[sdiy] Roland pin header connectors

[Michael E Caloroso]

I've been using mixed gold/tin contact interconnects in my vintage synths
since the 1990s and have yet to suffer any failures.

My ARP ProSoloist built in 1973 has mixed gold/tin contact interconnects
and they are still reliable.  Alan Pearlman used to design electronics for
the military and space industry before starting ARP.  I also have
experience in military electronics.

I bought my Memorymoog new in 1986; by the mid 1990s the tin plated
interconnects had corroded beyond repair and I replaced them with mixed
tin/gold interconnects.  The Memorymoog stayed in tune much better and was
more reliable.

Tin plated contacts are rated for ten year life.  Gold plated contacts are
rated for tens of years.

According to a metallurgist, the key factor is salt in the air IE coastal
areas.  Salt from ocean waters will trigger the corrosion.

MC

On Sun, Jan 11, 2026 at 7:38 AM Ben Stuyts via Synth-diy <
synth-diy at synth-diy.org> wrote:

> I recommend against mixing tin and gold plated mated connectors. If
> upgrading to gold you have to upgrade both sides. Otherwise the contact
> point can (will?) disintegrate over time because of galvanic and fretting
> corrosion. See
> https://www.molex.com/en-us/blog/gold-or-tin-vs-gold-and-tin
>
> Ben
>
> On 10 Jan 2026, at 03:08, brianw <brianw at audiobanshee.com> wrote:
>
> Yep. You can see that Mouser lists the Mfr # as 22-27-2081, which matches
> the Molex site.
>
> As I mentioned, you can upgrade to gold via
>
>
> https://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Molex/22-29-2081?qs=5gBG3L055oOSpyERBqcJ9g%3D%3D
>
> This is an example where Mouser has the wrong photo, but you can tell from
> the Molex.com <http://molex.com/> site that 22-29-2081 is the same as
> 22-27-2081 except for the plating. I'm not necessarily recommending that
> you change to gold, but my point is that Mouser doesn't always have the
> right photos for every product, and they don't necessarily make it easy to
> find every variation. In contrast, going directly to a manufacturer like
> Molex allows you to discover their full product line, and sometimes you'll
> discover that exactly what you need is available, even if a little bit
> hidden by distributor sites and databases.
>
> On that note, if you prefer AMP/TE Connectivity (and I use them almost as
> much as Molex), then it's worth a search on their site. Who knows, maybe
> that have something that also looks exactly like what Roland used.
> Obviously, I'm not recommend that you spend months stressing over options,
> but it never hurts to do a quick search of all the options before buying -
> especially if you want to buy in bulk to save on unit cost.
>
> Brian
>
>
> On Jan 9, 2026, at 5:27 PM, David Moylan wrote:
>
> Awesome.  Thanks!  That looks exactly like the part.
>
> On 1/9/26 8:15 PM, Pete Hartman via Synth-diy wrote:
>
> This was what I was thinking of; I do generally get the AMP/TE
> Connectivity ones with locking headers, but this looks just like the one on
> the SH-101.
>
>
> https://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Molex/22-27-2081?qs=hSmm4fxMIuMegRKta0khbw%3D%3D
>
> Looks like exactly the same thing Brian linked to :)
>
> Pete
>
> On Fri, Jan 9, 2026 at 7:11 PM brianw <brianw at audiobanshee.com> wrote:
>
> If you want to upgrade to gold contacts, then this:
>
> https://www.molex.com/en-us/products/part-detail/22292081
>
> I recommend doing a search on molex.com to narrow down on the various
> options until you find the exact part. Once you have the official part
> number, you can search for that on Mouser or DigiKey. If you end up
> choosing a part that's not stocked, then at least you can compare the
> specifications to see what's different.
>
> Brian Willoughby
>
> A quick search on molex.com finds this:
>
> https://www.molex.com/en-us/products/part-detail/22272081
>
>
> On Jan 9, 2026, at 4:52 PM, Pete Hartman wrote:
>
>
> These?
>
> <sh-101-keybed.JPG>
>
> I don't know about the specific style but generally I call them MTA-100
> (100 = .100" pitch), I think I've seen them listed as "KK Series" and
> similar on Mouser as well.
>
> Pete
>
> --
> David Moylan
> Expedition Electronics
> sonic adventures!
>
>
> ________________________________________________________
> This is the Synth-diy mailing list
> Submit email to: Synth-diy at synth-diy.org
> View archive at: https://synth-diy.org/pipermail/synth-diy/
> Check your settings at: https://synth-diy.org/mailman/listinfo/synth-diy
> Selling or trading? Use marketplace at synth-diy.org
>
>
> ________________________________________________________
> This is the Synth-diy mailing list
> Submit email to: Synth-diy at synth-diy.org
> View archive at: https://synth-diy.org/pipermail/synth-diy/
> Check your settings at: https://synth-diy.org/mailman/listinfo/synth-diy
> Selling or trading? Use marketplace at synth-diy.org
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://synth-diy.org/pipermail/synth-diy/attachments/20260111/c2407e3e/attachment.htm>