I finally finished restoring the Mellotron M400 that’s been here for a while and decided to make a video where I explain how it works! Check it out if you’re curious about this wacky old instrument.
Category: repairs
Waldorf MicroWave 1 – SysEx Factory Presets
I hate to have to tell you this but your Microwave 1 will always be noisy. Its low sample rate will make it always click because of waveform phases not lining up as it runs through the wavetables, and the DAC will always produce a high hum and a loud chirp when you turn it off. You should still recap the power supply though.
I did a post about this synth only to put this here: Here’s the Waldorf factory preset sound bank which I edited to convert it from a .mid file to .syx (System Exclusive) so you can dump it from MidiOx or SysEx librarian instead of grappling with timing the midi sequence correctly.
waldorf-microwave-factory-sysex.syx
Note: this file is configured for a Waldorf MicroWave 1 with its device number set to 000. You should be able to send it to your MicroWave and have it load without doing anything to prepare your MicroWave to receive, but if it doesn’t work, check your device number (set via Device Param. menu).
Moog Model 15 Modular
A Moog modular restoration is a very unique and specific kind of restoration experience, which I’ll try to show mainly in photos because it’s less boring for you. It will be like a vacation slide show with a fun anecdote to accompany each picture. Continue reading “Moog Model 15 Modular”
EML ElectroComp 101 – 1 volt per octave conversion mod
This is a really fun synth! EML was a lesser-known American synth company competing with Moog and ARP during the 1970s and made some unique instruments. The EML-101 is a semi-modular duophonic synth similar in structure to the ARP 2600 and very unique and powerful. The bulk of our work on this involved designing and installing a circuit that allows the synth to accept standard 1 volt per octave-scaled CV via its “SEQ” input, as its oscillators have an unusual scale of 1.4 V/octave with a 4.6-volt DC offset. Continue reading “EML ElectroComp 101 – 1 volt per octave conversion mod”
Roland Jupiter 6 – calibration tips
The Jupiter 6 is one of Roland’s two most beloved 80’s polysynths, the other being the Jupiter 8. While I was looking for service documents for the Jupiter 6 though, I came across some absurdly aggressive forum posts from people who don’t like this synth and are pointlessly mad that a lot of other people like it a lot. Continue reading “Roland Jupiter 6 – calibration tips”