I started the day doing some prospecting and walking around the claim and surrounding public lands.  I found some epidote in quartz/granite which was cool; but nothing else per se.  Richard, the field trip leader for the club, had given me a clue on where to find some calcite crystals so I went on a hunt for them.  I was able to find the area he mentioned; but obviously someone had been digging there already and I didn’t see the calcite crystals he mentioned.  The seam that had been dug out had some dried red clay and I figured I should see what that was about so I started digging in that carefully.  I ended up finding a small plate of small calcite points which was exciting.  Unfortunately the host rock was extremely brittle and even exercising great care it was hard to extract the plates without everything busting into tiny pieces.

Cute calcite cluster found in the maroon clay

I continued to dig into the clay and uncovered more small plates of calcite crystals, again they were very brittle but I was able to extract a couple 1.5 – 2″ pieces intact which was exciting!  Continuing into the pocket I the clay turned iridescent maroon colored and that is where I found a couple of really pretty plates, one, the back/side of the pocket was able to be extracted intact that was rather large, 4-5″ long.  Sweet! The below cluster was one of the intact small clusters which came from this area of the small pocket.

Calcite cluster without the coating of calcite

Awesome large cluster of calcite crystals intact!!

Once I got to the end of this small pocket I broke into a small but pretty smokey and amethyst quartz vein.  It quickly pinched out and I decided to see what everyone else was finding and relax for a little bit. Overall the calcite pocket was about 3-5″ high, 1-3″ wide and about 4″ deep at the largest points.

"Zipper" Vein of Smokey and Amethyst Quartz at the end of the Calcite pocket

Everyone was having luck about two feet deep digging an amethyst vein.  There was a lot of folks digging in a tight space so I decided to try and intercept the vein a little ways away from the crowd; 10 yards or so uphill.  I dug and dug in all directions but did not find the vein…it either made a significant turn, went further down than I was wanting to dig (which was 3+ feet!); or pinched out.  After a couple of hours I reclaimed my prospecting and just hung out and listened to everyone talk and enjoyed the stories and watching everyone find great little clusters.

Small amethyst, milky and smokey quartz clusters and points

I went through some of the tailings and found some cool little points, and after everyone was done they offered me a chance to dig in the excavated hole and I enjoyed about an hour of finding great small milky quartz covered plates before it was time to head home.  It was a wonderful day with great people; I’ve really enjoyed visiting this claim and appreciate the opportunity to do so!

Needs a little more scrubbing; beautiful amethyst and smokey quartz!

Calcite crystals in close proximity to quartz vein

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Been a while since my project Freq Modif has been active; but that sleeping beast awakes. Right now there is a Facebook page and a Soundcloud page. I have 25+ tracks ready to go online; I’m going to add them a few at a time–much like a glacier melts–so does the Freq Modif archive to create a constant stream…

• Facebook
• Soundcloud

And the patch above was my dad’s; he was a Radarman in the Navy.  I love the patch and it hangs in the studio with all the electronics equipment!

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Moog 901-A Oscillator Controller, Drawing 1100, July 2, 1969

About 16 years ago I bought a PolyMoog Synthesizer from a Pawn Shop up in Brighton.  It was in good shape and came with the PolyPedal, but didn’t have the legs or power cord.  I found a computer power cord in the shop and asked the broker if I could give it a try.  At first he was reluctant, but then allowed me to try.  It acted as if it had a stuck key; I knew this could be a much bigger issue than just a key; so I talked to him and got a really good deal on it!

I bought the schematics and operations manuals online and took it apart and looked to see if it was something mechanical or “simple”…but I was unable to figure out the issue.  I figured I’d send it out to a tech sometime; but given its weight I wanted the tech to be close to home.  Meanwhile, I found a PolyMoog Road Kit on eBay and I won that auction.  This parts kit was essential for bands who were on the road with one of these beasts, so I was told.  This came from a former employee that worked in the Moog Trumansburg Factory.  He included with this auction lot several Moog schematic blueprints and an EMU modular catalog!!!

Fast forward 15+ years… I found a great tech here locally just a few months back (Chris Rowland, offbeat electronics) — who I highly recommend, btw — who has put to good use that PolyMoog Road Kit.  I hope to get my Moog back in pristine working condition here shortly.  Meanwhile, I finally took some photos of these schematics that I have framed and hanging in my man-cave.  Click on them for a larger image; and some didn’t come out as clear as I wanted; if you want higher resolution let me know and I’ll work harder to get a better shot!

