Category: ARP

In this video, I give a demonstration to show the features and sounds of the ARP Omni 2 polyphonic analog synthesizer.

In this video I repair a broken ARP Omni 2 where 2 of the 8 voices were broken (Violin and 4′ Synthesizer). I show how the synthesizer works and where common problems are that can cause dead voices and dead ranges of keys. We track down the problems on this keyboard with the oscilloscope and bring it back to working order.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eg0sCzXpfHk

I begin the restoration of a very rare (one of ~35 made) ARP 2600 Grey Meanie. I bought this ARP totally dead and intend to do a full restoration of it before I sell it.

Its previous owner thought the power supply was broken, so we check it out and locate the real problem. But, as should be done with every vintage synth, we rebuild the power supply.

If you’d like me to make more videos as I repair and restore this ARP 2600, please let me know!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mF80J4qNdtI

I restore Tim’s broken ARP Omni 2, rebuilding the power supply, replacing all the polarized capacitors, enhancing the filter, adding my LED sliders, and refurbishing the keybed.

Join me as I restore a broken ARP Omni 1.

In this first part, we evaluate the state of this Omni 1, and I discuss a little bit about what’s under the hood and my plan of attack for restoring it.

In the second part, we replace the aged tantalum capacitors in the synthesizer and visually inspect the boards for other signs of damage.

In this third part, we repair the power supply which had a few components go up in smoke, and we correct shoddy wiring left by the last person who worked on this.

In this final part we do a lot.  We replace the old and gross sliders with blindingly bright blue LED sliders, perform an enhancement on the voltage controlled filter (VCF), replace some faulty switches.  We also repair the strings not sounding stringy with a fix to the Phaser board.

Restored Omni synthesizers, parts, and repair service are available through my website.  I’m also happy to answer any questions you may have about fixing your own synth.

Jeff had done a great job of recapping and replacing ICs in his ARP Omni 2, his soldering skills looked like a pro, but there were a few persistent issues that I fix in this video.  The Violin, Cello, 4′ Synthesizer, and 8′ Synthesizer Bass voices weren’t working, and the release for the string was always long, regardless of the position of the release slider.

Join me in my favorite late night game of “Find The Short”.  Seems like I get to play this game with every ARP I meet.

I repair an early ARP Pro/DGX for a funk music legend.  Long neglected and cannibalized for parts, this seemingly hopeless Pro/DGX returns from the dead and flexes its analog awesomeness once again.  I wade my way through missing parts and damaged traces, cracked joints, and components that were seemingly randomly cut by the last tech.

Here I have an ARP Omni 2 playing “Decades” via a MIDI adapter that I made.  The Omni 2 is for sale at synthchaser.com

In my latest video, I finish a recap of an ARP Omni 2 for a customer, and find some burned up parts resulting from shorted tantalum capacitors.  Getting the tantalum capacitors out of your ARP synths should be considered mandatory maintenance, and can save you from expensive, out-of-production chips getting damaged, like the top octave generator in this video.

Capacitor kit available at:
http://synthchaser.com/product/arp-omni-2-capacitor-replacement-kit-with-4075-vcf-rebuild-kit/