Every time I see a keyboard in that state (specially a vintage one like this) I feel sad because since I was a kid I always wanted to have one to try and make some music but they were prohibitively expensive. I would have taken so much care of this poor fellow.
i got mine back in 1993, was my first ever pro synth, same year i also ended up buying a Korg 01W/FD and a ROland JD800, that's when my GAS addiction kicked and has been the same ever since lol
I got a “broken” Ensoniq workstation with things rattling around inside for $20 at the Salvation Army. I went to plug it in and it didn’t work, fortunately when I opened it I just found an expansion card rattling loose and mounted it back in place and I had a perfectly working workstation worth nearly $1,000 😁
LuddyVonBeat What do they go for these days? I recall seeing some go for $600 on eBay a few years after I got mine. I definitely wasn’t interested in selling it for that little 🤣
@@bobafruti Difficult to find one. 64 polyphony and 16 parts multi timbral. Great sounds. The only thing it has is that the rotary knobs must be replaced sooner or later and opening it is something I still have to figure out.
Clicked on this bc that was my first synth/workstation back in the late 80's. Used it in a few gigs. Also connected it to a Korg M3R module to get lots more sounds and uses. Many happy memories!
"Sometimes you get the bear. Sometimes the bear gets you." Been there with the vintage tape recorders. Many were stored in basements which flooded, with rust and complications developing from that. Then, there's the leaking batteries... let's not go there. So sad when these machines can't be brought back. Love your music! Love your vids!
What I do is make something out lf it. If a keyboard is ruined I will often turn them into noise drone machines by rewiring the surviving components. It's fun but can take all day sometimes.
it is sad and it is even more sad that people will just throw them away. I understand that they don't want to hoard broken stuff, but there could be someone else in the world that needs some parts. It's not manufactured anymore and it will never be again. If we still want to touch and see these instruments in lets say 30 years then it's pretty important that nothing ends up at the recycling center, not even a button. we should learn from the Japanese and Chinese
You video was still worth the watch. its so cool to see you in your element.. and the very least I learned something new about how to test traces on a circuit board! You are a joy to watch my friend.
Yamaha V50 was my first real synthesizer. I bought it brand new 1989. I used it as my main synth for many years. It was the center of my studio with it's built in 8 track sequencer together with a Juno-1, Juno-106, a Boss Dr-550 and an Akai S700. Happy days. Fantastic synth. I made thousands of sounds on it. I think I still have all discs for it. I sold it got finance a Waldorf Microwave XT (still got it) and later I got a nice SY77, a totally different beast. I sold the SY77 to a nice guy who became a friend to me. Some years ago I got a DX7-IID. Everyone need to have a FM synth. But I honestly miss my old V50. It was so easy to program and I never even tried to program the SY77 nor my DX7.
Main fm board and associated dacs and crystals still possibly useful. Midi interface to these chips possibly as well. Likely much to be saved here for fm lovers.
I have one of these and one as a spare donor in the loft. Still sound great, especially with today FX on it. Spent many hours/day/years programming it trying to make it sound like the analog synth i'd sold to buy it.
I bought a broken v50 a while ago too (for a fiver!), also gave up. Mine was missing one of the Yamaha fm generator chips. Sold it for 20 (obviously saying that chip was missing!) so at least I made 300% profit!
Can't agree more with the conclusion of the video. So sad to see a vintage synth being unreparable. I got a V50 last summer for a great price, since there were no patches, only strange beeps, otherwise in pristine shape. Installed a new battery holder when changed the battery and factory reset it. Works like a charm, wonderful sounds! Still on my to do list to give it more time and explore the 4-op FM properly.
@@michaelnordlund6270 Giving this a second thought, I think I did both a factory reset AND a midi dump from my computer after I had changed the battery. The files needed I downloaded from the net. You can also, of course, put the midi file on a floppy disk if your floppy station is still working. Mine is not, not even after having installed a new belt for the floppy drive. And good thing to know: the battery is soldered to the board, which is a bad thing for future battery exchanges. I soldered a battery holder to the board and can now use standard CR2032 batteries in the future.
Yep, that's a shame it wasn't fixable but then again you can't win them all. At least you took the time to have a proper look, and it's always interesting seeing the innards of synths!
Sadly, the result of careless handling. It's the successor to the DX11 and Yamaha's first workstation. I know that Howard Drossin used a V50 for his work at SEGA.