If you have any of these, or have images or links to others, please post in the comments; I would love to see more!  These look great framed and hanging on the walls!

Moog 904-A Low Pass Filter Schematic, Drawing 1149, July 25, 1967

Moog 904-B High Pass Filter Schematic, Drawing 1118, December 1966

Moog 905 Reverberation Schematic, Drawing 1104, July 26, 1966

Moog 961 Interface Schematics

Moog Synthesizer 10 Schematics, Drawing 1374, December 30, 1969

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Warm Spring Sun Mixtape by Davealex on Mixcloud

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Roland Home Series Synth Plus 60

I found this locally from a really cool guy near town this week. Ended up heading up during a blizzard and was stopped on the interstate due to multiple wrecks…ended up getting led off the interstate by turning around and going the wrong way to the nearest on-ramp…I thought the synth was gone as the seller said there were other interested parties…but the next day it was available and I went to pick it up.

The synth overall was in wonderful shape; there were only two real issues with it:
1) The rate slider was broken off; thus missing the slider cap too.
2) The Bender plate/mechanism is pretty loose.
3) The sheet music holder is missing
4) There is a screened on logo of the keyboard store in Omaha front/center of the unit (I would never have bought this new with that on it!)

Great shape except the broken slider, and screened logo of the original seller!

So, I pulled out the schematic from the internet and saw that all but the HPF sliders are 50K so I found one (with a Juno slider cap!) and have it on order. I should have this early next week and will pull this apart and fix that slider and tighten the Bender plate! I’m going to not worry about the other two issues.

Close up of the Control Panel...

The HS stood for Home Series and Roland had several in this line during the mid-80s. The thought I think was to give these to aspiring musicians and people taking piano lessons at home or school. To make it more “home” friendly they stripped the colors of the Juno-106 and added speakers–which sound very nice in my opinion!

The interface of this synth! MIDI In/Out/Thru and program protect are not shown

Even though there is only one DCO per voice; this 6 voice machine has classic, wonderful sounds.  You can stack all 6 DCOs at once which has a really thick and aggressive sound!  You can also add one of the two Chorus features which also thickens the sound…the Chorus functions are really sweet!  I have owned several Juno-106s in the past; but for whatever reason I got rid of them (trades, etc) and lately I have been wanting back that “classic” Roland sound back in my studio! That occurred this week!  I also got a hefty anvil case with this synth, although its a pretty tight fit…

The heavy duty Anvil case

Both kids like it as well!  I look forward to plugging it into the genoQs Octopus sequencer and having some fun!  I’ve also picked up the Roland JX-3P lately so I think I’ll have a dueling Roland session with the Octopus soon!

RESTORATION UPDATE:  4/27/2013

I purchased a 50k slider on eBay that had a slider cap (unfortunately white) and finally got around to taking the HS-60 apart and replacing that slider.  Pulling off the 5 screws per side in the plastic siding, and then the 2 screws per PCB (main PCB and MIDI) on the back, and finally the 6 or 7 screws from the panel PCB.

HS-60 encased speakers

These speakers get REALLY loud; I usually have the volume at 3 or 4.  The inside of the synthesizer was VERY clean!

Juno 106 and HS 60 Jack PCB.

The boards and assembly are really professional in the HS-60.  The panel in on a taught hinge which made it really easy to work on.

The Panel Board - 50K rate slider Fixed!

The LFO rate slider is all the way on the left.  This 50k slider was super quick to replace once I got to it.  I had to take off the Panel PCB, MIDI Jack PCB and Jack PCB.  Overall, this took about 45 minutes to complete.

Cool HS Shadows

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It has the basic layout as the Junos, having an extra DCO which is cool…but it does not have the nice control sliders like the Juno-6, 60 or 106 does… I am actually excited (so I have read) to learn the with the on board sequencer you can overdub with it which is exciting. My buddy Brett has a PG-200 programmer that I can borrow to easily program out the 32 programs! There is also an after market cpu upgrade that looks very intriguing…but is $300 including shipping from New Zealand so I lost a little excitement due to the sticker shock!

Roland JX-3P upon initial inspection

There were many issues with the synth when I got it.

1. It was filthy and smelled heavily of cigarettes, so much that you could barely see the LEDs light up!  That was pretty easy to fix with a good cleaning.

2. There were many screws missing, especially the ones holding the keyboard to the chassis. That should be easy to fix with a trip to the hardware store.

