Tascam 388 Not recording to tape; Help!

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boomhauer77

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I've scoured this forum trying to find an answer but couldn't.

Long Story short.
Got this used and abused, non working 388 a couple years ago.
Finally getting around to figure it out.

Filed and built new brushes for one of the motors, now mechanically it works great.
With a steady signal the UV meters all work perfectly.
Will play tapes back but won't record.

Turns out the prior owner had swapped a DBX card with a PCB card; thankfully you guys helped me get that straightened out.
Could the cards being swapped fry something inside that I can test for?
New fuses across the board hasn't helped.

I am curious if my head could be bad. I figured at least one or two of the 8 tracks would record but I have nothing.
Is there a test I could do to see if I have signal to the head?
I will take some macro pictures of the head tonight and post tomorrow.

Please tell me if you have any insight.
I've been pulling my hair out lately trying to figure this out.
Thanking you in advance!!!! 068.webp069.webp014.webp
 
Almost looks as though the tape is backwards. Is the other side of the tape black??

Edit... ooops. I can now see that it's not.

Are you following the manual for recording procedure?
 
Well... on closer inspection, it looks like the record head has had something done to it.
There is a casing that goes underneath and along the sides of the head. Yours looks like it has been
Pulled down because you can see the brass colour of the head along the sides. Looks like it's been tampered with.

You could try to carefully take the headstack off and see if the connectors are plugged in properly.
 
On the 388 the record and play head is the same head. The silver head to the left is erase, the brass colored head is the record play combo head. Thats why you can overlay tracks in sync.

The 388 has to be in the correct mode to record. I had actually purchased one for parts from someone who said it did not record only to discover it was fine and he just did not have the switches set correctly.
Not belittling you at all....its just tricky. Do you have a manual?
 
I've printed the manual and gone thru it multiple times with every possibly scenario. At one point I put on a classical tape I got at a garage sale, it erased the classical and replaced it with dead air.
I will pull the head off tonight and check the connections.
Thank you for your help!!!!!
 
Just make sure you dont remove the heads from the black plate.
Just remove the whole thing as one unit. If you remove the heads separately, then you will have to re align them which is not an easy task.
Still looks to me like the record/playback head has been messed with as that casing as I stated earlier is not all the way on.
 
If it can play tapes back and you get signal, the record/playback head must be okay.
EDIT: And if it can erase existing tapes, the erase head must be okay too.

Sounds like a signal routing problem of some kind, possibly user error (I don't have a 388 myself, mind)
 
OK, did some more checking last night.
The erase head isn't erasing.
I can hear the previous audio on the tape so the rec/play head must still be good.

Anyone know which board controls the heads?
I will check my pdf file to see if I can find the circuit.

Thanks for your help!
 
boomhauer77 said:
At one point I put on a classical tape I got at a garage sale, it erased the classical and replaced it with dead air.
Click to expand...

boomhauer77 said:
OK, did some more checking last night.
The erase head isn't erasing. I can hear the previous audio on the tape...
Click to expand...

Which of the above statements is correct?

boomhauer77 said:
I've printed the manual and gone thru it multiple times with every possibly scenario.
Click to expand...

Give us a step-by-step of what you are doing when trying to record, and what happens, like are the record lights going from flashing to steady... that sort of thing. What are you trying to record and how do you have it connected to the 388? What track are you trying to record to? What channel are you using? Can you hear the source through the headphones?

If you have the procedures right and still can't record then it might be that the tape lifters aren't pulling back far enough and so the tape doesn't make good contact with the heads. Post a picture with the tape running in record mode so we can see how it lays across the heads.

The machine is very dirty... tape path needs a good cleaning. Have you ever cleaned the heads and guides?
 
That R/P head looks pretty badly worn.You would have to address that if you get bias.
 
The pictures above are old. Since then I cleaned everything up and wiped down the heads with 99% alcohol.

As of now this is what I'm doing:
MP3 player into channel one
Pan Left, assign channel 1
Signal readings on UV meters
Record function on channel 1 blinks until record is hit, then solid.
I can hear the MP3 thru monitors and headphones.
Rewind and play back, I have no new recording from the MP3

Like I said before, I can play tapes, just won't record erase or record new material.

Previously when the PCB card was swapped with the DBX card I did have a hot electrical smell.
Since then no smell and everything mechanical works well.

If I'm missing something please let me know.
Thanks again!!!
 
Yes, every channel is the same.
Even tried assigning one channel to all 8, same results.
 
Also... have you tried reseating the cards?
Maybe even swap the amp cards around.
 
Correct, the red L/R button is up.
I've pulled all the cards out multiple times.
I've looked over them and can't find any burnt or discolored resistors or diodes.
I will swap them around again tonight to see if I can get even one channel to work.
 
boomhauer77 said:
The pictures above are old. Since then I cleaned everything up and wiped down the heads with 99% alcohol.

As of now this is what I'm doing:
MP3 player into channel one
Pan Left, assign channel 1
Signal readings on UV meters
Record function on channel 1 blinks until record is hit, then solid.
I can hear the MP3 thru monitors and headphones.
Rewind and play back, I have no new recording from the MP3

Like I said before, I can play tapes, just won't record erase or record new material.

Previously when the PCB card was swapped with the DBX card I did have a hot electrical smell.
Since then no smell and everything mechanical works well.

If I'm missing something please let me know.
Thanks again!!!
Click to expand...

Are you setting the channel to RMX on playback?

Here's what I do to get everything working and playing back:

1. Make sure all the L/R switches are up.
2. Push the mono switch down (for one channel recording)
3. Plug in your source into the XLR or the line in jack. Set the switch at the top of the channel to correspond to either MIC or LINE
4. If we are talking Channel 1, for example, push the 1-2 button down and pan the L/R pot left to correspond to the odd number.
5. Make sure both PGM faders are up; turn up the gain on the monitor section that corresponds to the number channel, push the record arm button down on channel 1, play your instrument or line source and verify you are getting a reading on the VU.
6. Push play-record
7. Record your shitttt
8. Hit stop, disarm the track, rewind, set the channel to RMX and playback; you should have something. If not push down the L/R switch on that channel and ONLY that channel to see if your recording can even route to the master outputs. Pan the knob back to center, obviously.

Unless your tape is backwards, which I have had happen before and it threw me through a freaking loop, or something is really wrong with the machine, that should do it. Only reason it doesn't make sense is because if the rec/playback head is playing tapes it sounds like it's probably fine, outside of just needing a really good cleaning, but that wouldn't usually stop signal entirely.
 
I did everything just as you do and still I have nothing.
New tape, UV meters working great, playback still nothing.
I will check around my town to see if anyone else is familiar with these old analog machines.
If something changes I will be sure to let you know what it was for future reference.
Thank you for your help.
You guys are great!!
 
I found 3 bad resistors on 2 different boards!!!!
I will change them out and let you know if it works.
Thanks for your help!!!
 
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