Tascam 388 questions

icurays1

New member
I've got my eye on a Tascam 388 that is at a local music shop, and ive got a question or two about it. If anyone knows the answer or can tell me where to look, thatd be great. Does it have XLR inputs? if so, do they have phantom power? Can you bounce tracks or mixdown within the machine? What kind of inserts/effects loops does it have? are they any other quirks i should be aware of? Thanks for any help -
Nick
 
Thanks!! That is helpful. If anyone knows any other resources, websites with full specs, maybe even a manual of some kind..thatd be great. Thanks!
 
Tascam Parts dept. sells the 388 manual, @ (323) 727-8480

Ditto what wildflower soul said.

Also,... more specifically,...

Each of 8 mixer channels has a dedicated ACCESS_SND->RCV 1/4" patch point, as well as [2] (Global: 8x1) "Effects_Send->Rcv" sections on the mixer, with [2] "stereo returns". (Technically, 1- Effects_Snd & 1- Aux_Snd, but they're both functionally the same).

You may not understand the terminology I've laid out, but the 388 has more than adequate I/O for patching effects.
 
Well, we (my band and i) bought it today, and tested it out. in 2 words, its sweet. The quality is amazing compared to the computer we were using before. It's quirky, theres some things that i dont quite know how to do yet, and i will order that manual for sure. I'm kind of the recording guru with the band, but the whole analouge thing is a bit new to me. Thanks!
 
Right on, man! thanks. I've only played around with it for about an hour, its over at the band's practice space. After I do a little more work with it tomarrow ill have plenty of questions to ask. I think my first question would be what the proper procedure is to load/unload reels - I accidently rewound it too far today and it flew off one reel and i didnt quite know how to get it back on (i kind of just wrapped it around a few times until it didnt slip?) I also want to know how to mix down/bounce tracks (i could probably figure it out pretty quick, but if its easy to explain..)
Also, i dont want to be a pain in the butt so if there is a book or website out there that explains the basics of reel-to-reel use and maintenance, I could just read that instead of asking dumb questions all the time.(then i can ask specific, intelligent questions) thanks for the help!
nick
 
Congrats on that!!! The 388's great, man!!!

To thread the tape,... hopefully you got it threaded correctly through the machine,... but you'd just hold the end of the tape on the reel, and hand wind it a few turns until it stays put. Nothing too technical.

(Search "388 Tape Threading" for explanation and pics of proper threading. Read down to the bottom, for the full scoop).

Bouncing,... is done by taking your existing tape tracks and routing them to another unused track. F/I, whatever tracks you want to bounce, you'd select that mixer channel to "TAPE". Then, you'd use the white PGM-ASSIGN buttons & PAN to assign each of those "TAPE" signals to the pgm-buss that corresponds to the empty target track. You'd also have to record-enable the target track you wish to use, (REC-FUNCT button: down). Mix to desired levels, and hit [record/play].

That's a bit of an oversimplification, but try it a couple times, and it should become clear.;)
 
Thanks! Heres my questions of the day: When i press fast forward, after about a second it starts going really really fast and wont stop when i press stop or play..i have to press rewind, then stop. Is this normal? Also, is it bad for it to rewind with the tape not lifted off the head?
One more question (this is a super dumb one) How many times can tape usually be recorded over without a significant loss of quality?
Thanks again -
Nick
 
no tthat is not normal it should stop when you hit stop.However it is better to hit reverse or forward to slow the machine down.its easier on the brakes i think.Thats what tascam told me.
Also if you use the load function you will not go off the end of the tape if your rewinding.Also use only 457 tape the thicker tape is not good for the head or the motor
 
Another couple questions: How do the assign buttons work? (the 4 buttons + a l/r green one on each chanel) do they asign the tracks before or after you record? Also, is it possible to have the timecode going while I am rewinding or fastforwarding? Its nice to be able to know where i am in the tape/where to stop.
thanks again
nick
 
When you're laying down tracks on the 388's multi-track recorder you use the assign buttons in conjunction with the pan pots to route the channels to the tracks. NOTE: By using these ANY channel (or combination of channels) can be routed to ANY track (or combination of tracks).

EXAMPLE

Let's say you're recording a four piece band consisting of vocals, 2 guitars (or 1 guitar and a keyboard), bass and drums, and you have the mics plugged in as follows

Channel 1: Lead Vocal
Channel 2: Guitar Amp
Channel 3: Guitar/Keyboard amp
Channel 4: Bass Amp/D.I
Channel 5: Snare Drum
Channel 6: Kick Drum
Channel 7: Overhead Left
Channel 8: Overhead Right

Now, you could just assign each channel to its corresponding track using the ASSIGN buttons and PAN pots (i.e you depress the assign button labelled "1-2" in channel one and turn the pan pot fully left to send whatever was plugged into that channel to track 1. To assign channel 2 to track 2 you'd press the same assign button but pan fully right. Etc). BUT. Let's say you want to submix the drum mics to just a pair of tracks, thus freeing up two more tracks for overdubs. In this case you might use the assign buttons and pan pots thus.

Channel 1: Lead Vocal (Assign 1-2 down, Pan left)
Channel 2: Guitar Amp (Assign 3-4 down, Pan right)
Channel 3: Guitar/Keyboard Amp (Assign 5-6 down, Pan left)
Channel 4: Bass Amp/D.I. (Assign 5-6 down, Pan right)
Channel 5: Snare Drum (Assign 7-8 down, Pan centre)
Channel 6: Kick Drum (Assign 7-8 down, Pan centre)
Channel 7: Overhead Left (Assign 7-8 down, Pan left)
Channel 8: Overhead Right (Assign 7-8 down, Pan right).

Which gives you

Track 1: Vocal
Track 2: Free
Track 3: Free
Track 4: Guitar
Track 5: Guitar/Keyboard
Track 6: Bass
Track 7: Drums
Track 8: Drums

Those free tracks can then be used for whatever you like. :)
 
The L-R ASSIGN buttons are for sending tracks to the stereo buss for mixdown. They can also be used as an S-I-P (Solo-in-Place) button for each channel. :)
 
Thanks, man! that is really helpful. i'll have to print that out and take it over to our practice space next time. Thanks again!!
Nick
 
Aaaagh!

I don't know why I always misquote Tascam's number, since I call it often enough!

Tascam Parts' CORRECT NUMBER is (323)727-4840.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :eek:
 
As far as the tape flying off thereel, the LOAD button will keep that from happening. Thread the tape, run a few seconds onto the takeup reel, then press STOP and LOAD at the same time. The red LOAD light ought to come on. From here on out, the tape should not rewind past this point no matter what you do (except turn off load that is)
Cool feature
 
I too am on the verge of being a 388 guy. I love my Pro Tools but I can't resist getting this 388 I'm looking at for a number of reasons.

General opinions anyone? How many 388 users here love their machine and how many don't?
 
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