Tascam 388 Studio 8 Analog Tape deck

seamonkey · Post by **seamonkey** » Sun Jun 15, 2008 2:47 pm

This isn't an analog vs digital thread but I wanted to share with you my excitement over my newest e-bay purchase. It was quite by accident I came across an auction for a very clean Tascam 388 on ebay. Some months ago I had tried winning one but lost and gave up on getting one because many up for sale weren't in very good condition or they were out of my price range. So I wound up getting a Tascam 688 midistudio instead. It's been fun to use buy I missed the vintage 388.
6 hours to go, zero bids @$349, hey I might have a chance. So I put in my highest bid but the auction expired after midnight and I had to go to bed...couldn't sleep thinking about it. Woke up and HEY..you WON!!!

I'm looking forward to having fun with this baby..yes, the keyword is FUN!
I'm turning 61 in July and I've realized I'll never have a hit record or sell cd's, that I'm just an amateur hobbyist who likes to play around with music.

There is something about limiting yourself, which forces one to squeeze the best out of the equipment you have. I remember one of my best songs was recorded on a Tascam Porta One with a Casio CZ101 and Alesis microverb. I had to do things like bouncing and creative mixing.
I still have my Cubase 4(barely scratched the surface with that one) and Mackie Tracktion for other needs if I want to use them.

Here is a pic of a guy's studio I found on the internet with the Tascam 388 in it.
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c48/s ... 57_1_1.jpg

yes folks.....those are VU meters.

Architecture · Post by **Architecture** » Sun Jun 15, 2008 6:09 pm

Those things look freaking sweet! An all in one R2R multi tracking system. I have a Teac A3340S that I love to death, but its not an all in one like yours.

I agree with keeping things simple. Thats why I went first off with doing things 2 track live, then moved up to 4 track cassette. Theres something to be said about working with limitations, you focus more on the music than you do going "gee, what else can I do to this sound" like you would if working in the DAW enviroment.

Do post tracks you make with that thing, im dying to hear what you come up with.

otto · Post by **otto** » Sun Jun 15, 2008 6:53 pm

What size of tape do these take?

desdinova · Post by **desdinova** » Sun Jun 15, 2008 7:46 pm

1/4"
The noise reduction isn't great and the ones I played with bled quite a bit, but they're cheap enough and fun to play with.

seamonkey · Post by **seamonkey** » Mon Jun 16, 2008 7:55 pm

Thanks for your comments Architecture, it does look sweet and that 3340S machine of yours is too, that's a beauty.
I just haven't been able to get my head around DAW recording, I guess I'm a knobs and sliders kinda guy.

desidnova, I hadn't heard of the bleed through problem before and I think dbx should work fine. Hey a little noise will just add more grit to the recording.

Dane_Xoth · Post by **Dane_Xoth** » Wed Jun 18, 2008 10:58 am

I know a guy with one of those.

Says he's registered on this board, but with no internet he visits infrequently.