Vintage Synth Repair

Hey,

I purchased a Farfisa Professional a few weeks back and I'm having 
some volume issues with it.  
I brought it to my band rehearsal the other night and I found that I 
was unable to get enough volume.  We are not a overly noisy band, 
just a guitar, bass, and drums (indie pop-rock a la "the shins" 
or "pavement") but for some reason, it would just not go loud 
enough.  At first I ran in through our PA system, which is what I 
usually do with a crappy Yamaha synth I have from the early 90's, and 
we had it cranked and it was barely audible.  Next, I tried to play 
it through my guitar amp (Fender Twin '65 re-issue) and I had the 
volume on 8 and it still wasn't cutting through the other 
instruments.  There's no way I should have that amp on 8!  When I 
play my guitar through it, I usually have it on 4 and it's absolutely 
blaring.
I looked at the original specs on farfisa.org and I found out that 
the organ originally came with a volume pedal (mine did not).  
Perhaps this is the problem?  Since there is no master volume on the 
organ (just faders for the flutes, percussion etc...) this is the 
only thing I can think of.  So, do I have to find the original pedal 
for the Professional, or is there a volume pedal on the market today 
that will suffice?
Thanks for your time,
Matt

Dear Matt,

I used to have a Farfisa Professional.  I donated it to charity years 
ago.  Without the pedal the volume should maximum.  The pedal is a 
potentiometer (5K ohm???) with a 1/4 inch plug.  There is a 1K ohm 
pot at the main output that you can adjust to change the output 
level.  You might have to open the organ up to adjust this, but it 
might be accessible on the bottom of the organ where the output cable 
exits.

Sincerely,
Ken




--- In vintagesynthrepair@yahoogroups.com, "mapleglo65" 
<matthewrubba@...> wrote:
>
> Hey,
> 
> I purchased a Farfisa Professional a few weeks back and I'm having 
> some volume issues with it.  
> I brought it to my band rehearsal the other night and I found that 
I 
> was unable to get enough volume.  We are not a overly noisy band, 
> just a guitar, bass, and drums (indie pop-rock a la "the shins" 
> or "pavement") but for some reason, it would just not go loud 
> enough.  At first I ran in through our PA system, which is what I 
> usually do with a crappy Yamaha synth I have from the early 90's, 
and 
> we had it cranked and it was barely audible.  Next, I tried to play 
> it through my guitar amp (Fender Twin '65 re-issue) and I had the 
> volume on 8 and it still wasn't cutting through the other 
> instruments.  There's no way I should have that amp on 8!  When I 
> play my guitar through it, I usually have it on 4 and it's 
absolutely 
> blaring.
> I looked at the original specs on farfisa.org and I found out that 
> the organ originally came with a volume pedal (mine did not).  
> Perhaps this is the problem?  Since there is no master volume on 
the 
> organ (just faders for the flutes, percussion etc...) this is the 
> only thing I can think of.  So, do I have to find the original 
pedal 
> for the Professional, or is there a volume pedal on the market 
today 

> that will suffice?
> Thanks for your time,
> Matt
>