I fix also electronics, including synthesizers, and it is very sad to find such a big damage on them. You are right, that was clearly damaged beyond repair. Keep your videos going, I am just watching it while fixing an amateur radio transceiver :-D
@markusfuller If nobody else has claimed dibbs on the main board yet, I'll happily take it off your hands. ;) I'm in the UK, btw, and happy to pay postage etc.
The YM2424 chips on there need proper analysis. And getting a dead device is preferable not to cannibalize a working synth. This is the ideal situation.
plgDavid Hi David. you are welcome to have the board but postage cost to Canada from the UK is pretty high. I can enquire the postage cost if you are interested.
Would love to know how to get hold of the V-50 demo disk which I think was called 'New York' - some great sequences on it, but I can't find it anywhere !!!
I just bought one today for ¥4,400 around $39 like new you add 2 voices on unison love it , but I was checking auction the V50 is not so popular selling around $50 to $200 can’t believe very nice synthesizerand built like a tank
Oh, Markus - I feel your pain! I hate to see anything that's died due to utter neglect like that (unless it was a flood victim somehow). Well, you did your best; the patient was DOA.
Hi Mark ive just bought a used V50 the G key before middle C is sticking is this an easy fix?seen other clips where the contacts are cleaned with spirit liquid or a small v shaped plastic wedge used is this correct? unsure if i should remove the base until confident i can do it
Hola, soy Carlos, técnico de Argentina (Pais de Maradona) si yo encontrára ese teclado, primero lo limpio con alcohol isopropilico o WD40 para eliminar todo el oxido, raspo la parte superficial con un destornillador o espátula, saco la fuente alimentación y testeo con multimetro la salida de voltajes. Los pines de los componentes electrónicos los cepillo y vuelvo a reconstruir las pistas de cobre con alambres finos y estaño y ¡Seguir probando! He reparado un Emu Emax HD (1987) que tenía las pistas de cobre comidas por oxido cobre, algunas teclas no funcionaban, compré una fuente alimentación nueva y ¡Volvio a la vida! No hay que rendirse ¡Adelante!
I reassembled my Hammond XB-1 while watching this having repaired it. It had dead keys before so all contacts were cleaned and a new clock battery installed... and now it won't fully boot up and produce a sound. I've touched something I shouldn't have, clearly. Looks like the keyboard gods aren't with me at the moment... Off to eBay for spares and repair you go!
HI Markus, in you estimation could this water damage have been from a single 'immersion' or would it be from an extended period of wet? Can't think of how it could sit in still water for an extended period!
I have one that I bought new in 1988 -still got the box it came in as well. The internal battery needs changing which I will do as the memory does not hold. The floppy has failed and I wish I could find a replacement.
An excellent vintage workstation, sadly far beyond repair :'( probably due to some flood in the past, it's the only logical explanation. Good video anyway, very interesting Mr.Holmes, Markus Holmes! ;) Cheerio.
Going out on a limb. I have a fully operational V50. Fully operational except for the disk drive is hit and miss. Often get a "Bad Disk!" message, though I occasionally get lucky and my old disks sometimes load. Of course I've replaced the rubber belts 3 times, with the current one new by about a couple of years. But I digress. Is there something else I can crack open in the drive, maybe possibly clean some heads or something like that? Or are there replacements available for such a rare drive that predates Windows 3.1? Maybe someone in here has a working drive willing to sell your old V50 if you have no use for it? I have 30 years worth of work saved on these disks, and I am aiming to get this work and my keyboard format saved in my Anvil MIDI program. I have had some success with that, as I said I occasionally get lucky loading my old disks. But a working drive would still be awesome to restore the keyboard to its former working self.
markus, do you not sell some of the bits like the outer casing or ends of synths? I have just dismantled a K2600 with a buggered PSU, i have used the keybed for another K2600, that was down to the hammers that it had in it, you could not get hold of for the love of money, the one i dismantled had the later ones in. I could have done my bed up, but the cost of the replacing the hammers, would have been nearly double what i paid for the donor. I could have fixed the donor and sold it on, but parts for the K2600 can be expensive and hard to get hold of.
Hello Procta. I do keep some parts but I have very little spare room to store things here. I sent this keyboard off to another person who did use parts to fix his so it did not go to waste.
