Vintage Synth Repair

I'm a basement tech in the middle of metalguitarland so I don't see many vintage synths come across my bench but I recently had a JX-8P in that had me on the floor laughing so I thought I'd share with the list. 

The IEC socket had been removed and a new power cord was spliced in and wrapped in clear Scotch tape with some additional Scotch tape covering the IEC connector's mounting hole. The owner complained that something was rattling around inside and that there were a few keys that wouldn't depress. I opened the synth up to find...two chicken leg bones and pork bone.

Hi All

About three years ago had someone bring a Casio DH200 in for repair. It had the squeal and he had tried to fix it.

When I opened it up he appeared to have made a very good job of the repair

He had cut the old cap out and stuck a new one in as per the instructions

Only problem was that he literary has stuck it in WITH SUPERGLUE

When I tracked down the instructions he had followed, they actually said "ensure that you stick the new cap in the same place you removed the old one from"

FOLLOWING THE INSTRUCTIONS TO THE LETTER

Brian

P.S. I should add I laughed so much I did not charge him for the repair and it still brings a smile to my face thinking about it



--- On Tue, 5/4/10, Alexis V. Rogers <alexis.v.rogers@...> wrote:

From: Alexis V. Rogers <alexis.v.rogers@...>
Subject: [vintagesynthrepair] dumbest repair job ever
To: vintagesynthrepair@yahoogroups.com
Date: Tuesday, May 4, 2010, 9:02 PM







 



  


    
      
      
      I'm a basement tech in the middle of metalguitarland so I don't see many vintage synths come across my bench but I recently had a JX-8P in that had me on the floor laughing so I thought I'd share with the list. 



The IEC socket had been removed and a new power cord was spliced in and wrapped in clear Scotch tape with some additional Scotch tape covering the IEC connector's mounting hole. The owner complained that something was rattling around inside and that there were a few keys that wouldn't depress. I opened the synth up to find...two chicken leg bones and pork bone.

--- In vintagesynthrepair@yahoogroups.com, brian walker <brian1075us@...> wrote:
>
> Hi All
> 
> About three years ago had someone bring a Casio DH200 in for repair. It had the squeal and he had tried to fix it.
> 
> When I opened it up he appeared to have made a very good job of the repair
> 
> He had cut the old cap out and stuck a new one in as per the instructions
> 
> Only problem was that he literary has stuck it in WITH SUPERGLUE
> 
> When I tracked down the instructions he had followed, they actually said "ensure that you stick the new cap in the same place you removed the old one from"
> 
> FOLLOWING THE INSTRUCTIONS TO THE LETTER
> 
> Brian
> 
> P.S. I should add I laughed so much I did not charge him for the repair and it still brings a smile to my face thinking about it
> 
> 
> 
> --- On Tue, 5/4/10, Alexis V. Rogers <alexis.v.rogers@...> wrote:
> 
> From: Alexis V. Rogers <alexis.v.rogers@...>
> Subject: [vintagesynthrepair] dumbest repair job ever
> To: vintagesynthrepair@yahoogroups.com
> Date: Tuesday, May 4, 2010, 9:02 PM
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Â 
> 
> 
> 
>   
> 
> 
>     
>       
>       
>       I'm a basement tech in the middle of metalguitarland so I don't see many vintage synths come across my bench but I recently had a JX-8P in that had me on the floor laughing so I thought I'd share with the list. 
> 
> 
> 
> The IEC socket had been removed and a new power cord was spliced in and wrapped in clear Scotch tape with some additional Scotch tape covering the IEC connector's mounting hole. The owner complained that something was rattling around inside and that there were a few keys that wouldn't depress. I opened the synth up to find...two chicken leg bones and pork bone.
>
While I DO have some synths in for repairs  (2 Poly 6's and a GEM EquinoxPro88), this one I did the other day was the winner.

Bose L1 PA system . Power amp base. When I took the power amp ICs out , I noticed that the thermal pads for the amps were T0-3P
( plastic power transistor) pads with a HOLE in them. Ala' failure mechanism.

I emailed Bose support. They said we dont fix those BUT for your trade-in AND $1100.00 , we can get you a new one.

NO mention of the factory defect.

Nice.

during the mid-70's, at the height of my Synth repair business, a new customer came in (Chris is now and still my best buddy) with a MiniKorg he picked up cheap at a music store.  It was his first synth and he said it had some tuning stability problems.  

When I put it up on the bench and turned it on, the pitch kept climbing up and up, and the top of the case started getting really warm, so I immediately shut it down and unplugged it.  I told Chris this could be serious, as I opened it up in front of him.

To our surprize, inside was a crudely made bent wire hanger bracket, screwed to the base, holding the guts of an old Radio Shack soldering iron that had its leads crudely wound around the AC terminal strip - just ready to short out (which could have caused a fire quicker that the soldering iron)!!!!

After we pulled our chins up off the floor and stopped laughing, I removed the errant equipment, and the thing ran as well as that vintage could have hoped.

