A customer brought in his ARP 2600 that started smoking while he was using it. I show you how I quickly locate the offending component and what I’m going to do to help his synthesizer kick its dirty smoking habit.
Author: synthchaser
Korg MS2000R / MS2000 DSP Troubleshooting & Repair – Synthchaser #146
New synths seem designed to be disposable, or repairable by replacing a whole board, which often costs more than the synth is worth. Today we do board level troubleshooting and repair on this Korg MS2000R that had no output and gave a “MPUtoDSP check error”.
00:00 Intro & where I’ve been the last few months
02:48 The problem & troubleshooting plan and setup
06:08 Oscilloscope probing
12:27 Removing the old DSP chip
14:33 Soldering the new DSP chip
16:15 Test and head off for a cold drink
Australia shipping resumes!
USPS is delivering again to Australia, so orders can once again be shipped down under.
Oberheim OB-X and OB-Xa Memory Protect Switch
Recently got a question from someone unable to save patches on his OB-Xa. “Where is the memory protect switch located?”. On the OB-X and OB-Xa, the memory protect switch is located on the main processor board inside the case. To access the switch, you will need to unscrew two screws on the left and right of the synthesizer to lift the front panel and access the board.  The switch is located as indicated in the pictures below. On the OB-8, someone finally got a clue and moved the switch to the back panel where it can be accessed without opening the synthesizer.
Oberheim OB-X – Tour Inside & Repair Tips – Synthchaser #145
Today we have a look around inside a of couple Oberheim OB-X synthesizers. I give a techincal overview of what goes on inside the synthesizer, we look at some of the differences between the earlier and later OB-X, and I show you the weak links that you’d want to address or at least keep an eye out for when repairing or restoring one of these synthesizers.
Dead Roland Juno 106 Repair – Synthchaser #144
In this video we troubleshoot and repair a dead Juno 106, that powers on but either the LEDs flicker or the display reads “8” and the synth is non-operational. The theory I touch on and process I use can easily be applied to any other microprocessor based system that isn’t booting.
Is the Oberheim OB-SX Really a Preset Mini OB-X? – Synthchaser #143
Some people claim the Oberheim OB-SX is a smaller, preset version of the OB-X. But is that really true? In this video we take a look the voice cards of the OB-X, OB-SX, and OB-Xa and explore their similarities and differences.
Quick repair for Dead ARP Omni? – Synthchaser #142
I have yet another dead ARP Omni in for repair and decided to take a moment to dispel some myths I see, primarily perpetuated by people trying to sell their broken ARP synthesizers (“powers on, no sound”, “power supply issue”, “probably a quick and easy fix”). So we try to fix this Omni the “quick and easy” way, and in doing so, hopefully demonstrate why there is such a huge price difference between a restored ARP Omni and a parts/repair ARP Omni.
Oberheim OB-8 No Output Repair – Synthchaser #141
This OB-8 was brought to me because it wasn’t outputting any audio. In this video we troubleshoot the problem and then bring the Oberheim back to life with a few cool upgrades like a new Fatar keybed and my Synthchaser Battery Eliminator modules!
ARP Pro Soloist Dead Presets Repair – Synthchaser #140
It’s very common for some of the presets on the ARP Pro Soloist (and Pro/DGX) to be dead or just not sound like they should. It’s also common for people to blame these problems on the Pro Soloist’s ROMs, when they are rarely, if ever, what really has failed. In this video we track down and repair 4 dead/incorrect voices including the ubiquitous Fuzz Guitar I so the customer can get his Tony Banks back on.
