adjusting wow and flutter on tascam 388

[telecasterrok]

Hi there -
I've had my 388 for a few weeks now, and I'm starting to get the hang of it. One thing that I've noticed is that I can really hear wow and flutter when recording an acoustic guitar on it. In the manual a wow and flutter tape is mentioned, but I haven't been able to find one. Does anyone know how I can adjust the wow and flutter without one?
Thanks!

 

[RRuskin]

Hi there -
I've had my 388 for a few weeks now, and I'm starting to get the hang of it. One thing that I've noticed is that I can really hear wow and flutter when recording an acoustic guitar on it. In the manual a wow and flutter tape is mentioned, but I haven't been able to find one. Does anyone know how I can adjust the wow and flutter without one?
Thanks!

Your unit needs to be serviced. With luck, all it needs is a new pinch roller but I wouldn't count on it considering how old the machine is.

 

[sweetbeats]

Yeah...a wow and flutter tape will tell you that it is wowing and fluttering...you already know that.

Like RRuskin said, what condition is your pinch roller in? How about your capstan shaft? Smooth and defect free as far as you can tell? How about your capstan belt? If there are flattened or worn spots on the capstan belt that can cause rapid frequency speed variations (flutter) or slipping (wowing).

 

[telecasterrok]

Thanks for the quick responses; this community is so helpful!

It's hard for me to judge the condition of the pinch roller and shaft, as this is my first tape and I don't what it *should* look like. I'll take some pics and post tomorrow, maybe you guys can take a look and help.
Thanks!

 

[sweetbeats]

Yes. Post up some pics. Get good lighting and get closeup to those babies for the pictures.

Pinch roller should be smooth and solid looking; matte black in appearance not shiny or glossy. Any little bumps or scaliness on the roller is not good. Of course if it is sticky/tacky at all that's an issue too.

For the capstan you can lift your tension arms to get the capstan spinning, and then take your fingernail and run it up and run it back and forth on the shaft as it spins with your nail tip parallel to the shaft axis. If you can't tell that the shaft is spinning by the feel of it as you gently run your fingernail back and forth on the surface, it is in good shape. If you, on the other hand, feel pulsing it may be bent our out-of-round. Also, when the shaft is stopped, running your fingernail back and forth with your nail tip perpendicular to the shaft may reveal grooves in the shaft. Smooth as can be? Its good. Feel grooves? not good.

Put up some pics and we can help evaluate.

A magnifying glass and good lighting is really helpful for evaluating this stuff.

To truly chack the capstand shaft you need a set of dial calipers and a runout guage. If you have anybody you know that works in a machine shop they would have these and maybe you could borrow. Otherwise the fingernail test will reveal significant issues.

 

[sweetbeats]

Here is a closeup of a good capstan shaft (albeit in need of cleaning ), and a bad pinch roller (IMHO). Though the pinch roller doesn't look too bad aside from needing cleaning, you can see the little bumps I'm talking about. That is a sign that it is hardening and sort of delaminating. It can cause playback problems.

 

[telecasterrok]

Here are some pics that I took tonight. This is my first analog deck, so I don't really know how to evaluate the condition of the components. Any advice would be much appreciated. Thanks!

 

[RRuskin]

Every thing looks pretty tired and dirty to me. Clean it and try again. if that doesn't work, take it in to be serviced. Don't be surprised if the repair costs exceed it's value.

 

[sweetbeats]

My 2p...

First picture:

Nominal uneven wear pattern. It looks as though the zenith is out of whack (the fore and aft tilt of the head) That's why its more worn at the bottom of the head. This is more pronounced in the second picture of this head.

Second picture:

A bit blurry, but again, nominal year on this lifter. Not freaky bad, but definitely used.

Third picture:

Oooooo...that's not so great. My guess is that this machine would be tough to pull into spec on a calibration, and I'm not positive but it looks as though it is hinting at gapping on tracks 5 ~ 8. Not sure if this head could be relapped or not.

Fourth and fifth pictures:

Are these both of the pinch roller? The first is too blurry to tell, though I see the counter-roller in the background of the fourth picture so I'm assuming it is the pinch roller blurry in the foreground. Anyway, this pinch roller looks dried out, glazed and hardened. I'd replace it. You can likely get one direct from Tascam. Don't get it off of eBay. It'll be cheaper and factory-direct from Tascam, and while you're at it I'd order a new capstan drive belt too. If your pinch roller is in that condition I'm guessing the capstan belt could use replacing as well.