3. The selector slider works but it has a horrible metal-to-metal feel and sound.

4. The rate slider is completely broken.

5. The volume knob/cap is gone

6.The output jack is busted.

7.The lowest C key does not trigger at all

8. A higher E key sticks.

9.The volume pot is not connected to the PCB very well; and it needs some lube to get some of the static out.

I was pretty lucky and found a used jack board for $40 and new sliders for $15 each, these are on their way now. That will be some soldering, not a big deal…so that just leaves the slider cap for the rate and the volume knob. I may not replace these with the original parts, i am going to do some looking at old used electronics dumps and online to see what I can find…I should hopefully be able to re solder the volume pot in; I just discovered this issue; haven’t checked if the PCB is broken or not…could be a bigger issue. This should be basically (less the C key) back up and running very soon! Will check into the contacts of that C key as well! Cannot wait!!!

Here it is after the initial cleaning:

Roland JX-3P after the initial scrub-down

UPDATE:  2 days later…

I plugged it in and played with it for a couple of hours last night.  After figuring out the user interface it actually is pretty easy.  Any parameter is 2 button presses away.  The quick reference chart in the upper right side of the faceplate makes it super quick to zero into a parameter.  I actually like this implementation; much better than the later “tiny window” and scroll wheel that became huge later into the 80′s and 90s!  The implementation is very nice considering there are no real-time knobs/faders to control the sound!  Good job Roland…you went down-hill for years after this!

To my surprise, the “stair step” sound of opening/closing the filter that the Juno-106s had to my dislike IS NOT THERE; it is a smooth analog feel when sweeping the filter!  WOW, a cool extra bonus!  I played with the mixer and both DCOs and there are quite a bit of variety in modulating the sound that can happen this way.  So far, I’m very impressed with the sound capabilities; I just wish there was velocity on the keyboard…this appears to be a HIGHLY under-rated synth (from a price/desirability perspective–due to the lack of sliders/knobs); probably people don’t understand they can spend <20 minutes required to get used to the fairly straight-forward user interface.  Rich analog sounds galore!!!

Here is a quick overview of how to program this great synth:

Roland JX-3P Quick Reference screened on the front

Here are all the parameters that can be used to craft sounds…a great quick reference on the front faceplate!  Note there are two sets of parameters, numbered from 1 to 16 labeled in either “white” and “red”.

Roland JX3-P Master Control

Step #1:  First press the Edit bank button corresponding to the parameter you desire to adjust (Group “A” is white while “B” represents those parameters screened in red).

Step #2:  With the “color” selected, the parameter number from the Edit-Map reference is selected using the 16 preset buttons.  For on/off or multiple position “knobs”, you will use the bank buttons (A - D, on the left)–the value will be shown by a illuminated LED.  Otherwise you use the “Sens” slider to choose a value for the parameter–each is divided into 16 step values and the current value is illuminated on the corresponding preset LED/button.

If you are needing to change another parameter and it is in the same “Group” you are one click away…simply press the corresponding preset button/LED and use the Sens slider to adjust.  If the parameter is in the other Group color; then you will need to press that Edit Bank Group button first.  A parameter is always less that two clicks away!

Step #3.  Once you have your sound as you like it, to write to one of the 32 available user presets make sure your Group button LED is off (out of edit mode) and then press the Edit Write button, the Group button you want to save to (either C or D; A and B are presets that can not be saved over) and then the Preset number button.

Pretty darned simple if you ask me.

I’ll add more soon, once I get the parts and open this up to fix all the problems…until then; I’ll be programming some new sounds and hooking up to a MIDI controller.

UPDATE:  1 Day Later…

Wow, my parts shipped quick.  I ordered them last Friday and they were here today, Monday.  I had a few hours before the family came home so I decided to dig into this and see how far I could get.

JX-3P Opened up and ready for surgery

First, fix the couple of keyboard issues:  Lowest “C” is not triggering and the upper “E” is very loose.

Upper "E" key (and black note next to it) were broken

I pulled out these two keys (I didn’t realize the black key was also very “loose”) and super-glued the parts back on…

Broken keys and parts after extraction from the assembly

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The Super Glue Fix...

Now to the low “C” that didn’t trigger. I noticed that the rubber was raised; probably got some dust under there…

Contact was raised...

I took an eraser and lightly cleaned both pieces, and then took a cotton swap and some isopropyl alcohol and cleaned this up.  I then put the key back on.  That seemed to do the trick!  All the keys are solid and now work!

