Description

These slider gaskets are made to exact specifications on a professional laser cutter out of 1.5mm stiffened and resin-bonded black synthetic felt which does not shed fibers like other forms of felt. The set includes all of the dust protectors needed to replace those on both the main panel board and the Bender board of a Roland Juno 106, including the Portamento switch. Two different sizes of Portamento switch rings are included to accommodate the smaller metal and larger plastic switch versions.

Unlike the synthetic rubber that was used for the originals, this felt will not break down and fall apart over time, so your Juno’s sliders can stay dust-free and looking sharp indefinitely.  The laser melts the cut edge as it cuts each slit or hole, effectively cauterizing it so that even on the cut edge there are no loose fibers to fall into the slider opening.

The slider gaskets will need to be glued in place with epoxy (not included). The installation process is very simple, but installation instructions are included.

Here’s some more information about the material used to make these.

The material we use is a different material from the originals and it is true that it will feel different.  We tested 6 different gasket materials before we chose this material. It is flexible but will not shed: you can rub it with your hand and no fibers at all come off, even if your hand is wet.

Why use stiffened felt instead of just using the EVA foam material that Roland originally used? We briefly considered offering an EVA option but decided against it because there seemed to be no good reason to knowingly make a product that would suffer the same fate as the original sets in a couple decades. We aim to improve on the shortcomings of any synth’s original construction, design and materials wherever we can. In contrast to EVA, acrylic polymers, as long as they show mechanical stability (e.g., no loose fibers) will offer great chemical stability. As a vintage clothing and jewelry dealer in a past venture I encountered 60+ year old acrylic fiber garments and resin objects (this is what Lucite is) whose properties remain unchanged from the time that they were manufactured.