Hey man! Listened to these vids in the car on the way to pick up an old 388. When I got home I was ready to start troubleshooting the unit armed with the knowledge you have shared. Thanks for the great work on these vids.
One (or both) of the idler reels has a switch that, when unmade, stops the capstan and everything else in playback. Keeping the idler reels in tension is key to keeping the machine playing, and this is accomplished by having the takeup reel spinning constantly, keeping tension on the tape and keeping that idler reel from falling off the switch. Watching this thing start playback, only to immediately stop, looks precisely like the takeup reel isn't working.
Hi, how are you? Nice to meet you. I'm Jesus, from Venezuela and I have a question. I am trying to repair a tascam 388 and it has problems with a motor. Is there a way to fix it or a replacement for it? Thank you very much for the info because you can get very little from here
Sorry, but I couldn't find the right ones either. I bought a few "maybes" and they didn't work, so I made some LED ones. The color looks too cool, but at least they all light up now.
Thanks for this video. I need to change my capstan belt. - However; when my 388 manual explains things, it always starts by disassembling things from the TOP of the 388 and working its way down ...… But when I have to change the capstan belt; should it not be best to open the machine FROM THE BOTTOM and up ...? Or is this not possible ...?
Unfortunately, I never found a good source. I tried a couple different lamps from different suppliers, but none were the right wattage. I ended up making LED replacements, which was better than nothing.
