Discussion about the Korg PolySix synthesizer

I've got two Polysixes now.  I've had one for a year, bought it, 
replaced the battery.  Also bought a Kenton Midi Kit for it but never 
had it installed, got it off ebay and it was missing the midi jacks 
and some of the installation instructions.  

Just bought another off ebay with Korg Midi kit installed (which also 
bumps the memory to 128 programs!).  The seller said the battery had 
leaked all over the inside.  Got it yesterday and guess what...the 
battery had already been replaced and there was no damage that I 
could see.  Everything seems to work fine except the output sound is 
terrible.  Seems like the volume is weak and sounds are sort of 
distored.  This one is in much better shape than my other one.

I'm not an electrician but I can do basic stuff (like putting in a 
coin battery and all that involved with that in my other Polysix 
although I didn't have to replace any of the traces.)  Anyway, 
ideally I would just like one Polysix with midi.  I'm thinking I can 
get there between these two synths.

Does any one have any ideas?  Worst case I'll hang onto it until the 
fall and probably send to to a tech.  I just got my Minimoog back and 
after spending $700 on it I'm not anxious to spend more on other 
synth repairs right now since I hardly ever play and just like to 
mess around with them.

Is there a part I should take out of the one and put it in the other?

The one I just got looks great (except the side have some dings), all 
the contacts work perfectly, very clean looking, etc.

BTW, I'm going to make some real wood panels and replace the crap 
laminate that the polysix came with.  I'm going to make two sets but 
could make more if anyone is interested, but you will have to pay for 
them.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.  I'm in the Cleveland Ohio 
area.

first check the level switch (low/hi/off) to the left, the volume knob
near it and the attenuator knob (-10 to +10) left of arpreggiator.

obviously the process of making 1 fully working polysix out of the 2
will involve some soldering (because of the midi retrofit) but it
shouldn't be too hard. most likely you'll have to replace the middle
board or maybe both boards to the right.

jure

On 4/13/06, chrisgoumas <chrisgoumas@yahoo.com> wrote:
> I've got two Polysixes now.  I've had one for a year, bought it,
> replaced the battery.  Also bought a Kenton Midi Kit for it but never
> had it installed, got it off ebay and it was missing the midi jacks
> and some of the installation instructions.
>
> Just bought another off ebay with Korg Midi kit installed (which also
> bumps the memory to 128 programs!).  The seller said the battery had
> leaked all over the inside.  Got it yesterday and guess what...the
> battery had already been replaced and there was no damage that I
> could see.  Everything seems to work fine except the output sound is
> terrible.  Seems like the volume is weak and sounds are sort of
> distored.  This one is in much better shape than my other one.
>
> I'm not an electrician but I can do basic stuff (like putting in a
> coin battery and all that involved with that in my other Polysix
> although I didn't have to replace any of the traces.)  Anyway,
> ideally I would just like one Polysix with midi.  I'm thinking I can
> get there between these two synths.
>
> Does any one have any ideas?  Worst case I'll hang onto it until the
> fall and probably send to to a tech.  I just got my Minimoog back and
> after spending $700 on it I'm not anxious to spend more on other
> synth repairs right now since I hardly ever play and just like to
> mess around with them.
>
> Is there a part I should take out of the one and put it in the other?
>
> The one I just got looks great (except the side have some dings), all
> the contacts work perfectly, very clean looking, etc.
>
> BTW, I'm going to make some real wood panels and replace the crap
> laminate that the polysix came with.  I'm going to make two sets but
> could make more if anyone is interested, but you will have to pay for
> them.
>
> Any help would be greatly appreciated.  I'm in the Cleveland Ohio
> area.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> PolySix "Digiest" Page: http://www.acc.umu.se/~amber/Poly6
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>
>
>
>

chrisgoumas wrote:
> Does any one have any ideas?  Worst case I'll hang onto it until the 

Well if you don't have an oscilloscope available you are limited to
guessing which part or board might be defective.


> Is there a part I should take out of the one and put it in the other?

If I were in your shoes, I'd do some more observing: Are all voices
affected? Is the problem independent from the synthesizer boards? etc.

If just everything sounds distorted and not very load, this might be
something in the board that the output jacks are connected to.

I'm gained some experience with my Trident Mk2, I can't exactly tell
about the Polysix. But that's where I would start in such a case. I'd
try to trap the signal with my scope and find the point where it starts
(or stops, coming from the output) to be bad.

BTW, I got my SSM2044 from Hong Kong recently, but since I'm 800km from
home at the moment I can't check them out. I might sell some limited to
Europe during the next weeks.

> Any help would be greatly appreciated.  I'm in the Cleveland Ohio 
> area.

Hm. A bit too far away to just drop by. ;-)

   Niels

I hope this doesn't sound stupid, but did you try doing the 
tape/.wav dump again to make sure that it was loaded in correctly?  
I know there's that issue with the volume having to be set right...

Ah, I know that's pretty elementary - I assume you probably did that 
already, just wanted to check.  BTW, let me know how your new P6 
cabinet comes out; I am planning to do the same thing but I need to 
make sure I get the proper wood, etc.  Not something I would want to 
buy at Home Depot...



--- In PolySix@yahoogroups.com, "chrisgoumas" <chrisgoumas@...> 
wrote:
>
> I've got two Polysixes now.  I've had one for a year, bought it, 
> replaced the battery.  Also bought a Kenton Midi Kit for it but 
never 
> had it installed, got it off ebay and it was missing the midi 
jacks 
> and some of the installation instructions.  
> 
> Just bought another off ebay with Korg Midi kit installed (which 
also 
> bumps the memory to 128 programs!).  The seller said the battery 
had 
> leaked all over the inside.  Got it yesterday and guess what...the 
> battery had already been replaced and there was no damage that I 
> could see.  Everything seems to work fine except the output sound 
is 
> terrible.  Seems like the volume is weak and sounds are sort of 
> distored.  This one is in much better shape than my other one.
> 
> I'm not an electrician but I can do basic stuff (like putting in a 
> coin battery and all that involved with that in my other Polysix 
> although I didn't have to replace any of the traces.)  Anyway, 
> ideally I would just like one Polysix with midi.  I'm thinking I 
can 
> get there between these two synths.
> 
> Does any one have any ideas?  Worst case I'll hang onto it until 
the 
> fall and probably send to to a tech.  I just got my Minimoog back 
and 
> after spending $700 on it I'm not anxious to spend more on other 
> synth repairs right now since I hardly ever play and just like to 
> mess around with them.
> 
> Is there a part I should take out of the one and put it in the 
other?
> 
> The one I just got looks great (except the side have some dings), 
all 
> the contacts work perfectly, very clean looking, etc.
> 
> BTW, I'm going to make some real wood panels and replace the crap 
> laminate that the polysix came with.  I'm going to make two sets 
but 
> could make more if anyone is interested, but you will have to pay 
for 

> them.
> 
> Any help would be greatly appreciated.  I'm in the Cleveland Ohio 
> area.
>