts emails. I seem to remember them not having much for the 388 when I've looked for other parts in the past, but always worth a shot!

I'll let ya guys know how it goes
 
It is best to call.
I sent an email requesting to purchase an M520 manual over 7 months ago. Still unanswered.
 
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