[sdiy] [AH] Custom ARP Avatar

[Maarten]

Hello Ben,

For a client of mine I restored an Arp Avatar which had an original 
pickup. The pickup had issues(the common wire was no longer connected to 
ground) and currently someone is 3d printing a housing and winding 6 new 
coils for the pickup. If this all works out I can let you know. For the 
sliders I recommend replacing them with an adapter print and a modern 
slider. The pcb's are online available The original CTS sliders often 
have issues with the carbon tracks. I always end up with a couple of 
them that I can not restore. I have some spare parts but it is far from 
ideal and it is a lot of work. There are drop in replacement sliders 
available but I do not like the feel of these. With some extra silicone 
grease they feel better but still not very good. They are also very hard 
to solder.

Maarten

Op 23-3-2025 om 16:49 schreef Ben Stuyts via Synth-diy:
> Hi Rob,
>
> I’d love to try it with the hex pickup, as you say for the hex fuzz. 
> Unfortunately the pickup is missing from my Avatar. It still has the D 
> and E boards inside, but one of them has the power cable disconnected. 
> So there’s probably something broken there. I have a search on ebay 
> and other sites for the pickup, just in case. Does anybody know of any 
> other hex pickups that would work?
>
> The regular synth part works fine, although it needs lots of TLC for 
> the sliders. I am not looking forward to that… And you’re right, with 
> the cheap and available Barp modules everything changes.
>
> Ben
>
>> On 23 Mar 2025, at 07:17, Rob Secret <rob at secret-secret.com> wrote:
>>
>> The Avatar was my second synth. I only had it and the Xpander. No 
>> keyboards! I did auto players and controlled the avatar with an 
>> electric mandolin (I didn’t have a guitar). With this set up I think 
>> I was the first to do a midi mandolin. :P
>>
>> The Avatars are very interesting synths to be sure, even though they 
>> are basically just an Odyssey.
>>
>> To me the coolest thing about the Avatar was its Hex Fuzz. Nothing 
>> sounds like that, well maybe the Rolands did, but that sound is 
>> really cool. You can play more than just 5ths with a very warm tone.
>>
>> Synth wise I no longer have the Avatar thanks to a very aggressive 
>> evil landlord, but like you Ben I’m going down the bARP rabbit hole. 
>> I have some of the 2500 modules, with a bunch more on order (waiting 
>> for them to make it through the backorder experience). I also got two 
>> of the bARP 2600’s (Brown and Blue). But in addition to this I picked 
>> up the Korg 2600m and Korg Odyssey desktop module. The thought 
>> process being that the desktop could replace the Avatar. It sort of 
>> does, but of course without the Hex fuzz.
>>
>> Back when I had the Avatar I seriously considered doing mods like 
>> these. Today though I don’t know if I would. Now that there are bARP 
>> modules, and Odyssey clones I don’t think I would do it. But every 
>> time I see a modded one, even with poor mods, I get excited by the 
>> possibilities! It does look like a lot of fun!
>>
>> -Rob-
>>
>>
>>
>>> On Mar 22, 2025, at 2:39 PM, Ben Stuyts <ben at stuyts.nl> wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>> On 22 Mar 2025, at 20:39, Michael E Caloroso 
>>>> <mec.forumreader at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> > I have a stock (working) Avatar here. Can you tell me more about 
>>>> the mods you are doing?
>>>>
>>>> Preliminary plans here 
>>>> http://www.analoguediehard.com/studio/keyboards/arp_avatar/index.html
>>>
>>> Ooh, that’s a nice writeup. Thanks for that!
>>>
>>> Some years ago I wanted to do lots of mods too but never got around 
>>> to it. I recently acquired a bunch of Barp 2500 modules. These are 
>>> quite nice reproductions (although Eurorack is not my fav. format, 
>>> too small). Together with the Barp 2600 already here, it’s a bit of 
>>> a mini 2500. This renewed my interest in modding the Avatar, but 
>>> probably less extensive. It definitely needs additional patch 
>>> points, so that is probably going to be my main focus.
>>>
>>> Ben
>>
>
>
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