I repair a Arp Quadra that had lots of Tracks corroded to a open state , because the synth was worth thousands repaired , I spent hours upon hours jumping the damaged tracks with wire , if you have the time etc , its worth doing , basically your taking a wire from (eg) a leg of a component to component , , but can understand it justify spending the time on a cheaper synth etc
I have a V50. Bought it new in ‘88. Last week I found I was unable to even get the power to turn on. Do you have any idea why that might be. It’s clean and been sitting in my living room forever. It worked a week before. My name is Marsha.
So sad to see one that's been mistreated and can't be brought back. I just finished refurbishing mine. I'd say it's slightly above average in complexity for dis-assembly and re-assembly. The one big problem I ran up against was the plastic tabs that act as a stop on the white keys. They get brittle and break. New (used) keys don't help because they become brittle with age. I ended up drilling a 1/16 hole where the tab used to be and bonding a 7/16 X 1/16 dowel pin with epoxy.
Loving the vids. Any ideas about a Roland DJ70 that flicks on for a fraction of a second and then has nothing???? No water damage or visual damage that I can see
Sorry I have never been inside the DJ70. is that the sampler with the large scratchpad ?. does the display light up and stay on or does everything go off quickly ?. if so I would start by looking into the power supply as it sounds like it is cutting off as soon as it starts to provide power to the keyboard. that would be my first guess.
Loose screws, definitely risky. #1 rule at the sound company where I work is that if you hear anything loose instead a piece of gear you immediately take it to the repair bench.
If you coulda gotten this puppy restored to working order, what a first-rate rarity it could be - at a crossroads between the Yamaha FM vogue and the Korg Workstation vogue, both technologies merging ever so briefly. Any number of museums would prostrate themselves for such a rarity.
Hi Marcus! Have you still got this synthesizer? I'm looking for one key (E / B) and one plastic foot of the bottom cover ... ready to buy. Please let me know if there is anything left...
worth a try.btw,i need a new drive for my yamaha dx7iifd and cant find any info whatsover for a replacement-has anyone any ideas(and i know eff all about disk drives and setting to zero)please help........
You should donate it to one of the many restoration channels. They do a lot on uneconomical repairs for fun and views and someone may like the challenge.
You probably get alot people asking questions like this "to many", but can a layman with zero electronic knowledge but solder skill change 2 slidepots on a Korg RC 168, and if so any idea where to get them?
It's an Earth Leakage Circuit Breaker. It detects if there are current going through to ground - or through a person - and shuts off if this is the case. It's basically to make things safer during a repair process.
It also could have been the victim of a fire. Fireman usually dowse a whole structure with hoses thoroughly, regardless if the entire structure is not involved. Things happen.
Sounds like my brother had that one.Ive just fixed his casio fz1.It was droped of a soffa and smash a couple of keys.Dont they make stands for those kind of things.D.E.R...
These are getting increasingly difficult to find and are rather uniquely powerful for a yamaha FM. Having a very hard time resisting the urge to spend several hundred USD on a malfunctioning unit (contacts need cleaning mostly). I'm not sure if this is a terrible idea or just a bad idea on my part... Anyways, great video as always, even if a little sad!
Seeing all the recent news about flooding maybe that is an explanation. Perhaps foolishly, Vince Clarke built an underground studio that was prone to it. It would be nice to think that the owner got a new MoDx in place of this from his insurance company. A genuine question about insurance from someone with several vintage synths. How do insurance companies value something like this ? Doing some research they seem to push "New for Old" as if it is the best thing you could have in a policy. I can't imagine there being a new Yamaha V50 anywhere in the world. A friend was always complaining that her insurance company gave a her a rubbish new VCR in place of the one that got stolen that she thought was much better.
a couple weeks ago a V50 came into my shop for repairs. on the outside it looked in mint condition, but it smelled kinda funny. In the inside there were hundreds of dead roaches and of course the assorted set of aracnids... it was a nasty job
Did you even check the fuse? ;-p I think the correct term is beyond economical repair - most things can be repaired, it's usually an issue of sourcing spares & time that limits the repair.
