Tascam 134 Multitrack Cassette Deck Overview

[@LapisandHamtarolover]

1:54 - sums up teac 133 track layouts. Track 1 for microphone Track 2 for input and Track 3 for digital cue data.

[@ibaneztwo]

I own a 133, I bought it off CL to play my cassettes. Had no idea of its' other capabilities. No reason to click on your 134 video but SO glad I did with your association/explanation @54sec with the 133. I NEVER knew or could find (for years) what the Multi-image was all about. I FINALLY understand now....THANK YOU!!

[@SweetbeatsTechStop]

Excellent! Glad it was helpful!

[@LapisandHamtarolover]

1:53 track 1 for microphone track 2 for background music and track 3 for cue were the setup for 133. That's where 134 is better because you can have 2 microphones with 1 background music with the cue track being separated for commanding other tape decks to start or stop. 234 is even better due to 2 cue tracks but less when it comes to microphone and background music.

[@salmorreale7900]

Very intelligent, very helpful. Thank you for posting.

[@nikon70lm]

Hi. Thank you for this content, very well done. I own a 134 and recently is stoped working. Whatever I press (play, ffw, rew...), the three leds rec, play and pause start blinking. I have no manual or info about error codes, so I kindly ask you if you know what that could mean.

[@SweetbeatsTechStop]

What this means is the mechanism that raises and lowers the headblock assembly, and engages the headblock with the cassette and the tape, is jamming. The headblock assembly is moved by a DC motor through a plastic gear-reduction assembly. After many years the lubricant in the gear-reduction assembly dries and gums up and the gears cannot turn. In extreme cases one or more of the gears will actually break. Do not continue to attempt to operate the machine until you resolve the problem. The problem is resolved by removing the transport assembly, completely disassembling the gear reduction assembly, thoroughly cleaning all surfaces of the old lubricant, applying new lubricant of an appropriate type (I use Lubriplate 105), reassembling and reinstalling the transport assembly. If one or more of the gears are broken they must be sourced and replaced. The most common gear that breaks is the “Gear C”. You can do a web search about this. It is not an uncommon problem.

[@nikon70lm]

@@SweetbeatsTechStop Thank so much fo your help, all is very clearly described. Kind regards.

[@mariodanielgalvan922]

Hello, I have a 134 and I was flashing the Rec, Play and Pause. Is there any way to reset it? I'm Mario from Argentina.

[@SweetbeatsTechStop]

Greetings, Mario. It is not something you “reset”. That condition with those lights flashing usually means the headblock motion assembly is jammed. The heads raise and lower by a motor through a gear reduction assembly. It’s all part of the transport assembly. Over the years the lubricant on the gear shafts hardens, and the gears don’t easily turn. Eventually the motor can’t raise and lower the headblock assembly. You have to remove the transport assembly and disassemble the gear reduction assembly, clean the shafts and gears and apply new lubricant like Lubriplate 105; reassemble and it should work. Sometimes the jammed gears are bad enough one of them breaks, usually “gear C”. You can Google “Tascam gear C” to read about it. In this case the gear needs to be replaced.

[@garkeinem]

This is the only Video about the 134 on KZbin. It must be very rare

[@nodrog567]

Hi Sweetbeats, can you tell me if the speed pot on your 134 has a center position? Mine doesn’t seem to, but the pitch jumps quite a bit. I think my potentiometer is a bit messed up

[@SweetbeatsTechStop]

I sold the 134B a couple-three years ago…can’t recall if it was center-detented, but it probably was. When I can find my service manual I’ll see if I can tell from the parts list if it is supposed to be.

[@rcary]

I have a 133, and I'm having REW issues. It won't autostop when it reaches tape end. Play and FF are fine. When cassette door is closed and empty cassette tray it will just spin on indefinitely. The FF clicks off after a second or 2. Same thing when a tape is inserted. Is there a sensor telling the left reel to STOP when the right reel reaches end tape?? I have some vids on my channel showing the issue. Any help appreciated. Thanks from Wales 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

[@SweetbeatsTechStop]

My apologies but the 133 and 134 are very different machines, and I don’t have any direct experience with the 133 nor do I have the service manual.

