Vox Jaguar Repair Pt. 3 of 3 - Waveforms and the Power Supply
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- Опубліковано 6 вер 2024
- This is video 3 of a 3-part video series, showing my efforts in repairing a 1960's-era Vox Jaguar electronic organ. In part 3, we remove the power supply module, replace problematic parts, and make some minor upgrades to the module for safety and continuity. We also take a look at the different waveforms that the Jaguar produces, with the output signal shown on an oscilloscope.
Special Thanks to my amazing wife for being so supportive of me and my oddball hobbies, and to my daughters for putting up with all the noises and equipment filling up our den space.
Here are some links that I think will be helpful to others who are interested in repairing these wonderful vintage instruments:
www.voxshowroom...
North Coast Music hosts this website, and it has an enormous amount of information about the various Vox Continental models, as well as the Jaguar, the Corinthian, and the Baroque.
www.vintagevib...
Vintage Vibe has some parts for Vox organs, as well as parts for other electric keyboards including the Hohner Clavinet, the Fender Rhodes, and Wurlitzer.
www.combo-orga...
A good repository for technical how-to’s and repair pointers & tips. Mostly text-based, and chock-full of useful information for DIY-ers.
NOTE: The above links are included for informational purposes only.
Hi Mark,
Hope you're well -- I don't see any recent comments from you...
Enjoyed your series on the repairing the Jaguar as both a longtime hack musician and former electronics technician/field engineer. I picked up the Heathkit version of this organ on ebay 15 or 20 years ago and still have it. I had to do a little repair work, similar to what you've done in the power supply. And I even put in the same 3-prong AC connector that you used -- with so many computer power supply cords laying around, it was a natural! The details have escaped me, but I also had to do a little work on one or two of the tone generators, replacing some transistors. But everything worked when I was finished, and it hasn't been turned on since...
At any rate, I noticed that there's quite a bit of AC hum in parts of the first couple of videos and am offering to clean up the audio, if you're interested. It's quite easy to do with iZotope RX and I could either supply you a replacement wav file or even assemble a new complete video file, if you're interested. (I'm talking *Free*, of course. This is a valuable resource for the remaining few vintage keys guys like you and me!)
Hi there! Thanks for the offer . . . but this organ has long since been returned to its owner, and has been in semi-regular use since then with no reported issues. Once I replaced that gold-colored twin capacitor with the two blue ones at the head end, the AC hum was cut way back. My guess is that the amp through which the guy plays it produces more hum than the organ does. I appreciate it!
Great series of 3 documents, Mark! Learned some good tricks that I may be able to put to use on my Crumar Organizer 2. The "computer plug" is a C-13 model from the IEC standard 60320 (the female on the power cord is the C-14). Link to an illustrated list of the plug standards: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEC_60320 .
I did the same power cord retrofit on two PF-15 by Yamaha which I revived... Makes life and transport easier and safer, as you mentioned!!!
Great video! Gawd, you brought back great memories building this in 68' from a HEATHKIT.
Excellent! I remember reading something about these organs being available as a Heathkit project. Myself, I haven't seen one of those yet, but I'd be curious to see if there are any substantial differences between the Heathkit and the Vox versions.
Very interesting and informative, many thanks for taking the time to make this video.
Great videos! I have one question though. I have the same model jaguar you have and everything works but the bass. Any ideas on how to fix it?
Hey Mark I had questions a few months back about my Jaguar with the voicings and I was able to get that fixed. But I have another problem that I know how to fix which is the power supply capacitor. And my question is where can I find replacement ones like you have in this video? I did manage to replace my bad one with another one from a parts lot I ordered but it too went bad.
Hi there. The capacitors I used were purchased from a local electronics parts store. I tend to shop locally as my first choice, but sometimes the selection is limited. After that, I often buy capacitors from mouser.com because I like the wide selection they have. AmplifiedParts.com has a selection of multi-can capacitors, and I've purchased from them too. I actually like to use discrete capacitors in lieu of multi-can capacitors, if the space and mounting allows for it. Since the original 2-can capacitor was made decades ago, and new capacitors are generally smaller, I was able to fit 2 discrete capacitors into the same space as what the old 2-can capacitor took up. I hope this helps!
@@markbeebe4388 Ok thanks again for the info! And I'm glad that there is some videos out there like yours to help with some repairs and questions on these really cool organs. Very hard to find replacements I think. And it looks like I'll need two small capacitors like what you have on this organ. I'll check out the sites you listed and again, thanks!
I have a Jaguar that was working great except for vibrato. One day I went to play it and it sounded very distant and distorted. You could barely hear it. I tried the Fonzie repair method. After hitting in a couple of times nothing changed. Heartbroken I put it away. After sitting for quite awhile I plugged it in and tried to figure out how to fix it. Symptoms started where I left off. But during test the sound completely cut out now. I was thinking of replacing the big brass capacitor as a start. Hopefully that will make it come alive. You have any ideas what I should do?
Hi there! I would definitely check that capacitor: it's got to be 5 decades old by now, and probably isn't working very well. If you have a multimeter, check the resistance of the capacitor (it should be infinite), that's a good first-pass check. Good luck!
Mark you are a badass! Do you have a shop? I have this same organ that was given to me by a family member and it's in mint condition. It has a little scratch in the mode buttons but plays great! How much would you charge me to troubleshoot it? I live in North Carolina.
Hi there! Well, I have a day job and do this sort of thing on the side as what I'd call a "serious hobby." My shop is in my garage in Houston, and generally I'm not taking any more work these days: I'm just too busy with work & family right now.
Having said that: for the buttons that are scratchy, a little contact cleaner sprayed into that area should clean things up pretty well, and it won't do any harm. I recommend getting some contact cleaner in the aerosol cans, with the little aiming hose, and spraying just a little bit behind the switches, then exercising the switches back-and-forth several times. It should clear up the scratchiness for a bit.
Good luck!
@@markbeebe4388 Thank you so much for the reply Mark! One more question if I may. I'm having trouble finding a schematic. Where should I look? I'm going to have to replace those four oscillator caps.
@@scalefingerz My best recommendation would be to check the links I have in the Description section of my video. I believe the website under the first link has a lot of info about the Jaguar and other Vox organs.
@@markbeebe4388 Thank you Mark!!!!!!!!!
I think the computer cable is called IEC? Thanks for the tip using the resistance reading on the multimeter to check capacitor health, I hadn’t thought of that and have been using an ESR meter out of circuit. Is there a similar test you can do with a standard multimeter to check if a capacitor is open circuit and won’t pass AC either?
Hi there. There probably is, and I imagine it would involve simply calculating the cutoff frequency of the capacitor in an RC circuit, then using a function generator to sweep through the proper Q point, and see how it behaves. This resistance test is a very "down and dirty" method, and it has its limitations for sure, but if the capacitor is old and has failed in this manner, then it's a very quick and easy test.
Mark, your voice is pretty low and muted compared for the video.
Hey there. Yeah, sorry about the sound quality. I didn't really notice the levels until after I uploaded the videos, which took a lot of time so I didn't want to go through the trouble of redoing it. It'd be nice if UA-cam allowed for adjustment of the levels of videos after they're uploaded. Oh well, I'll do better with the sound next time around.