Tascam midistudio 688 - need help

hey everybody, im a total noob here and i just scored a sweet tascam midistudio 688 that im really hoping to get some help with.

i've got the manual and i followed instructions to get to recording, but this unit doesn't seem to PLAY at all.... when i press play, i can see the casette 'reel' starts to move but doesn't, almost like when pressing play on a tape at the end, where it can't spin in that direction any more. i thought maybe the motor is dead (?) but ff, rewind work fine, but it just won't play (or record)

is there a magic function im missing, or
is there a hardware problem with this unit?

i went thru the manual but nothing. hoping someone here has some experience with these and can help. thanks in advance

It's most likely due to worn out belts that drive the capstan motor. Have you opened it up and had a look inside?

i haven't opened it up, i will have to get into it and check. i'm guessing there's separate belts for the ff/rew motor, and the shuttle functions. they both work fine, just no play. i'm gonna open it up, take some pics and post my progress here in case anyone else has this issue. thanks for the advice

Almost picked up a 688.

Wouldn't touch anything with a faulty mechanism, could turn out to be a money pit.

Or an easy fix...

But I dont gamble, so...

yea you never know, its a great machine id love to bring it to life on the cheap!

zbones wrote:yea you never know, its a great machine id love to bring it to life on the cheap!

Did you ever sort this out?

Spod wrote:

zbones wrote:yea you never know, its a great machine id love to bring it to life on the cheap!

Did you ever sort this out?

I hope so. this was almost 3 years ago.