I've been here before and know the feeling of disappointment. But you took the right decision and anyone here attempting a repair wouldn't know what they were saying. One wouldn't know what he's dealing with when equipment is in such a state. Could be they were playing it by the sea and it got a dash of water. Is it sea water by the way? That would have made matters worse. Perhaps was worth checking the rubber strip/s and contact boards for spares. But was a nice video anyway just like a story one wouldn't know if it was going to have a happy ending... life's like that! Cheers Markus... and to say the least... we're not getting anything from the government with salvaging such equipment from the landfill. Greetings, Noel from The Maltese Islands.....
such a shame also shame i live so far away cause would love to try and get that goin i love a challenge would be bodge wire heaven by the time i had finished with it
I think a lot of people yust like me put a keyboard a side in a corner right up when not in use, and then when you got a water problem in your cellar, the last thing i think is about the keyboard, as always thumps upp :-)
it's not really worth it. old plastic keys break easily. the spring underneath the key has a tendency to come loose. it's junk you can just buy new ones on ebay. the top c key (the last white key to the right) is really the only one that's a bit more sought after
Given that the fluid went under and maybe through the lamination I'd guess it wasn't just water. Coke (not the drug, the drink :P ) is highly acidic and might lead to damage like that, so that's what I'd bet on. Having been first line support for a research facility where everybody had a laptop, I've seen water, coke and orange juice damage, and water is usually just shorting out in the moment leading to scorched elements on a now much cleaner circuit board (as if that helped :D ), and both orange juice and coke leave a brownish stain on the board, but I've only seen coke actually eating through the copper.
Every time I see a keyboard in that state (specially a vintage one like this) I feel sad because since I was a kid I always wanted to have one to try and make some music but they were prohibitively expensive. I would have taken so much care of this poor fellow.
I bought my brand new V50 back in 1989. Still use it. It's really an awesome FM workstation of the late 80:s. Sad to see this one :-(
i got mine back in 1993, was my first ever pro synth, same year i also ended up buying a Korg 01W/FD and a ROland JD800, that's when my GAS addiction kicked and has been the same ever since lol
“...I hope that’s not cocaine ... I wouldn’t know anyways ...” 😹😹😹
I got a “broken” Ensoniq workstation with things rattling around inside for $20 at the Salvation Army.
I went to plug it in and it didn’t work, fortunately when I opened it I just found an expansion card rattling loose and mounted it back in place and I had a perfectly working workstation worth nearly $1,000 😁
I like my Ensoniq ZR 76 workstation still very much. I would not get rid of it for 2000 Eur.
What model?
Reso Factor ZR 76
A real beast of a machine.
Unfortunately it’s spent the last decade sitting in my parents attic 😕
LuddyVonBeat What do they go for these days? I recall seeing some go for $600 on eBay a few years after I got mine. I definitely wasn’t interested in selling it for that little 🤣
@@bobafruti Difficult to find one. 64 polyphony and 16 parts multi timbral. Great sounds. The only thing it has is that the rotary knobs must be replaced sooner or later and opening it is something I still have to figure out.
Clicked on this bc that was my first synth/workstation back in the late 80's. Used it in a few gigs. Also connected it to a Korg M3R module to get lots more sounds and uses. Many happy memories!
"Sometimes you get the bear. Sometimes the bear gets you." Been there with the vintage tape recorders. Many were stored in basements which flooded, with rust and complications developing from that. Then, there's the leaking batteries... let's not go there. So sad when these machines can't be brought back. Love your music! Love your vids!
What I do is make something out lf it. If a keyboard is ruined I will often turn them into noise drone machines by rewiring the surviving components. It's fun but can take all day sometimes.
it is sad and it is even more sad that people will just throw them away. I understand that they don't want to hoard broken stuff, but there could be someone else in the world that needs some parts. It's not manufactured anymore and it will never be again. If we still want to touch and see these instruments in lets say 30 years then it's pretty important that nothing ends up at the recycling center, not even a button. we should learn from the Japanese and Chinese
You video was still worth the watch. its so cool to see you in your element.. and the very least I learned something new about how to test traces on a circuit board! You are a joy to watch my friend.
Even though you couldn't fix this one I still found your assessment quite fascinating. Thanks for sharing!
Had one of those in the '90s; learned a lot working with it, so it's sad to see your video's ending.
Its great to see you at least try your best.....keep with the passion to restoring old gold ones...!!
thumbs up if you secretly wish Marcus was your dad.
Maybe he is!
Or cousin.
I appreciate you showing one that can’t be reclaimed. Reality bites sometimes, but it’s still worth watching the diagnosis process!
