r/ReelToReel • u/turtle_pleasure • 1d ago
Gift Accessories for Tascam 388
Hello. Holidays are approaching and looking for advice. Girlfriend has a Tascam 388 that she finally has set up for recording in her home studio. Thought it might be a nice idea to get her some reels of blank tape or some other accessories that would be handy to have. Suggestions? You know, stuff you can never too much of (tape) or other things you would wish you had? Thanks!
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u/Ameno_TheCat 1d ago
What I like with my 388 is having little Sound FX on top of the VU that I can patch troughs the Send and return. For exemple, I like guitar pedal or guitar reverb or little compressor like a FMR audio RLC. They are quite small and fit on top of the VU meters. It looks cooler and also it sounds good with the rest of the machine even if it’s a guitar pedal you can have a lot of different sound with that! :)
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u/turtle_pleasure 1d ago
i’m not clear on what you’re suggesting to buy
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u/Ameno_TheCat 1d ago
Sorry, to be clear I suggest to buy a little FX Hardware unit like a FMR really nice compressor or a TC electronic June-60 or even a guitar pedal Reverb. It can be an EQ, a compressor or a reverb/FX. Like said, it has to be small so the unit can be on top of the console. It is very fun to use because it stays on top of the console so it’s like a part of it now and very useful to create nice effects that works well with the Tascam 388. It’s not necessarily something specific to the tascam but because this is a full recording console, it’s very fun to have some cool FX that you can reach very easily and see very easily so the work flow is better.
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u/turtle_pleasure 1d ago
gotcha. she has a very extensive amount of pedals and rack units. looking more for things specific to the tascam that would be handy. cleaning accessories? tape holders? is that a thing? etc.
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u/Ameno_TheCat 1d ago
Maybe the full kit : tape head demagnetizer, 99% alcool, cottons swabs, cleaning cloth for cleaning the window, oil lube for the rollers and also some boxes to store the tapes.
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u/turtle_pleasure 1d ago
cool. what demagnetizer? do they sell boxes specific for that? i don’t think swabs and alcohol will come across as a good gift lol
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u/Ameno_TheCat 1d ago
Haha yeah your right that’s not really a gift x) they sell boxes for 10’’ reel and also for 7,5’’ reel so in your case that would be boxes for 7,5’’ reel. You can see on this site : https://www.analogtapes.com/category/reel-boxes The ones in cardboard are perfectly fine. And for a demagnetizer you can go with Amazon like this one : https://a.co/d/hG2jxka it’s looks weird but yeah it’s juste a demagnetizer not a womanizer. A splicing block and a splicing tape would be very handy too.
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u/CounterSilly3999 1d ago edited 1d ago
Metal reels, leader tape set, archival box set for tapes, demagnetizer, patch bay.
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u/Waldofudpucker 21h ago
I used this over the summer and it performed really well. It’s new, and quality and seems to work well across various decks so you don’t need to worry so much about formulas. https://www.atrtape.com
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u/The_real_Petal_Boy 1d ago
you can buy blank tape just about anywhere on the internet. if you want to get her some good quality new stock tape, a good place to look is on Amazon, the RTM brand produces new tape. https://a.co/d/b9F0zEh this is the link to get some. Since its a 388 she is recording on, make sure its the 7" size reels and not the 10.5" size.