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Vintage Synth Repair

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Re: [vintagesynthrepair] Korg X5 keys not working

2012-05-12 by Daniel Forró

OK, with older gear everything is possible :-)

You do good job with our beloved old machines! Right now I'm thinking about changing displays in my Yamaha SY99, DX7, TG77, Korg Wavestation EX, Wavestation AD, PPG Wave 2.2., Akai S3000XL, Casio CZ3000, maybe Kawai K5000W... Or at least backlight foil. And I would be glad to have reserve VFD or other display for my Roland MKS70 and Oberheim Matrix 6r.

Then I have problem with one of my Yamaha TX16W - backlight doesn't work. I did cross checking with the other machine I have, and backlight itself works, so problem must be somewhere in power supply. Unfortunately I haven't Service manual and schematics for this machine so it's difficult to analyze and trace where the problem is. AFAIK there's no inverter, they used some other way... Don't you know by chance what it can be? Or do you have Service manual?

Another problem is with display on one of my Yamaha VL1m - there are some dead lines. I tried to repair by mechanical disassembling the display but it didn't helped. As I did cross checking with the other machine, problem must be in display, not on motherboard or display controller. Yamaha hasn't this part any more for such old machine. It was Optrex ;CCFL b/w display 240x64 pixels, model DMF50316NF-FW-1 (with chip set T6963C). This is out of production, they have some other models but I'm not sure what will work as substitution. I don't need inverting the display, and also color can be different... Do you have some advice?

Thanks in advance.

Daniel Forro

On May 12, 2012, at 8:44 PM, jammie wrote:



hi daniel i have repaired many yams and korgs and have had to do this on queit a few keybeds
as knowing from experience and seen first hand that it can happen
not saying this is his problem but that it can happen
im a repair tech and repair all makes and models of synths from new to old
was an ensoniq repair tech for 15 years in uk
and i do up grades to the older synths and samplers bringing them up to later using tech
i have a massive cleint bass and my biggest jobs are doing vfd replacements for synth with back lights and synths with out back lights but who want a bright display as in most older yam synths and casio
lots of emu synths and the sp12 and 1200 drum machines
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Saturday, May 12, 2012 11:14 AM
Subject: Re: [vintagesynthrepair] Korg X5 keys not working


Again - in the case of metal contacts there's no reason why some keys would be bent and some not. Much probably it's dirty contact under rubber contact stripe, or dust there, or brokem rubber contact (the last case is rare but can happen with old rubber, or extensive key hit).

Daniel Forro


On May 12, 2012, at 5:49 PM, jammie wrote:



its easy to see and you dont have to remove any keys to do it
remove the keybed and turn it upside down you can see all the contact springs just check for dirt and fluff you can clean the contacts with iso alcohol and a contont wool bud
just check every spring contact to make sure none are bent if they are gently bend them back to there correct position
----- Original Message -----
From: jammie
Sent: Saturday, May 12, 2012 9:39 AM
Subject: Re: [vintagesynthrepair] Korg X5 keys not working


they are yamaha keybeds
theres a metal contact sping that when you press moves down onto a contact
some times they get a little bent and when pressed they dont make contact
theres also a big return spring that returns the key to its upright position
these metal contact strips can also snap off
if this is the case then you have to replace the contact board
this means desoldering an octave of the contact boad unscrewing
and removing then you have to solder in the new contact board
all parts are available from yamaha
as korg will not support you device any longer and dont stock parts for keyboards after 6 years
hopefully its just the bent contact spring which needs adjusting back to it original position
you can see this by looking at the other contact springs
----- Original Message -----
From: paxety
Sent: Saturday, May 12, 2012 1:33 AM
Subject: [vintagesynthrepair] Korg X5 keys not working

I have a Korg X5 bought new in 1995 or 6 - after sitting in a closet for a few years, a few of the keys no longer play. I connected it to a computer, and all of the notes trigger through midi, so the problem is probably in the key contacts.

Does anyone know anything about what kind of contacts are in there? Know who made the keyboards? Are they maybe Fatar units with the common double bubble key contacts, or something else?

I can't seem to find a service manual and the owner's manual is no help.

Thanks,
John









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