Yamaha V50 was my first real synthesizer. I bought it brand new 1989. I used it as my main synth for many years. It was the center of my studio with it's built in 8 track sequencer together with a Juno-1, Juno-106, a Boss Dr-550 and an Akai S700. Happy days. Fantastic synth. I made thousands of sounds on it. I think I still have all discs for it. I sold it got finance a Waldorf Microwave XT (still got it) and later I got a nice SY77, a totally different beast. I sold the SY77 to a nice guy who became a friend to me. Some years ago I got a DX7-IID. Everyone need to have a FM synth. But I honestly miss my old V50. It was so easy to program and I never even tried to program the SY77 nor my DX7.
Maybe the synth was in a flood disaster at one time perhaps. I could definitely see that being the cause of such water damage.
wow i love your room.. lots of electronics.. :D like a spaceship
Main fm board and associated dacs and crystals still possibly useful. Midi interface to these chips possibly as well. Likely much to be saved here for fm lovers.
Yep! I'm more than sure that Marcus gonna keep that synth for future as a spare parts only if he can get a chance to use it in another broken one.
I have one of these and one as a spare donor in the loft. Still sound great, especially with today FX on it. Spent many hours/day/years programming it trying to make it sound like the analog synth i'd sold to buy it.
Hi Marcus, good to see you back again with synth repairs. Sometimes you win, sometimes you loose. More synth repairs coming up soon? Cheers, Albert
Your channel is awesome
very sad! I have a V50 working (at this time it is at service shop replacing the aftertouch strip) and it is an amazing keyboard!
Always wanted one. Never got one, and regretted it.
Had one 30 years ago, not a classic vintage machine or something, but very capable and nice workflow.
I bought a broken v50 a while ago too (for a fiver!), also gave up. Mine was missing one of the Yamaha fm generator chips. Sold it for 20 (obviously saying that chip was missing!) so at least I made 300% profit!
Can't agree more with the conclusion of the video. So sad to see a vintage synth being unreparable. I got a V50 last summer for a great price, since there were no patches, only strange beeps, otherwise in pristine shape. Installed a new battery holder when changed the battery and factory reset it. Works like a charm, wonderful sounds! Still on my to do list to give it more time and explore the 4-op FM properly.
I have a V50 with the internal battery dead for quite a while. How did you do the factory reset? Needed to reflash with a file in the disk drive?
@@michaelnordlund6270 I think a factory reset was enough. It was a year ago so I'm not sure. I may have done a midi bulk dump, too.
@@michaelnordlund6270 Giving this a second thought, I think I did both a factory reset AND a midi dump from my computer after I had changed the battery. The files needed I downloaded from the net. You can also, of course, put the midi file on a floppy disk if your floppy station is still working. Mine is not, not even after having installed a new belt for the floppy drive.
And good thing to know: the battery is soldered to the board, which is a bad thing for future battery exchanges. I soldered a battery holder to the board and can now use standard CR2032 batteries in the future.
Dreamin of this when i was 17....so expansive at this time
Still an interesting vid to see your process and determine if it's worth repairing or not.
I've listened Broken WIngs all the week because of you. What will it be today? Wonderful Life?
Yep, that's a shame it wasn't fixable but then again you can't win them all. At least you took the time to have a proper look, and it's always interesting seeing the innards of synths!
Poor v50. Very sad, I’ll be crying into my beer tonight after class.
That is one rough looking old synth. Sad to see any old gear end up like this.
Sadly, the result of careless handling. It's the successor to the DX11 and Yamaha's first workstation. I know that Howard Drossin used a V50 for his work at SEGA.
I fix also electronics, including synthesizers, and it is very sad to find such a big damage on them. You are right, that was clearly damaged beyond repair. Keep your videos going, I am just watching it while fixing an amateur radio transceiver :-D
@markusfuller
If nobody else has claimed dibbs on the main board yet, I'll happily take it off your hands. ;)
I'm in the UK, btw, and happy to pay postage etc.
Hi Im very sorry but it has been posted over to canada to another youtuber who wants to hack into the fm chips.
I do Yamaha FM chip research and wouldn't mind the PCB if its still available. Thanks!
Hi David. I still have the pcb. where in the world do you live ?
@@markusfuller Montreal, Canada!
