[sdiy] Newbie w/dead CZ-101

[Jeroen Proveniers]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: dbuch [mailto:dbuch at kent.edu]
> Sent: Wednesday, May 02, 2001 9:27 AM
> To: Synth-diy list
> Subject: [sdiy] Newbie w/dead CZ-101
> 
> 
> Hello all,
> 
> I have mostly been learning from observation over the last 
> couple of months 
> since I have absolutely no formal electronics education...  
> I've already 
> thrown together a Paia Theremax (which is great fun, of 
> course), and I'm 
> interested in moving into more modular synth type stuff.  But 
> before I go 
> there, I've got a very naive question to ask...
> 
> I recently got my hands on a Casio CZ-101 that was sitting in 
> a friend's 
> attic.  As is, it doesn't power up and many of the panel 
> buttons stick pretty 
> bad.  Am I asking for trouble by seeing if I can get some 
> (useful) noises out 
> of it?  Has anyone here ever messed with a CZ-101's guts?  
> Should I give up on 
> it now and dedicate myself to an MOTM/Oakley system instead?
> 

I have an CZ-101 which I pulled apart a year ago to clean the buttons and
keys etc. It's a hell of a job the pull it apart because all PCBs are linked
together by wires and no connectors have been used. Well, it's easier to
disassemble then to reassemble. I also replaced the LCD with a backlit
version. 

I would first check the power supply. There's a circuit in it that switches
off the CZ-101 after 10 minutes to save batteries. Maybe this circuit is
bad, try disabling it with the switch on the side or back.

The CZ-101 is by the way a nice synth, it has 8 step envelopes with variable
sustain and endpoint. It's capable of quite impressive sounds, especially
with some chorus.

JJ