Tascam 244, picked up today

WhinyLittleRunt

WhinyLittleRunt

Member
Just got this from a friend of mine who has been sitting on it a while, got it with a heap of other crap a while back and I remembered he had it.







Clearly the main capstan belt melted and the other, smaller belt (don't know what you call it) is wicked loose, so I'll need a kit. The record button cover is broken slightly but it still makes contact with the button inside. The only thing I'm not sure about is the record function light is on and blinking constantly. I have a feeling that isn't right but I know next to nothing about the 244 and Tascam is known to make simple things obnoxiously hard... Otherwise all channels seem to work as far as passing signal through to phones, and they sound good too.. I guess this is one of the bonuses of the 244, eh? Besides the obvious cosmetic issues it's in otherwise nice shape, just needs a serious cleaning. We knew there might be issues so he offered it to me for $20 but I gave him $40 because even if there are more issues, 20 bucks just felt like I was robbing him. I figured I could use this as either a goof-around recorder or for sub-mixing some basic tracks and passing them to my 388 on 2 channels. I've heard really good things about the 244 so this felt like a good opportunity. Now I just have to get some tapes and belts.

EDIT: Also can't say much about the heads and can't really get a good photo, but they "look" ok..
 
great find. the recording light will blink constantly if the top record function switch is set to either synch or 4 track record. try replacing the belts and rollers and it might be alright.
 
244a.jpg

I think right here...

The other belt that is loose is the control belt. I new capstan drive belt and control belt may be all that's wrong with it. Looks nice!
 
WhinyLittleRunt said:
I thought so too but that cable is connected.. Weird. I can take a better pic later, I just found that odd..
Click to expand...

It's been a while since I've been in a 244. It looks like there is nothing clipped on that jack I put the arrow on, but hard to tell from the pic. On the other hand that loose wire could be a test point for calibration. I still have the 246, but its just been to long for me to remember the details of the 244.
 
I think I remeber seeing a wire like that in my 244 when I opened it up ages ago. Not 100% sure though.
It just rings a bell when I see that pic.
 
The Connector...

is a continuity connector of some sort that piggybacks one channel strip to another, possibly a simple power connector. If you look closely, that connector originates on one channel card and plugs into the card on it's right, (in upside down orientation looking into the guts). Each channel strip, starting with the one most toward the center (4) is plugged into it's subsequent neighboring channel card. When you get to the right edge, (1), there is no further channel card to plug into, so it sits there unconnected, which is normal.

:spank::eek:;)
 
Anyway,...

it looks like you scored. A couple belts and you should be okay. You may be able to buy a replacement button switch assembly from Tascam or eBay. It looks pretty clean.
:spank::eek:;)
 
So I've got everything back together, new belts and idler tires (er, O-rings from Home Depot.. thanks Dave!).

The capstan motor is squealing a little, i dropped a dab of oil on the spindle and it seemed to make it a little better but it's still there. I will say, that for a 4-track cassette recorder this thing is really nice. I am still getting around the quirky Tascam layout and procedure, but one thing I do notice is that I get a 'breathy' pumping sound of quick hiss on playback, and quiet during the quieter parts... I'm taking a guess it's the DBX and may be needing a calibration. Does that make sense how I described it? The other thing is I am using a normal bias cassette, because that was the only brand new tape I had left hanging round..
 
Get some "studio master" high bias tapes from NAC (national audio company). They are the best tapes currently on the market.

The 244 is AMAZING.
 
WhinyLittleRunt said:


Rut roh? Where does this go to? There doesn't even seem to be a place to connect it...
Click to expand...

I believe it has to do with a dbx bypass for calibration since the dbx is not switchable. I seem to recall this from when I made some custom connectors for cjacek to be able to record and reproduce on his 244 without dbx. I think you're A-OK there with that dangling connector.
 
...

sweetbeats said:
I believe it has to do with a dbx bypass for calibration since the dbx is not switchable. I seem to recall this from when I made some custom connectors for cjacek to be able to record and reproduce on his 244 without dbx. I think you're A-OK there with that dangling connector.
Click to expand...
The connector is a daisy chain type thing on the channel card, so I don't believe it's dbx related. I've never seen anything about a dbx bypass for calibration on the 244, but I'll check the service manual again.
:spank::eek:;)
 
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