Meet the parts 58...
Here is PaulWarp's packing job...he put it in an Otari box with the foam blocking and put the deck in a plastic bag. Pretty nice packing, especially for a deck that has already been toasted.
Loose bits were put in a ziplock...the flip-up portion of the head cover has literally been torn off...oh
there's the other reel table...
Here is a shot of the back...again, the side panels, top panel and upper back panel are gone...too damaged to be worth anything except a testament to evil shipping and handling. You can see the upper sections of the frame sides are buckled out...this deck took a serious hit to the top. The RCA jack panel has a nice dent in it too...notice the control PCB (the one dead center facing out in the upper section) looks kinda funny?
This is what is really funny (not ha ha funny) with the Control PCB...
Moving down now, one of the hinges for the upper connector panel is missing parts so it hangs funny, but that's not as bad as the bow in the top edge of the panel as seen here...
Here's a closer look inside. Things look pretty good in there. Just normal dustiness. Overall this deck is cleaner than my parts 48. It really does appear to be a reasonably cared for low-hours deck. Sad.
Now we move toward the front of the deck. Here is the top corner of the right sash (the main rails to which pretty much everything attach...) More evidence of that hit to the top. Notice the top of the sash is actually tweaked...pulled away from the deck. Those sashes are pretty heavy-duty.
The upper dress panel looks nice though, and the reel motor heatsinks and the transformer look fine...
Upper dress panel removed...everything looks fine in there, and I'm pleased that the solenoid cushions aren't gooey.
The bottom panel, save for some scratches, looks great which is nice because the bottom panel on my good 58 is tweakered in some way making it a pain to slide the VU meter panel out to access the cards.
And speaking of cards, yup, they're all there and they look unharmed.
Can't get the VU meter panel all the way out tho'...the right slider hinge is hung up on something. Notice the card cage is actually separated from the main frame...not sure if screws got removed or what...
Tach roller and left guide...need cleanup of course (as does the whole tape path) but otherwise it looks to me as though the whole face of the deck was spared.
Erase head, sync and repro heads...same thing. Dirty but in good shape. Zenith might be a shade off on the sync head? Looks like some shedding tape was run on this deck.
Last but not least, the capstan shaft and pinch roller. Again, these actually look pretty nice.
So I must admit...after taking a good look over the deck and looking at the fuses I decided to power it up...Have I learned nothing?
Couldn't help myself. I know I didn't do any additional damage.
Here's the story on the current status of this deck...
- One VU meter lamp dead
- All lights on the arming panel work and I can hear relays clicking when switching monitor sources.
- After the power up delay both reel motors start spinning and don't stop until it is powered off...tension arm position has no effect.
- The capstan motor is not spinning.
- The keyboard and counter display are dead, so no transport functions can be tested.
- The brakes are on all the time.
So, I know the reel motors are good, hoping the capstan motor is good too. Clearly the logic is messed up and I think I can blame the busted control PCB for that.
At some point I'll pull the plugs on everything and test the voltages of the power supply just so I know what's what, and then put it on the shelf for future cannibalization. Sad, but at least this deck still has prupose and value in keeping another going.
It may sound strange, but for those of you that have been keeping up on my Tascam 48-OB Story you'll know that I was really taken with the vast differences in engineering logic between the 58 and the 48; the 48 being worlds ahead of the 58 in how it was put together and designed, but having my hands on a 58 again I feel a sort of kinship connection with the 58. Maybe its because I've spent so much time on my 58 trying to get it running "just right"
and I'm familiar with it...I don't know, but I most certainly haven't cast off my affection for the 58 in lieu of the 48. The 48 will be operating in the studio before my 58 for sure, and the 48 sure is neat how it was put together and how much easier it is to setup and maintain, but there is something really cool about the 58.
It does indeed take an enormous amount of stress to damage a 50 series recorder in such a fashion. It happens more than stats would indicate. Pretty sad. On a lighter note, it seems that the 'tank' like chassis and built of the 58 served the role to actually spare the audio cards and the like. 