This is one of those mysteries in life where you can only say:
WHAT WERE THEY THINKING???

Hot gluing a transformer is the one that takes the cake for me.

Oh, and I've recently seen someone put a IC-type opamp where a metal can one should have been.

> Oh, and I've recently seen someone put a IC-type opamp where a metal can one should have been.  

Without wanting to interrupt this thread of entertaining repair stories 
(more please!) too much, does this can<->DIP substitution make any 
difference in a functional sense or is it more of a "look thing"?

I'm wondering because when repairing my whiteface Arp Odyssey, I had to 
go for a DIP CA3080s. Just a matter of what was at hand really and given 
their in-circuit use (S&H / VCA) I couldn't think of a reason why it'd 
make a difference. For these, I attached a DIP socket to the PCB as 
close as possible to the original part and connected it to the board 
with a piece of flat cable. This is f.ex. what it looks like on board C:

http://kewlers.scene.org/bitchard/diy/Odyssey/17.jpg

I'm working to port the build log from the above url to my blog, but 
it'll take some time. ;)

.Arto.
-- 
My DIY blog http://amazingdiy.wordpress.com/
Little Bitchard http://kewlers.scene.org/bitchard/
Outer Space Alliance http://www.holyfeather.com/outerspacealliance

TK

a shelf > To: vintagesynthrepair@yahoogroups.com
> From: arto.koivisto@...
> Date: Fri, 7 May 2010 08:53:10 +0300
> Subject: Re: [vintagesynthrepair] Re: dumbest repair job ever
>
> > Oh, and I've recently seen someone put a IC-type opamp where a metal can one should have been.
>
> Without wanting to interrupt this thread of entertaining repair stories
> (more please!) too much, does this can<->DIP substitution make any
> difference in a functional sense or is it more of a "look thing"?
>
> I'm wondering because when repairing my whiteface Arp Odyssey, I had to
> go for a DIP CA3080s. Just a matter of what was at hand really and given
> their in-circuit use (S&H / VCA) I couldn't think of a reason why it'd
> make a difference. For these, I attached a DIP socket to the PCB as
> close as possible to the original part and connected it to the board
> with a piece of flat cable. This is f.ex. what it looks like on board C:
>
> http://kewlers.scene.org/bitchard/diy/Odyssey/17.jpg
>
> I'm working to port the build log from the above url to my blog, but
> it'll take some time. ;)
>
> .Arto.
> --
> My DIY blog http://amazingdiy.wordpress.com/
> Little Bitchard http://kewlers.scene.org/bitchard/
> Outer Space Alliance http://www.holyfeather.com/outerspacealliance
>
>
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hey Arto,

I have the exact same problem.. my odyssey sample hold crapped out and I couldn't find the cans.  I ordered some DIPs and a converter from small dog electronics.  Though you might find the part useful:

http://cimarrontechnology.com/to-99to8-pindipadapterpn020601.aspx

I haven't gotten everything in the mail yet, but I'll let you know how it all turns out.

Also, I'd be curious to know what else you had to do to get the circuit up and running... or did you just swap it in?

best,

Damon

--- In vintagesynthrepair@yahoogroups.com, Arto Koivisto <arto.koivisto@...> wrote:

>
> > Oh, and I've recently seen someone put a IC-type opamp where a metal can one should have been.  
> 
> Without wanting to interrupt this thread of entertaining repair stories 
> (more please!) too much, does this can<->DIP substitution make any 
> difference in a functional sense or is it more of a "look thing"?
> 
> I'm wondering because when repairing my whiteface Arp Odyssey, I had to 
> go for a DIP CA3080s. Just a matter of what was at hand really and given 
> their in-circuit use (S&H / VCA) I couldn't think of a reason why it'd 
> make a difference. For these, I attached a DIP socket to the PCB as 
> close as possible to the original part and connected it to the board 
> with a piece of flat cable. This is f.ex. what it looks like on board C:
> 
> http://kewlers.scene.org/bitchard/diy/Odyssey/17.jpg
> 
> I'm working to port the build log from the above url to my blog, but 
> it'll take some time. ;)
> 
> .Arto.
> -- 
> My DIY blog http://amazingdiy.wordpress.com/
> Little Bitchard http://kewlers.scene.org/bitchard/
> Outer Space Alliance http://www.holyfeather.com/outerspacealliance
>

To contribute to these stories myself..

I recently had a small Welmu organ (model A) in for repairs. Besides a 
healthy pile of dust and some signs of spillage (and corrosion) it 
turned out there was rice inside some of the slider casings. No wonder 
the sliders were a bit stiff and unresponsive!

Slightly curious whether this organ was used in some wedding party at 
some point or whether maybe someone took it for a dining table ;)

.Arto.
--
http://amazingdiy.wordpress.com/
http://kewlers.scene.org/bitchard/
http://www.holyfeather.com/outerspacealliance