The YM2424 chips on there need proper analysis. And getting a dead device is preferable not to cannibalize a working synth. This is the ideal situation.
plgDavid Hi David. you are welcome to have the board but postage cost to Canada from the UK is pretty high. I can enquire the postage cost if you are interested.
@@markusfuller Yes I'll of course pay for shipping, thank you so much!
Good sense of humor!
i got this keyboard awhile back. also in bad shape! 2 buttons are pushed in and it was dirty as hell. luckily it works so thats a plus!
I got the V50 in the 90th. I'd like to produce ideas with this wonderful machine.
Would love to know how to get hold of the V-50 demo disk which I think was called 'New York' - some great sequences on it, but I can't find it anywhere !!!
I just bought one today for ¥4,400 around $39 like new you add 2 voices on unison love it , but I was checking auction the V50 is not so popular selling around $50 to $200 can’t believe very nice synthesizerand built like a tank
Oh, Markus - I feel your pain! I hate to see anything that's died due to utter neglect like that (unless it was a flood victim somehow). Well, you did your best; the patient was DOA.
It was a valiant attempt.
Hi Mark ive just bought a used V50 the G key before middle C is sticking is this an easy fix?seen other clips where the contacts are cleaned with spirit liquid or a small v shaped plastic wedge used is this correct? unsure if i should remove the base until confident i can do it
Hola, soy Carlos, técnico de Argentina (Pais de Maradona) si yo encontrára ese teclado, primero lo limpio con alcohol isopropilico o WD40 para eliminar todo el oxido, raspo la parte superficial con un destornillador o espátula, saco la fuente alimentación y testeo con multimetro la salida de voltajes. Los pines de los componentes electrónicos los cepillo y vuelvo a reconstruir las pistas de cobre con alambres finos y estaño y ¡Seguir probando! He reparado un Emu Emax HD (1987) que tenía las pistas de cobre comidas por oxido cobre, algunas teclas no funcionaban, compré una fuente alimentación nueva y ¡Volvio a la vida! No hay que rendirse ¡Adelante!
Any chance you saved the transformer/power board? Trying to find a replacement for my SY85. Cheers, Jeff
Worry not, I've subscribed! Cheers!
Hey Markus have you ever did a keyboard teardown on an Ensoniq TS-10 or TS-12?
Awesome again..
I reassembled my Hammond XB-1 while watching this having repaired it. It had dead keys before so all contacts were cleaned and a new clock battery installed... and now it won't fully boot up and produce a sound. I've touched something I shouldn't have, clearly. Looks like the keyboard gods aren't with me at the moment...
Off to eBay for spares and repair you go!
HI Markus, in you estimation could this water damage have been from a single 'immersion' or would it be from an extended period of wet? Can't think of how it could sit in still water for an extended period!
I have one that I bought new in 1988 -still got the box it came in as well. The internal battery needs changing which I will do as the memory does not hold. The floppy has failed and I wish I could find a replacement.
Ahh, I had one of those. It's probably still in the loft. I remember it being quite frustrating to use
I purchased one like new for $35 one year ago amazing sound you can 2 sound unison
Sometimes, it's more interesting to learn how a keyboard died, rather than what it did. The one you did on a Poly-800 was also very interesting.
Thanks Michael. I was not going to post this video as it was not a fix but im pleased i did post it.
An excellent vintage workstation, sadly far beyond repair :'( probably due to some flood in the past, it's the only logical explanation. Good video anyway, very interesting Mr.Holmes, Markus Holmes! ;) Cheerio.
Going out on a limb. I have a fully operational V50. Fully operational except for the disk drive is hit and miss. Often get a "Bad Disk!" message, though I occasionally get lucky and my old disks sometimes load. Of course I've replaced the rubber belts 3 times, with the current one new by about a couple of years. But I digress. Is there something else I can crack open in the drive, maybe possibly clean some heads or something like that? Or are there replacements available for such a rare drive that predates Windows 3.1? Maybe someone in here has a working drive willing to sell your old V50 if you have no use for it? I have 30 years worth of work saved on these disks, and I am aiming to get this work and my keyboard format saved in my Anvil MIDI program. I have had some success with that, as I said I occasionally get lucky loading my old disks. But a working drive would still be awesome to restore the keyboard to its former working self.
markus, do you not sell some of the bits like the outer casing or ends of synths? I have just dismantled a K2600 with a buggered PSU, i have used the keybed for another K2600, that was down to the hammers that it had in it, you could not get hold of for the love of money, the one i dismantled had the later ones in. I could have done my bed up, but the cost of the replacing the hammers, would have been nearly double what i paid for the donor. I could have fixed the donor and sold it on, but parts for the K2600 can be expensive and hard to get hold of.
