Post by ninworks on Apr 16, 2022 9:12:12 GMT -5
I have an old solid state Leslie Model 760 that had been blowing fuses. I hadn't needed it so it has been sitting, broken, for a couple years. I also have 3 external, stand-alone, preamps for it so I can run high impedance instruments like electric guitars or synthesizers into the Leslie with them. Two of the three preamps were unusable due to problems.
I had a friend come to visit for a couple weeks who is a retired electronics tech that worked for a communications satellite company in Arizona. I had schematics for all the broken stuff so he helped me sort out what was wrong with everything. I was able to get the repair parts needed from a local electronics supply store. We repaired the Leslie and the two broken preamps. All of the preamps have 2 inputs with volume controls that feed a mono audio output. We were able to get one of them working 100% but only one input on the other works. He decided that it was a faulty transistor so I have been on a search for a replacement. Unfortunately that transistor has been obsolete since the late 80's and I can't find one anywhere but, I'm still searching for something that will work. I can't even find a spec sheet for that transistor to be able to come up with something I can substitute in its place. If I can't find anything to replace it with I am going to have to just put that preamp away and use it as a parts donor if one of the others fails at a later date.
Electronic audio gear gets obsolete so fast these days it's maddening to get some stuff repaired. I am very happy that we were able to fix most of the stuff that was broken. I think I spent about $20 on repair parts and a big part of that was for tools. If I would have had to pay someone to repair that stuff it would have been in the hundreds of dollars I am sure.
Someday if I get industrious I may tackle replacing capacitors in my old Hammond organ. It still works but many of the caps are of the wax filmed variety and I'm sure they are leaking voltage or at the very least the values are not what they are supposed to be. I'm also sure it would sound better after replacing them. There are literally hundreds of caps in that thing so it will be a major endeavor. I'm not sure I want to get involved with that.
Everything in the studio is working.....for now. The problem with having lots of gear is that it makes the possibility for stuff breaking much higher. At least I don't have to maintain a large format console or 24 track tape machine. The maintenance on that stuff is endless.
I had a friend come to visit for a couple weeks who is a retired electronics tech that worked for a communications satellite company in Arizona. I had schematics for all the broken stuff so he helped me sort out what was wrong with everything. I was able to get the repair parts needed from a local electronics supply store. We repaired the Leslie and the two broken preamps. All of the preamps have 2 inputs with volume controls that feed a mono audio output. We were able to get one of them working 100% but only one input on the other works. He decided that it was a faulty transistor so I have been on a search for a replacement. Unfortunately that transistor has been obsolete since the late 80's and I can't find one anywhere but, I'm still searching for something that will work. I can't even find a spec sheet for that transistor to be able to come up with something I can substitute in its place. If I can't find anything to replace it with I am going to have to just put that preamp away and use it as a parts donor if one of the others fails at a later date.
Electronic audio gear gets obsolete so fast these days it's maddening to get some stuff repaired. I am very happy that we were able to fix most of the stuff that was broken. I think I spent about $20 on repair parts and a big part of that was for tools. If I would have had to pay someone to repair that stuff it would have been in the hundreds of dollars I am sure.
Someday if I get industrious I may tackle replacing capacitors in my old Hammond organ. It still works but many of the caps are of the wax filmed variety and I'm sure they are leaking voltage or at the very least the values are not what they are supposed to be. I'm also sure it would sound better after replacing them. There are literally hundreds of caps in that thing so it will be a major endeavor. I'm not sure I want to get involved with that.
Everything in the studio is working.....for now. The problem with having lots of gear is that it makes the possibility for stuff breaking much higher. At least I don't have to maintain a large format console or 24 track tape machine. The maintenance on that stuff is endless.
