Matrix-6 volume board (incl slider) replaced.

After giving up trying to find a replacement slide potentiometer that fits the Matrix-6, in combination with the awful condition of the small board the slider is mounted on, I found an old board for sale at http://www.syntaur.com/ .

They know how to charge for their parts but I figured it has been long enough without any other solution.
So, I ordered the volume board, took the old one out, installed the new one...

Fresh buttons on Matrix-6

Replaced panel switches.

Just a small update. Nothing big.
I received the swithces I ordered for my Oberheim Matrix-6 and replaced them.
It was pretty quick and easy. Just remove the board from the panel, unplug a couple of connectors, remove those grayish button tops and off with the switches!

Here's just a photo of when I'm half-way there. Old switches removed. New ones in the ziplock bag, waiting to be placed on the board.



Buttons work perfectly now. Aaahhh...

Oh, I broke the volume pot that I had put in... It got caught in something when I opened the panel and the rear pins just snapped and took a part of the back of the pot with them... Luckily I bought two so I had a spare one :)

Matrix-6 acting weird. Suggestions?

Self-initiated calibration?
Wow, was it almost a year and a half ago I did my last entry about this? Time flies!!!
Well, I removed my Poly-61 from a table I have kept it on while working on it and put my Matrix-6 there instead and plugged it in just to see how it was doing.
I noticed all the keys were still working, except two, which I think I knew about but forgot. Good news at least that they're not getting worse again like on the Poly-61...

Also, I took the opportunity to install the two replacement keys I ordered from http://sounddoctorin.com/synthtec/parts/key.htm. They are actually Korg Lambda keys which lack a small tab that pushes the rubber contact down but Bob kindly glued some wooden piece there instead and they seem to work just fine! :)

Matrix 6 cleaned and keys fixed

Encouraged by the successful repair of the Matrix 6 I decided to disassemble the keyboard and try to get the non functioning keys working.

Matrix 6 is alive!

Great news!
A couple of days ago I received the rotary potentiometer I wanted to use as a replacement for the volume slider. I had some problems soldering it to the board (because all the copper was gone from the copper islands) but managed to solder it anyway by scraping the protective coating from the copper tracks and pulling solder from there. I didn't pull the wire through the slider slit (didn't want to have to resolder it if I wanted the pot mounted on the inside later) but just let the pot lay around on the inside. The front panel seems to be able to rest in the closed position without cutting the wires to the pot though, so I can keep it laying around outside by the two levers to left of the keyboard when it's powered on until I decide where to attach it.

Fuseboard and volume slider

On the way to work I stopped by ELFA and picked up the fuse holders and some 500mA fuses. The fuse board is now changed to allow the mains power to go to the 230V wire on the transformer through a 500mA fuse instead. I also found an obvious fault in the synthesizer.

Stupid fuse holder

Since I need to put a new fuse holder on the fuse board to get 230V to the correct wire on the transformer I started looking for fuse holder clips at my usual stores.

Oberheim Matrix-6

This is a problematic one. Of the three synthesizers I bought at the same time, it is the second of the two faulty ones (the other being the Poly-61, the working one the JX-3P).

You can't really miss the broken off key. I still can't imagine how one manages to do break a key but I guess clumsyness or flimsy keyboard stands are two major "players"...