Do I take this risk?

  • Thread starter Thread starter nate_dennis
  • Start date Start date
4.5 hrs left. Any input would be much appreciated.
 
If you want it Nate then sure, why not. Depending of course on what you want to punt for it. I think there's enough experience on this board to help you out with anything that may be awry with it. They seem to be well loved by those who've got them. It seems okay and the guy's got good feedback. If it were going here in Aus I'd have a go. Usual caution about packing and shipping if you win

:)
 
yeah, I'd have a chat with him about shipping. I just know that sometimes, guys on here can look at pics and diagnose problems that I wouldn't know about. Just making sure there isn't anything like that going on.

I appeciate the feedback.
 
If you have to ship it, I'd forget about it. It would probably cost more than this poor 388 is worth. That thing would need to be palletized or crated and / or sent by a moving company truck. Too risky, too expensive and too many unanswered questions. It may be a good parts machine or a project. I doubt it's a plug & play condition unit, judging by its appearance and negligence. If the heads are toast, it's a door stop.
 
Good points, should have thought about that a bit more :o
 
I fucking hate proximity disorder!!!!! There are never any decks nearby. There is almost nothing in my general area!!! It's so infuriating.

Thank you for your feedback guys. I guess I'm passing on it.
 
Boy, Nate...

Here's how I would think about it...If I was going to get it the only reason I would get it is as a parts deck...not because it is necessarily in known "parts deck" condition (i.e. non-functional...I mean, who knows if it works but we don't know that it doesn't...), but because that way I wouldn't be disappointed when it got to my place all torqued and beat up. If it DID arrive okay then hey-hey what a pleasant surprise.

There's no drama here...the 388 features a formed steel chassis. It is sturdy, but it is a fairly flat object with a relatively large amount of surface area, and it is weighty. I don't care how well it gets boxed up (and most people just aren't going to take the time and expense to do it right no matter what they say)...one drop to a corner or on an oblique and something is liable to get damaged...permanently.

It looks to be all there...it looks like they may have yanked the wrist-rest upholstery off and painted it black or something...funky bidness going on there...the red LED that is "missing" is not...just got pushed in and over to the side. Totally repairable.

So that's my advice. If you want a 388 bad enough that you are going to start building a spare parts bank now (by getting this "parts deck"), and you can get it at a decent price, then maybe so...but I would bet money that it'll come to you in some state of damage unless (like cjacek said) it gets palletized. I own a 388 and I'd ship it no other way.

I mean, I bought a 234 cassette deck that wasn't packed well and it got totalled. The 388 is nearly 4x the weight and takes up more than 4x the amount of area, and the mass is spread out.

I hate to think of what is to become of that 388...in that regard we may as well be saying "Dead deck walkin'" as the time counts down on the auction. :(

And bottom-line we don't know if it works...
 
Ellsworth Air Force Base (or Rapid City, SD . . . they're basically the same.) I was basically looking at it because of it's price. I don't swim in cash, and if I could have gotten it here cheaply that'd have been killer. But I don't want throw money into a pit.

Thanks so much guys.
 
How far can you drive to pick something up? What's your realistic travel radius?

I totally hear you. I sympathize with your frustration and you've been musing about looking for something for a *long* time IIRC...
 
I can (legally) travel 8 hours in any direction. Since I am active duty I have to be within a certain radius to not be considered absent without leave (AWOL.) So usually we consider dever to be the furthest, whatever that radius is around, I don't know. I check CL for colorado, Nebraska, North Dakota, and Wyoming and rarely come up with anything. Sometime Omaha has some stuff, but not usually at a price point my wife would let me buy and survive. (I could buy a studer, but she'd kill me for the insurance money to get that money back . . . . so not really worth it. :-) )

I have a 488 that works (save for the belt that needs replacing.) But I have really been drooling over 388s since I "found" analog. Anyway. It's all good.
 
I'll try to remember those locations.

I see stuff come up in Colorado relatively frequently...you're right though that a lot of the activity is polarized to the coasts.

You might consider setting up an RSS feed for a wider area because you might find a seller that will meet you halfway.
 
nate_dennis said:
Ellsworth Air Force Base (or Rapid City, SD . . . they're basically the same.) I was basically looking at it because of it's price. I don't swim in cash, and if I could have gotten it here cheaply that'd have been killer. But I don't want throw money into a pit.

Thanks so much guys.
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Home of the former 44th SMW. We (351st SMW) beat you guys for the Blanchard trophy in '81, and you guys got it in '82.

Good times back then.
 
As others have said, shipping it right is going to be expensive, and may exceed the value of the machine itself. $150 via UPS frankly is low. It cost me $120 + materials to box up and ship a MSR-16. It weighs about the same as the 388 (80 pounds) but Sweetbeats is correct, the size makes it a difficult transport and something that should be handled by a freight hauler.
 
Ok mister positive here.:rolleyes: I wouldnt waste my time or money on a 388 after having 3 of them. They are a pain to ship and get anywhere in one piece. If something is wrong with them you better know your stuff and be able to work on it. If you have to take a channel card out of a 388 you are risking a big chance of breaking the couplers for the card and its not a easy fix. All the plastic in the cards on these is getting brittle and cant be trusted.
The total of 388,s you see with problems is huge. Out of the 3 I had 2 worked for a while but then it came down to all 3 crapping out with little use.
I dont know why everyone wants one when your chances of getting a good 38 48 or 58 tascam is better with better fidelity.
The 388 is hard to move around your house if you want One person cant just take it out and put it in his car.
And there is nothing better about the sound of a 388 over a 38.
Yes they look cool are may have been a good idea when they came out years ago but now I would never buy one unless I was able to go look at it and run it through every test you can imagine.
Some thing that you will notice on this board about the 388 when someone gets one is that today they work and the next there is a problem with something. Usally you hit play and nothing happens. Maybe if they hadnt put all the fancy sync and microprocessor stuff in them that would have made a differnce.
But I would just save my money and get a full size Reel to Reel and be done with it and forget about what the Black keys did with theirs.
 
Herm said:
Ok mister positive here.:rolleyes: . . . I would just save my money and get a full size Reel to Reel and be done with it and forget about what the Black keys did with theirs.
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My intrest in them has nothing to do with the black keys. I'd love a 38 or 48 or 58. But the fact is that I don't swim in money and the investment of a mixer etc seemed a bit high. But I do appreciate your feedback.


as for training flights . . .not so much. Plus I don't know how many flyers you've known . . . .but they have convinced the air force to give them extra seats for their egos!!!! I spend as little time around them as possible. :)
 
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