I then replaced the jack board.  It is obvious that this synth was dropped; much like humpty dumpty it had a GREAT fall!  The jack was still soldered to the pad; but the pad was broken / cracked from the traces.  The hex bolt was also forced off, both which allowed the jack to be very loose and not function properly.  Regardless, I replaced the entire jack board.

Notice the crack / broken trace.

Next to the volume pot.  Same thing, it obviously suffered trauma and the pads were broken from the traces.  I repaired these by adding some hookup wire to reconnect the traces; and then re-soldered the pot to the PCB.  That seemed to work as well!

Traces were separated from the pads...

This is why the volume didn't work well...

Finally, I replaced both the Rate slider (which was completely broken off) and the Sens slider.  These I got today in the mail.  These have a nice feel now!

Broken Rate slider

So, four days after getting this wonderful synth, it is nearly completely restored.  I have one slider cap (from the broken slider) to replace…I may replace all 3 depending on what I find.  I found a nice knob in my collection for the volume; so that looks good now too.

Overall, a very fun (and quick) restoration project!  Now, time to make some tunes!

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Here are the links over to the Obliq Recordings website…

Multicast presents Faster and Faster

Multicast presents The Spy

Multicast presents an Interlude

Multicast presents Merry Go Round

Enjoy!

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Davealex – 30m – New Years 2013 – Part 1 (Body) by Davealex on Mixcloud

Dave Clarke – What Was Her Name (Radio Edit) – Skint 94 – 2004
ESP Woody McBride – Flight’s Departing – Kompute 011 – 2003
Jens Lissat Project – Trance Core Still – JL01 – 1993
Damon Wild presents Nightvision – Nuclear Sun – Experimental 23 – 1993
Dindi’s Khan – Lärm – More Monkey Business 002-6 – 1999
Jammin’ Unit – Flowerswing – Dj.ungle Fever 012 – 1994
Beverly Hills 808303 – The American Lie – Reference Analogue Audio HM 12102 – 1994
Underground Resistance – The Final Frontier – UR003 – 1991

Davealex – 30m – New Years 2013 – Part 2 (Mind) by Davealex on Mixcloud

Ulrich Schnauss – Monday – Paracetamol (Mojave 3 Remix) – Domino 047 – 2006
Aphex Twin – Ageispolis – Selected Ambient Works 85-92 Remaster LE – R&S AMB3922XI – 2012 / 1992
Scala – VDT – Too Pure 57 – 1996
Mark Van Hoen – The Reverent Diary – Editions Mego 136 – 2012
Mordant Music – Dark Side of the Autobahn – MM006 – 2003
Global Electronic Network – Rolleiflex – Weltron – Mille Plateaux 010 – 1994
Multicast – Pulse – Obliq Recordings – 2013

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This synth has seen much better days.  I acquired this many years ago when purchasing a Roland Juno-106 from a guy out of the paper classifieds.  The Juno-106 had a broken slider but otherwise was in wonderful shape.  I told him that I didn’t mind as I planned to restore that slider; and he asked me if I was into “restoring” that I could have this other synth that needed a ton of work.  I said “let’s check it out”…

He proceeded to take me under his front porch crawlspace to acquire this beast from the earthen floor.  I asked if it worked and he said no; hasn’t worked in a long long time; but I was welcome to it; as a matter of fact I remember him somewhat begging me to take it with the Juno to get it out of his “storage”.  So what the heck; a good project for the future I thought!  I took it home and plugged it in…nothing; and given I had a new Juno to play with this ended up in the basement for another day.

Korg DV-800 ready for a cosmetic overhaul

Fast Forward about 17 years, and I remembered this thing was sitting in the basement.  Might as well check it out since I was working on restoring my Mini-Korg and Moog PolyMoog Synthesizer anyway.  I drug this thing from the basement and it looked better than I remembered it; but still it was pretty gross and banged up.  I again plugged it in and nothing…so I opened it up and it was full of mouse/rat poison…nice!

After cleaning it out I started looking around and noticed that the fuse was blown.  I replaced the fuse and the green light lit on the front of the keyboard!  Cool!  Upon checking it out everything seemed to work just fine; that was easy enough.  This thing is analog as hell and has some really neat features, so I have decided to restore it along side the Mini-Korg (see this post).  I’m looking forward to these projects.

