Sunday, November 8, 2009

Roland JX-8P


(Photo taken for an offer for the fantastic VST-instrument Zebra. Check out the dinosaur crossgrade.)
I picked it up some 100km from where I live after seeing it in an ad some time around 2001 I think.
It has some really nice pads and other nice sounds as well, but the thing I remember most when I think about it is how you are tortured with that awful "Piano 1" preset every time you switch it on. It's an instant inspiration killer.

Anyway, that's not really a problem anymore.
About a year ago when I was using it it just froze and the display got stuck. Nothing responded. "Odd.." I thought. So I restarted it and it failed straight away. I switched it off and let it rest for a while and then tried. Sure, the startup succeeded and I could get a few notes from it before it froze again. So, it's dead.

Now I'm not an expert in synthesizer repairs but it does seem symptoms like this indicate something is over heating. Everything seems to be working so I don't think anything is fried dead. Maybe something with the power supply, like one of the voltage regulators.
I'll have to open it up and take a look at it soon. It could be really simple to fix, and if that's the case I'll be really happy :)

As of now, it's just standing on its side in the wardrobe...

2 comments:

  1. Tjena Peter! Hittade in på din sida av en slump. Jag hade liknande problem med min JX8P, som hängde sig och startade om, och såg allmänt död ut. Har dock fixat det nu. Jag mätte lite och kom fram att en av diodbryggorna på powersupplayen var sönder. Så det kan du testa med, byt diodbryggorna och dom stora kondingarna på psun. Kolla även säkringen och byt den med om den har gått. Tycker allmänt att jx8p är en mycket underskattad synt som har ett väldigt varmt ljud.
    /RK

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  2. Aha, ja det kan vara värt att försöka.
    Jag misstänker att PSUn är inblandad men jag ska kolla extra nog på likriktarna när jag öppnar den.
    Tack för tipset :)

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