so, I've been looking at my Tascam 38 and it seems I haven't given it a proper cleaning, telling from the way the capstan would occasionally seize up. I found that there's a bunch of gooey tar from the last capstan belt that's clogged up the gap between the capstan and the surrounding plate. when I try to scrub it off, the tarred up stuff gets all over my hands but not really off the capstan itself. I tried a search for "goo" and "tar" here with no success.
Funny, because I did a google search for "goo capstan" and immediately found a thread from homerecording.com: https://homerecording.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=158835 and https://homerecording.com/bbs/showthread.php?p=3077168 .
While we've discussed replacing the belt, I noticed not much discussion has been generated around the issue of cleaning up that stuff. Is everyone else here in on a secret and found something magical (perhaps as magical as Simple Green, my personal holy elixir) that I've yet to discover? It would also be nice to know so I can stop getting "capstan belt" residue from my hands all over my keyboard and mouse. Remind me to wear latex gloves the next time I open the ol' 38 up.
Funny, because I did a google search for "goo capstan" and immediately found a thread from homerecording.com: https://homerecording.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=158835 and https://homerecording.com/bbs/showthread.php?p=3077168 .
While we've discussed replacing the belt, I noticed not much discussion has been generated around the issue of cleaning up that stuff. Is everyone else here in on a secret and found something magical (perhaps as magical as Simple Green, my personal holy elixir) that I've yet to discover? It would also be nice to know so I can stop getting "capstan belt" residue from my hands all over my keyboard and mouse. Remind me to wear latex gloves the next time I open the ol' 38 up.