[@guillermofalcon1013]

good day. can you record in stereo on it and use that recording on a normal deck? Thank you

[@SweetbeatsTechStop]

You *can*, but there are a couple caveats. First, if you are wanting to record a stereo or pair of tracks on the 134/134B and then reproduce that on a standard consumer format cassette machine, you need to make sure you are using the normal tape speed on the 134/134B and not the high speed. Next, you need to be mindful of what if any noise reduction you are using. On the 134/134B you have available onboard Dolby B and C, which should work nicely with most consumer cassette decks, but your mileage may vary in how the noise reduction encoding/decoding works between the 134/134B and a consumer deck because of the last caveat: the track spacing and track widths on the Teac 4-track cassette format are not exactly the same as the consumer format. Tracks 1 & 2 of the 4-track format correspond with the right and left channels of the consumer stereo quarter track format, but the 4-track tracks are more narrow in order to better manage crosstalk (0.5mm vs. 0.6mm), and the centers of the 4-track tracks are slightly offset relative to the consumer stereo quarter-track format. What this means is there is the potential for some fidelity loss if using the 134/134B like a consumer cassette deck to record and then reproducing that on a consumer format machine, compared to just using the consumer format machine for recording and reproducing. Plus there is potential for noise reduction tracking errors because of the slight differences in track widths and spacing. But it will *work*. The performance experience will just depend on the condition of and how well maintained both machines are that are being used, as well as the program material and recording techniques. But…it will work. Teac even notes this in the manuals for many of their 4-track multitrack cassette machines, at least those that have selectable normal and high tape speed, noting how to use the 4-track machine to reproduce consumer format recordings or vice-versa. Hope this helps.

[@LapisandHamtarolover]

​@SweetbeatsTechStop Actually the multitrack version have more crosstalk between channels due to the smaller guardbands whereas the rest of most cassette deck have larger guardbands for full separation between side A and side B although there might be a little bleed between side A right and side B left channels due to the close proximity but nothing in comparison to small guardbands in professional.

[@LapisandHamtarolover]

Track 1 - set pan pot to utmost left Track 2 - set pan pot to utmost right Track 3 - set pan pot to utmost right Track 4 - set pan pot to utmost left

[@salmorreale7900]

@@LapisandHamtaroloverso this configuration is for recording a tape to be used in a stereo deck? Or to play back a a pre recorded stereo tape from another source?

[@LapisandHamtarolover]

@@salmorreale7900 to replay commercial pre-recorded cassettes

[@juananglero66]

I hope mine works fine when i change the belt. 🙏

[@SweetbeatsTechStop]

What kind of problems are you experiencing?

[@juananglero66]

How many belts it use?

[@SweetbeatsTechStop]

Hi. Just one belt, the capstan belt.

[@Mr911soeren]

@@SweetbeatsTechStop It's a wild shot - I just purchased this cassette desk but miss the user manual - i can download the service manual but just wonder if you by any chance knows a link to a user manual for this model. Seems a bit rare this model..BTW great review of the deck here on you tube -appreciate this a lot

[@juananglero66]

Thanks

[@HowlingUlf]

Heeeey! Great video! Exactly what I've been looking for ... almost! Q: I saved a 134 from being THROWN AWAY a couple of years ago !!! Now it has a new rubber band so it plays but too fast?!!? It used to work just fine before the old rubber band died but now it's clearly making munchkins of people so maybe it's pitched up a musical fourth or something. Doesn't really matter. It's useless at that speed so ... Any tips or pointers what and how to adjust some kind of "master speed". Both the speeds on the front panel are way too fast and the pitch adjustment isn't wide enough so I guess I have to go in there again haha! :D

[@wayneduo5399]

runaway capstan problem, commonly reported on the 238, which has the same transport as the 134 (as far as I know???) this guy has documented it pretty well 238pro.com/repairs/

[@HowlingUlf]

@@wayneduo5399 HA! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I have to check that closely! :D