what causes "wow"

B

Bigsnake00

New member
I was laying down some tracks on my tsr tonight, and towards the end of my track my guitar started "wowing" (really dont know how else to describe it) It wasn't extremely bad, but bad enough to know it was happening. This happens at a very specific time during the recording, Im about halfway through my reel of tape. This hasn't happened at all untill this point..whats going on...how can avoid/stop this
 
Reel tension, pinch-roller integrity, capstan belt & motor all contribute to wow & flutter. The microchip control on the TSR-8 could also be a factor.

Sticky tape will cause obvious speed fluctuations too
 
Ok,
Well I know its not a pinch roller issue, as it is brand new. Something interesting I did find, that I initially overlooked, is that my right side hub is broken. After removing it and inspecting, I found that it doesnt function exactly like the right side, and then I found a place where super glue was applied in an obvious attempt to repair. When rewinding that particular reel wobbles a bit, and I think I now know the reason why. Perhaps this is contributing to the wowl. Is it possible that the more tape that is trasfered to the reel the balance becomes worse, causing alignment issues. I doubt there is a microchip problem because it only seems to be happening at a certain point in the tape...

I'm definatly going to order new hubs, and hopefully this will solve the issue,

any thoughts???
 
Those plastic reel clampers (hubs) a pretty fragile. Both of mine were cracked inside when I got my TSR-8, so I bought new ones. They develop stress cracks over time because people usually turn them down too tight. They should just be turned until they are snug.

This is one reason Tascam recommended those machines be on their back or angled back… to take stress off the clampers. That goes for any machine that uses ½” or 1” reels.

When they are loose they are more of a problem in rewind or fast-forward. They can contribute to wow at play/rec speeds if the reel is really flopping around. Yeah get new ones. If it is really out-of-round the right tension arm will bounce around a lot.

The pinch-roller and capstan drive belt are still very common issues when wow is audible. I know you’ve changed the roller. How ’bout the belt?
 
Check the reel tables too. It is a two-piece assembly. The half that slips onto the motor shaft can also crack, or the screws that attach it to the table could be loose.

With the plastic clampers removed push on the edges around each reel table to see that the opposite side doesn’t pop up.
 
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