Pathfinder HELP - Simple Ibm like logo

Happy to help.

You don't need to create outlines for your text.

Create your text.

Create the stripes from rectangles on top of the text.

Select all

Alt-Click the Minus Front icon in the Pathfinder panel to creat a compound shape.

Text and stripes will be editable.

You can still keep the type editable if you group the lines, than add the type to election & click make mask

Then flip  checkmark settings until you get what you need

There are a few hurdles you might encounter if you make  type outlines and pathfinder, which the explanation would get lengthy.

If you want to do this using the Pathfinder it's a matter of using expanded lines and compound paths. See screen shot:

In the first picture I made the text into outlines and also made it into a compound path (Command-8 on Mac Control-8 on PC). In the second picture I created and placed lines that I then expanded into paths (strokes will not work, they must be paths) and made all of those into a single compound path (they are colored red just to make it more clear) which I sent to the front. Then I selected all of this and used the Minus Front Pathfinder option (highlighted) and got the result shown.

Booda,

What happens if you

A) Create the live Type, then create the bars to knock out as black fill/nostroke rectangles (long enough), then select everything and in the Appearance palette flyout click Make Opacity Mask with both Clip and Invert Mask ticked?

B) Create the live Type, then create outlines, then create the bars to knock out as rectangles (long enough), then select everything and Pathfinder>Minus front?