Hello Procta. I do keep some parts but I have very little spare room to store things here. I sent this keyboard off to another person who did use parts to fix his so it did not go to waste.
I repair a Arp Quadra that had lots of Tracks corroded to a open state , because the synth was worth thousands repaired , I spent hours upon hours jumping the damaged tracks with wire , if you have the time etc , its worth doing , basically your taking a wire from (eg) a leg of a component to component , , but can understand it justify spending the time on a cheaper synth etc
I have a V50. Bought it new in ‘88. Last week I found I was unable to even get the power to turn on. Do you have any idea why that might be. It’s clean and been sitting in my living room forever. It worked a week before. My name is Marsha.
So sad to see one that's been mistreated and can't be brought back. I just finished refurbishing mine. I'd say it's slightly above average in complexity for dis-assembly and re-assembly. The one big problem I ran up against was the plastic tabs that act as a stop on the white keys. They get brittle and break. New (used) keys don't help because they become brittle with age. I ended up drilling a 1/16 hole where the tab used to be and bonding a 7/16 X 1/16 dowel pin with epoxy.
hope you kept the shell.. sometimes people sell mainboards on ebay
Loving the vids. Any ideas about a Roland DJ70 that flicks on for a fraction of a second and then has nothing???? No water damage or visual damage that I can see
Sorry I have never been inside the DJ70. is that the sampler with the large scratchpad ?. does the display light up and stay on or does everything go off quickly ?. if so I would start by looking into the power supply as it sounds like it is cutting off as soon as it starts to provide power to the keyboard. that would be my first guess.
Loose screws, definitely risky. #1 rule at the sound company where I work is that if you hear anything loose instead a piece of gear you immediately take it to the repair bench.
Can you replace of the new keys ?
“Alright fellas, we’re gonna be shootin’ this video under water.”
If you coulda gotten this puppy restored to working order, what a first-rate rarity it could be - at a crossroads between the Yamaha FM vogue and the Korg Workstation vogue, both technologies merging ever so briefly. Any number of museums would prostrate themselves for such a rarity.
I came here to hear if you'd play the SynBass 3 preset.
Hi Marcus! Have you still got this synthesizer? I'm looking for one key (E / B) and one plastic foot of the bottom cover ... ready to buy. Please let me know if there is anything left...
Hi I am very sorry but that went a long time ago. If I still had it I would have sent you the parts you need for free. my apologies.
Where did you get that V50 from? Sad to see it was so abused :-(
Still may be good source for replacement IC's, even if PCB got slightly eaten.
He said he kept the keys and chips
as stated by someone else, the actual FM chips could be salvaged
Hi Luis. the main board has been posted to canada where another youtuber is going to hack into the fm chips
Why a variac w/ an ammeter is nice to have in the shop. No scary smoke and bangs.
might be worth pulling the more unique chips and putting em on ebay, since people looking to fix theirs can only get them from other V50s
worth a try.btw,i need a new drive for my yamaha dx7iifd and cant find any info whatsover for a replacement-has anyone any ideas(and i know eff all about disk drives and setting to zero)please help........
You should donate it to one of the many restoration channels. They do a lot on uneconomical repairs for fun and views and someone may like the challenge.
Always informative, Markus. We appreciate your work.
You probably get alot people asking questions like this "to many", but can a layman with zero electronic knowledge but solder skill change 2 slidepots on a Korg RC 168, and if so any idea where to get them?
Original no requirment, does it matter these are hooked up to midi be steered over midi interface "digital" ?
Excuse the ignorance but what's the beige-colored box around 6:30 that you plug the synth into?
It's an Earth Leakage Circuit Breaker. It detects if there are current going through to ground - or through a person - and shuts off if this is the case. It's basically to make things safer during a repair process.
Thank you!
The chips on the board would still be usefull as spares for someone thats got v50 assuming they are not all cactus
Nice laboratory
There are many many many things, both hardware and components, that could be salvaged off the synth and sold for parts.
