TEAC 3340s help!

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colintwose

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I have just bought a 3340 from the classified sales in our local paper, always wanted one – just the look of it makes me smile (is that sad?)

It is mostly ok, the pinch wheel was sticky which I have cleaned and lubricated, the simul-sync switches and heads needed cleaning and now its operating ok.

I have managed to get a manual for a 3440S but not any info for the 3340s so I would welcome any advice on use.

In particular at this time the setting of the bias and eq switches. I have several tapes to try - 1 reel of both Quantegy GP9 and 456 and 10 reels of Emtec 468.

Reading some of the postings makes me realise how little I know so any help would be great.

Thanks

Colin
 
Did you use rubber cleaner on the pinch wheel. If it was really sticky you might want to just replace it. It can cause speed problems if it's no good. You should be able to buy an new one through Tascam.
 
$.02

i sincerlly hope your kidding about lubing the pinch roller... my second tape machine was a 3340 back in 76 and is esentially the same as 3440 difference is in the transport switching... as to the tape types it was never meant to use those formulations but that said ya aint goona hurt nothing... experiment to your hearts content and congrats... btw try cleaning the roller itself with alcohol get the full strength stuff from a paint store nothing added as in rubbing etc... the whell on the other hand should not be done with the alchol but rather a mild solution of dish soap works well... dont overdo it though ya dont want it to dry out...
 
TEAC pinch roller lubing

Thanks for the replies and info, excuse my shorthand about lubing. It was the operating mechanism of the pinch roller which was sticky and sluggish to respond (old grease?). I used alcohol to clean the mech. and wd40 on a fine art brush to lube pivots. The roller it self looks ok and I have cleaned the surface as suggested - thanks :)
 
from what i understand, beyond a few improvements, there are few differences between the two models... the biggest problem for both of them is that panel with the four sync switches... if they get tired or loose, bad things can happen... not explosive things, but noisy, naggy, intermittent and crackly annoying things...

along with a revox A77, a teac four-track much like yours was instrumental in launching artists like the tall dwarfs on the flying nun label in the early 1980s... and... new zealand's music scene has never been the same... :)

one last thing, wd-40 is just dandy for cleaning things, however, despite what seems to happen immediately after you spray it, it is not a lubricant... it is a cleaner... "wd" stands for "water displacement" and that is exactly what it does... unfortunately... ask any shadetree bike mechanic... it dries out bearings in a hurry...
 
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littlesongs said:
along with a revox A77, a teac four-track much like yours was instrumental in launching artists like the tall dwarfs on the flying nun label in the early 1980s... and... new zealand's music scene has never been the same... :)
Click to expand...
Finally! Someone from overseas who knows about the NZ music scene; I've mentioned Chris Knox's Teac several times over 18 months and I was sure no one knew who he was :eek: ;)
 
i am just as surprised to be discussing new zealand pop with someone else... it seems to me that when an entire nation's music scene was born with and continues to thrive on home recording... and it spans over three decades... well... it ought to be a well-known fact... but... alas it isn't... perhaps it is up to us to spread the gospel of chris knox & alec bathgate, the clean, the chills, the jean-paul sartre experience, the bats, the verlaines, alastair galbraith and so many others... tape op has interviewed a few of the geniuses and pioneers from aotearoa and i have reread each one a dozen times...

one of the greatest shows i saw in the early 1990s was the chills and i will never forget having a chat with martin... the articles all said he was impossible to pin down, but i found him gracious, humble and very funny... it was inspiring!

when i met robert scott a few years ago, i explained that i had discovered the clean back when i was a janitor and that "vehicle" lived in my walkman... i would jam all night over the roar of the vaccuum that was strapped to my back like deniro's character in that "brazil" movie... i also told him that i hadn't had the nerve to send him a few of our releases... so, he drew a chicken in my journal and told me to jet some music his way... he is a down to earth fellow and very humble for his stature...

i got an e-mail the other day from chris knox in response to a comment i made on his myspace page... not only is he a home recorder with a ton of experience and great records, but he is a nice fellow with a wicked sense of humor... i can't wait to see him live...

if nashville, memphis, detroit, seattle, minneapolis, athens, boston, new york, san francisco, los angeles, liverpool, london and birmingham can all get props for having "a sound" at a particular time in history... often spanning a decade or less... it only seems fair that dunedin should be monster!

finally, although the cannanes are australian, i am mentioning them because i also had the pleasure of seeing them live, enjoyed a fantastic conversation and consider them to be another diy group that deserves much more attention... someday, the world will know that the pacific rim is where it's at... :)
 
littlesongs said:
i am just as surprised to be discussing new zealand pop with someone else... it seems to me that when an entire nation's music scene was born with and continues to thrive on home recording... and it spans over three decades... well... it ought to be a well-known fact... but... alas it isn't... perhaps it is up to us to spread the gospel of chris knox & alec bathgate, the clean, the chills, the jean-paul sartre experience, the bats, the verlaines, alastair galbraith and so many others... tape op has interviewed a few of the geniuses and pioneers from aotearoa and i have reread each one a dozen times...
Click to expand...
I must admit that my knowledge probably isn't as good as it should be, like many in NZ I didn't appreciate what was happening at the time (hey, I was young at the time!), but after living in Dunedin for a couple of years while at Otago and doing a number of airshifts on Radio One I really appreciated what had happened. My brother, 4 years older, was really into it at the time and has a lot of what is now quite rare vinyl from most of the bands you mention, also has a couple of Flying Nun DVDs which are quite "interesting"!
 
Hearing what Chris Knox and Doug Hood could do with a four track is what got me into recording in the first place :)
 
we just gotta send doug and chris over to colin's with some blank tape, some beer and some anecdotes... and soon... his machine will be just as revolutionary as the teac that launched a thousand notes...

i guess brian eno had one too, so we might need to buy more beer... :)
 
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