Sixth picture:

Capstan shaft looks fine to me, but get them cobwebs offa-it!

Seventh picture:

Erase head looks just fine to me. Light even wear.

Overall impression:

Normal tired rubber for this vintage machine, you didn't put up any pictures of the guides or tension arms but based on the erase head and lifter wear I'd say it is a serviceable machine with life left, but your record/repro head is in sad shape. I'd bet you need to replace it in order to calibrate the machine and it is possible that it could be contributing to your playback issues...if the zenith is that much maladjusted you could be getting some scrape flutter off of the lower half of the head which could make things wonkity.

On your original issue though of the wow and flutter, a new capstan belt and pinch roller may take care of that issue to a great extent, and if you plan on using this machine it appears to me that it is time to do that anyway, so even if there are other issues replacing those two parts won't hurt.

 

[telecasterrok]

*sigh* so much for the eBay description "low hours on heads".
I'm scared to ask, Is there any way to get replacement heads for the 388, with out breaking the bank?

 

[sweetbeats]

Sorry, man.

I'm just one opinion though, okay? Wait for others to chime in. There may indeed be low hours on the heads, but if it is not adjusted right, especially the zenith, I would think the wear rate could be highly accelerated.

How does the rest of the unit look and operate?

Don't give up on it! And not only that, it will still function with that rec/repro head...it just may not be able to perform to spec across all tracks and whether or not your ears will hear that is unknown at this point y'know? And maybe that head can be relapped, so I'm sorry if I'm being a wet blanket . That's not my intention. Again, I'm just one opinion and I can only draw from my limited experience. Focus on one thing at a time, and right now the pinch roller could be replaced and that is a relatively simple job, and then having a look at that capstan belt and replacing if my suspicions are correct. Another relatively simple fix is to gently remove all the rec/repro amp cards, apply deoxit to the connectors and insert and reinsert them a few times to work the deoxit in. Oxidized connections can cause wierd stuff to happen.

I'm assuming you have the pitch control off and the speed control set to internal?

Did you get a manual with the unit?

I personally think the 388 is just about the coolest "semi-pro" piece of analog gear around. (I put semi-pro in quotes because "pro" is such a mishandled and relative term...the 388 is a serious and well-built/outfitted unit)

On the head, I think the 388 rec/repro head has been discontinued. Call Tascam parts to be sure. There are other options I believe, and there is always the possibility that one may come up on eBay.

Contact Patrick Hol. He's up in Canada. Contact him through eBay via user ID patrickhol. He has connection to all kinds of older Tascam stuff and he may be able to help.

I think your erase head looks just fine. I wouldn't worry about that one.

 

[cjacek]

I do agree that the 388 looks to have many miles on it. It is, what I would call, a high use machine. To put it another way, it takes an enormous amount of hours, at 7 1/2 ips, to put that much wear on that rec / repro head and I also see a significant flat spot on that tape lifter. The erase head is OK but it won't be for long.

This makes me question the integrity of the other components like motors, for instance, with that much use.

The 388 heads are not available from TASCAM anymore but you might want to send the headstack [yes, the entire headstack, if you can] to JRF magnetics. They will tell you if it can be lapped and they won't charge you if it can't. I also would probably want to do something with those tape lifters, as they could potentially shred tape.

Sure, order the pinch roller and capstan belt [as this is essential] but, IMHO, you may have more serious problems.

If I were in your shoes, I would probably find a competent tech, one familiar with this sort of thing and have him take a more thorough look at your machine. The $50, or whatever it is, may be a reasonable fee for an 'estimate'.

You also may want to communicate to the seller your disappointment and his mis-leading description of the unit. It's fraud.

--

 

[telecasterrok]

oh no....

I sent some pics of the heads to JRF, to see if they can make a judgement call about relapping them. I'll send it in if needed. I sent the pictures David Hough in Austin, he's very well renowned tech (also head audio engineer for Austin City limits), and he also said that the heads should be relapped before he tried to do any work on it...