Fixing a Tascam 122 mark II

[TimW]

Hi there,
I'm not sure if a repair job qualifies for this part of the forum, so please bear with me.

I have a TASCAM 122 MKII, and the 'play' button seems to have developed a life of its own. Instead of playing a cassette at normal speed, when you hit the button it actually fast forwards the tape! The fast forward of course hasn't done a swap with it, it also still does its own job. End result, I now have two fast forward buttons and no means of playing a tape!

Does anyone know if this is an easy fix, or can guess how much it might cost to repair? I hate dumping stuff, but if it's too expensive to repair I'll have to. Seems such a shame as its a good deck otherwise, despite it's age.

Thanks in advance

[Resident Loser]

Hi there,
I'm not sure if a repair job qualifies for this part of the forum, so please bear with me.

I have a TASCAM 122 MKII, and the 'play' button seems to have developed a life of its own. Instead of playing a cassette at normal speed, when you hit the button it actually fast forwards the tape! The fast forward of course hasn't done a swap with it, it also still does its own job. End result, I now have two fast forward buttons and no means of playing a tape!

Does anyone know if this is an easy fix, or can guess how much it might cost to repair? I hate dumping stuff, but if it's too expensive to repair I'll have to. Seems such a shame as its a good deck otherwise, despite it's age.

Thanks in advance

...is to find an authorized Tascam repair facility...other than replacing drive belts, which is a great big PITA there's really no user serviceable parts contained therein...It sounds like a keyboard logic problem controlling the solenoids...I mean you could give it a shake while depressing the keys while holding it in various positions just to make sure there isn't some foreign matter holding the key contacts off-normal...that's what I did with my TEAC A-650...but to no avail...And above all...keep the Tascam running until it turns to dust...I replaced that ailing 650 (similar probs) of mine with a Marantz dual deck and lets just say I'm not a happy camper...

jimHJJ(...sorry I can't suggest more...)

[TimW]

I rjust went and purchased a Tascam 122 Mark III locally via Ebay that was working fine except for one thing – it was missing the input volume control knobs for the left and right channels. I figured if the Mark II was dying or going to cost too much to repair I'd simply transfer the left/right channel knobs over to the Mark III and everything would be just fine! Great idea in theory, but not so in practice! I simply thought they’d pull off with a bit of pressure, as do many modern control knobs, but not in this instance. I stopped short of using outright force for fear of doing damage, but to the degree of effort I was putting in it didn’t seem that they would budge.

Looking closely at them I could see that there was a small threaded hole in each of them, yet peering closely it seemed that the holes were empty of the tightening screws I imagined were supposed to be there. All I can figure, unless someone knows more about their placement, is that a former owner has simply glued them in place out of frustration at loosening or lost screws?

If so, does anyone have any other suggestions on how I could replace the missing knobs? Does Tascam/Teac still possibly have them in stock? Or could I use something else?

I’m really happy at the purchase, as the Mark III functions beautifully in every respect, and for $99 I think it was a good buy. If I can get the mark II running as well I'll be REALLY happy!

Thanks......Tim