Old Electro's really suck!

[Steve Jones]

Fixed an old Acetone organ (nobody laugh) today, a real Japanese miracle from the 70's, and the electrolytics were so old on the generator boards that they were TRIPLE their marked values - as an example, the 50 microFarad caps were all 140-180 mF. No wonder the thing sounded like it had asthma, and had been eating too many prunes.

I know the many of the design guru's in the Lab are all wary of outright replacing electro's even in 20-30 year old gear, but as a synth tech I hate the bloody things and just get rid of them wherever I see them, they really suck in oscillators and filters. How's that for a vent? (Pardon the pun).

 

[dale116dot7]

It's maybe worse when the electro's vent... it's loud and messy at the same time... :roll:

 

[Mark Burnley]

Frakos

Frakos

Freakin' Frakos!!!!

I've had more trouble with those pesky yellow critters than any other capacitor. Worst offender- Studer A80 VU 24-track recap. Surely a mind bending experience at the best of times. Transformerless output cards tightened up remarkably afterwards though!!

:thumb:

Mark

 

[clintrubber]

Fixed an old Acetone organ (nobody laugh) today, a real Japanese miracle from the 70's

Nobody laughing here, we like cheese (assuming it's doing that).

BTW, you knew this one ?

http://www.hollowsun.com/vintage/rhythmace/index.html

Lots of samples there, all kinds of beatboxes and synths & organs.

 

[mcs]

[quote author="Mark Burnley"]Freakin' Frakos!!!![/quote]
You always got Frakos when you bought kits in Denmark in the late 80s. I also got Frakos when I bought caps at the local electronics shop - it looks like they had the Danish market cornered :wink:

My Frakos are still fine though - perhaps they are not old enough yet...

Best regards,

Mikkel C. Simonsen

 

[Mark Burnley]

Well,

I think a mixture of heat, age and being left on 24/7 didn't help in the cases I'd seen!

90% fail by short, which isn't nice. At least they didn't burst!!

:shock:

Mark

 

[Steve Jones]

Nobody laughing here, we like cheese (assuming it's doing that).
BTW, you knew this one ?
http://www.hollowsun.com/vintage/rhythmace/index.html
Lots of samples there, all kinds of beatboxes and synths & organs.[/quote]


Yes, these boxes are cool - more than just mere cheese, thay are the whole deli tray (before the liggers get into the band room after the show and eat all the good bits like seagulls at the rubbish tip). A richer sound than a lot of the Italian chedder from the same era, better assembled too.

Acetone was the precursor to Roland as I remember, never seen a schematic for any of their stuff.


Mark, I agree about Frako's, they don't suck, they BLOW. Mixing Frako's with Studers is like drinking and driving.