It also could have been the victim of a fire. Fireman usually dowse a whole structure with hoses thoroughly, regardless if the entire structure is not involved. Things happen.
Thats a good point and certainly a possibility.
Sounds like my brother had that one.Ive just fixed his casio fz1.It was droped of a soffa and smash a couple of keys.Dont they make stands for those kind of things.D.E.R...
This had some fat/unique layered bass sounds. I might still have to look for a minter someday.
I’m a pianist but a beginner for keyboard. Can you kindly teach me how to separate two sounds at different bars please?
Hello I am not sure what you are asking me. I do not understand seperating sounds at different bars.
These are getting increasingly difficult to find and are rather uniquely powerful for a yamaha FM. Having a very hard time resisting the urge to spend several hundred USD on a malfunctioning unit (contacts need cleaning mostly). I'm not sure if this is a terrible idea or just a bad idea on my part...
Anyways, great video as always, even if a little sad!
Looks like it was left in the cellar of a pub and forgotten. Tsk
my thoughts also
Or in the lair of swamp thing. :-(
I bet if that was cocaine you would have had the motivation to try to fix it anyway! I like your videos, thanks for making them!
Ken Shields
YUPPERZ!!!!
Cocaine.... I don't know if he'd of fixed it.
On Meth, he woulda said he did, & wouldn't have done !tihs
Seeing all the recent news about flooding maybe that is an explanation. Perhaps foolishly, Vince Clarke built an underground studio that was prone to it.
It would be nice to think that the owner got a new MoDx in place of this from his insurance company.
A genuine question about insurance from someone with several vintage synths. How do insurance companies value something like this ? Doing some research they seem to push "New for Old" as if it is the best thing you could have in a policy. I can't imagine there being a new Yamaha V50 anywhere in the world. A friend was always complaining that her insurance company gave a her a rubbish new VCR in place of the one that got stolen that she thought was much better.
Just water ?
Or cat damage ??
a couple weeks ago a V50 came into my shop for repairs. on the outside it looked in mint condition, but it smelled kinda funny. In the inside there were hundreds of dead roaches and of course the assorted set of aracnids... it was a nasty job
I have an oscilloscope mice had lived in (getting in through an unfitted expansion option). I fixed it apart from one voltage range setting.
ah, Mark! the smoke's already been let out of all those components
Did you even check the fuse? ;-p I think the correct term is beyond economical repair - most things can be repaired, it's usually an issue of sourcing spares & time that limits the repair.
Yes I checked the fuse and checked if power was making it up to the internal power supply.
I've been here before and know the feeling of disappointment. But you took the right decision and anyone here attempting a repair wouldn't know what they were saying. One wouldn't know what he's dealing with when equipment is in such a state. Could be they were playing it by the sea and it got a dash of water. Is it sea water by the way? That would have made matters worse. Perhaps was worth checking the rubber strip/s and contact boards for spares. But was a nice video anyway just like a story one wouldn't know if it was going to have a happy ending... life's like that! Cheers Markus... and to say the least... we're not getting anything from the government with salvaging such equipment from the landfill. Greetings, Noel from The Maltese Islands.....
such a shame also shame i live so far away cause would love to try and get that goin i love a challenge would be bodge wire heaven by the time i had finished with it
I think a lot of people yust like me put a keyboard a side in a corner right up when not in use, and then when you got a water problem in your cellar, the last thing i think is about the keyboard, as always thumps upp :-)
Seems to me the plastic keys might be salvaged for replacing broken ones in other Yamaha synths of the period.
it's not really worth it. old plastic keys break easily. the spring underneath the key has a tendency to come loose. it's junk
you can just buy new ones on ebay. the top c key (the last white key to the right) is really the only one that's a bit more sought after
Must have been parts value in the keys and other bits, surely?
Given that the fluid went under and maybe through the lamination I'd guess it wasn't just water. Coke (not the drug, the drink :P ) is highly acidic and might lead to damage like that, so that's what I'd bet on. Having been first line support for a research facility where everybody had a laptop, I've seen water, coke and orange juice damage, and water is usually just shorting out in the moment leading to scorched elements on a now much cleaner circuit board (as if that helped :D ), and both orange juice and coke leave a brownish stain on the board, but I've only seen coke actually eating through the copper.
dx11 with drums. decent board.
Sounds like some something for the 8Bit guy :) I could fix it, too :)