Category: ARP

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/

 

I know what you’re thinking, but really, I do repair other brands of vintage synths other than ARPs!

In this video I rebuild the power supply and repair some other problems like tuning issues, broken trimmer pots, and hiss, noise and static in the output.

I recently restored and repaired a pair of ARP Pro Soloists that used to belong to Bernie Worrell and made some videos along the way.

In this first part, I take a look at the two keyboards, come up with a plan of attack to restore them, and begin disassembly.

In this second part, I troubleshoot the first of the two ARP Pro Soloists.  There’s a rather interesting problem, the notes are getting lower as you move up the keyboard!  Also touch sensor effects are dead and I get to the bottom of that.

In the third part, I repair some broken welds on one of the Pro Soloist cases with a two part epoxy.

In the fourth part, I disassemble and recap the second of the two Pro Soloists.  We fire it up, but we’re not as lucky as with the first one, so we troubleshoot and get to the bottom of the problem.

In this fifth part I repair the Voltage Controlled Filter.  The second Pro Soloist has a dead 4034 VCF submodule (the Moog patent infringing type), which unfortunately is sealed up.  We cut it open, excavate it out, troubleshoot and repair it.

In the last part of this video series I show you the final product–two Pro Soloists working great and ready to start making some funky music again!

 

I have the pleasure of being able to restore and offer for sale this early ARP 2600.  A true collector’s piece, this is one of approximately 35 produced “Grey Meanie” ARP 2600’s and is extremely rare!  It comes with the matching 3604 keyboard (not pictured).  If you have been looking for this rare piece of synthesizer history, please contact me while I am able to customize the restoration plan with your input.

I made this video which shows how to test the power supply of an ARP Synthesizer.  It was intended for someone with an ARP 2600, but I’m demonstrating with the power supply of a Pro Soloist, and the method shown can be used to test the power supplies in all models of ARP synths.  To do this test you just need a multimeter, the intended audience doesn’t need to be electronics wizards or even know how to use the multimeter.  If your power supply tests bad, I can repair it or supply a modern, upgraded replacement.