Tascam 388 channel 1 not recording

A

andy_humanoid

New member
Hello everyone,
Recently I've been running into some issues with my 388. After a series of nightmares, I was able to obtain a new capstan motor and get that installed, but ever since then, channel 1 doesn't record correctly. In record mode, it will appear to be working correctly and the VU meter shows that a signal is present, but during playback I still hear what was previously recorded on the tape. Sporadically I was able to get a recorded signal that alternated between muffled and very low to super blown out and clipping. Might anyone have an idea as to what is going on? All the other channels appear to be operating fine, so I'm wondering if maybe something was knocked out of place when I replaced the capstan motor. I live in San Francisco, a city with a good amount of 388s, but everyone I have contacted has given me the same response that they no longer work on these machines. Any information would be much appreciated!
 
it may be the erase head, or the recording card for that channel. I am not familiar with that machine to know it it has separate cards for each channel or if it is a big single PCB. I am in the Sac area. have you tried Goreski ? go to analogrules.com he is in SF. Send him an email and see if he maybe able to help you out.
 
With other decks, the steps usually involve:
1. Make absolutely sure the head is clean, if so:
2. Re-seat the affected channel card, and if that doesn't help:
3. Swap two of the channel cards around and see if the fault moves.

I don't know the 388 very well, but if you look here:
https://homerecording.com/bbs/general-discussions/analog-only/tascam-388-story-286434/21/
...you'll see that the record/repro cards are behind the meters. I'm not sure which channel is which, however.

In the case of the 388 it might also be worth making sure that the connectors on the mixer channel card hasn't come loose either.
 
I realise this thread is old now but was hoping someone might be able to help me.

We have a Tascam 388, tape loaded on, plays back what was previously recorded onto the tape. When recording we get high levels on the VU meters and we can hear it loud when we are monitoring. However, when we come to listen back we can barely hear anything at all, only a very faint background signal. Any tips on how we can isolate the problems? Would this definitely be something to do with the heads?
 
Thanks.
I will buy some and get back to you guys.

Since the playback (of what was previously recorded onto the tape) is fine-does it not suggests that the heads are working?
 
izaakbinet said:
Thanks.
I will buy some and get back to you guys.

Since the playback (of what was previously recorded onto the tape) is fine-does it not suggests that the heads are working?
Click to expand...

No. Dirty heads can play back pre-recorded material far easier then they can record through the dirt.

Plus the fact that you don't yet have isopropyl alcohol to clean the heads strongly suggests they're well overdo for a proper cleaning.

Cheers! :)
 
Think of the 388 as a 8 channel mixer and a 8 channel tape recorder.Groups are busses/tracks.All tracks exhibiting this behavior? If you are seeing metering in record mode,the channel strip is working.No record on all tracks?Master bias osc. or bias control logic bad-but still could be dirty tape path...l
 
IMG_0100.JPG

Ok, the heads were very very filthy as it was just lying in this guys house for over a year. The picture shows the state it was in before we cleaned them.

After a thorough cleaning, we tested out the recording and so far have been able to record on track 6 only.

Could more cleaning help? Could the heads be significantly damaged?
 
There's no possible way to tell if the heads are damaged from a pic. Sticky shed goo doesn't damage the heads though. The danger of sticky shed-ness is strain on the motors if you keep running sticky tape and it drags the machine down.
 
Cannot stress enough that you must clean the heads before every recording session, no way around it mate - and let it dry for two minutes or so. The narrower the tracks the more important this is and the 388 is 1/8" eight track, about as narrow as it gets.

If the machine havn't seen use for ages it might be time for a demag as well.

Also - what tape are you using?
 
WarmJetGuitar said:
Cannot stress enough that you must clean the heads before every recording session, no way around it mate - and let it dry for two minutes or so. The narrower the tracks the more important this is and the 388 is 1/4" eight track, about as narrow as it gets.

If the machine havn't seen use for ages it might be time for a demag as well.

Also - what tape are you using?
Click to expand...

fify.

Cheers! :)
 
I just picked up a good condition 388 today. Maybe you guys can help me suss out the only issue I have found yet.

Channel 1 doesn't send level to track 1. For instance, if I press the 1-2 assign button down on channel 1 and pan center, only track 2 receives level... or if i press down all the assign buttons on channel 1 and arm all tracks for recording, panned center, all tracks get level except for track 1.

All of the other channels route to track 1 with no problem, so this is an easy enough problem to work around, but it would be nice to be able to fix this issue.

Any ideas? And thank you very much. This is my first post.
Lawson Feltman
lawsonfeltman.com
 
Congrats and welcome.

Heads clean-clean-clean with 91% or better isopropyl alcohol?

Can you get signal out of the BUSS 1 output jack on the back of the machine?

What type of tape are you using?

Re-seat amp cards?

If re-seating doesn't help and the heads are absolutely clean swap amp cards and see if the problem follows the amp card.
 
sweetbeats said:
Congrats and welcome.

Heads clean-clean-clean with 91% or better isopropyl alcohol?

Can you get signal out of the BUSS 1 output jack on the back of the machine?

What type of tape are you using?

Re-seat amp cards?

If re-seating doesn't help and the heads are absolutely clean swap amp cards and see if the problem follows the amp card.
Click to expand...

Head cleaning wouldn't effect this issue, but the heads are clean as a whistle.

Using Quantegy 457.

To reseat the amp cards I need to remove the bottom panel, yes?

Is that just as simple as unscrewing all of the screws on the bottom and removing the panel? Anything to be aware of before I remove those screws?

Thanks a lot
 
lawsonfeltman said:
Head cleaning wouldn't effect this issue, but the heads are clean as a whistle.

Using Quantegy 457.

To reseat the amp cards I need to remove the bottom panel, yes?

Is that just as simple as unscrewing all of the screws on the bottom and removing the panel? Anything to be aware of before I remove those screws?

Thanks a lot
Click to expand...

No. The top panel above the meter bridge has to come off. The cards you want to get at are in there.
 
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