Online Manuals:  Korg DV-800 Maxi-Korg Operation Manual ; Schematics

Here is my “to do” list for this project (Project Start Date, Jan 11, 2013)

1) Fix the 3 broken keys

2) Hope to find replacement sliders and toggle switch extensions to match; this is likely going to be difficult; I may try to use a 3dPrinter if that is cost effective… ???

3) Clean it up; not sure what to do about the faded screening around the Traveller section.

4) Add CV/Gate for both synths and the overall synth and perhaps audio inputs.

5) Redo the wooden sides and face plates.

If you have any experience restoring this synth; please drop me a line; I’d love to ask some questions…

UPDATE (1/25/2013): MISSING/BROKEN KEYS ON ORDER (Project total so far:  $24)

Found a good deal on eBay for early Moog/Korg keys so I purchased the ones needed.  I figured that would be the harder part; but keeping your eyes open (thanks to automated searches) and having good luck is “key” .

I bought some cleaner that is supposed to take the old duct tape residue off of the metal and I’m going to test that out today.

UPDATE (2/6/2013): Deep cleaning and key replacement (Project total so far:  $24)

Did some deep cleaning on the unit.  Started with all the slider caps and knobs…I need to make two grey oval slider caps, one orange pointed knob, one red traveller knob and one orange tube slider cap.  I’m investigating using silicone rubber molds and resin or possibly 3d printing to do these…

Cleaned DV 800 Knobs/Slider Caps

I found it’s “born on” date as well as the original check list (I’m assuming) from the factory.  October 1976!

Born on date and factory checklist

Here is the control panel all washed up.  I need to fix some of the wear with a black marker; a Sharpie didn’t do the trick; will check into an auto-body or hardware store for touch up markers soon.

Control Panel cleaned up

Here is the Maxi-Korg as I was starting to clean the keyboard keys.  Someone dumped their Cola in there and it was a mess; the keys, the springs, and all the contacts…I can’t believe the contacts still worked!

Getting ready to clean and fix the keys, already have the broken ones removed

The Moog keys that I purchased are very close to the Korg series keys.  I had to file down the curved hook that holds the key into the keyboard assembly.  As I was going through these; I noticed several keys that were also the Moog variety; it looks like someone else has done some keyboard repairs already.  I was able to fix 2 of the keys with superglue too.

Moog (top) vs Korg (bottom) key after I did a little shaving

As you can see, I didn’t file much away; but it sure made the keys much easier to install.  The several keys that were already installed that were Moog keys were very difficult to remove.  I filed those down too.

Moog keys before (bottom) and after (top) filing

So, here is the Korg DV-800 after I did the deep cleaning today.  Looks already much nicer!  Note there are no wood faceplates or sides; I will get to those in probably another month or two.

Looking great after a deep cleanse.

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I have been spending some time as I find extra to refine my studio.  Having all my gear available and cabled has made the studio much more fun and enjoyable; something to be said about not having to deal with cabling and such each time I want to be creative.  My band partner Jeff Holland and I have had some great sessions recently in the studio and plan to have more soon!

Finalizing the studio layout has led me to think of how wonderful it would be to get some of the synthesizers I’ve collected over the years that have not been functional working again so they can be actually played with and enjoyed once again!  So from the bowels of my basement I drug out this old but classic synthesizer, the first Korg produced from 1975, the Korg K-1, aka Korg 700 aka MiniKorg!

The story on this synth was firstly it was a free acquisition.  I purchased my first Sequential Six-Trak from a fellow who used to be in a harder rock/punk band in the late 70s in Denver.  This was his favorite synth because he could throw it around on stage in angst and anger and it would “take a beating”.  It was actually his second Mini Korg; the first one he owned didn’t make it past “an epic show”.  Because of its shape (he said it wasn’t working) he just gave it to me as a parting gift…

Here is my to do list after reinspecting this synth after 17 years of sitting in my basements… (Project Start:  January 11, 2013)

1) Redo the wood sides.  The Mini-Korg plaque is in great shape.  I’m trying to determine the type of wood and color of stain; red would look nice, so would yellow, red and purple I think.  Decisions…decisions….I’m showing you the best parts of the existing wood; too bad the side is the “inside” part!  LOL!

2) Remove all the duct tape residue from the metal.  The original screen printing is in good shape.

3) The off/on switch is broken.  Need to fix the plastic so it stays on the switch.

4) The octave selector switch is missing.  This will be impossible to find, so I’m not 100% sure what to do.  I’m going to investigate a 3d printer and potentially chrome plating.

5) Missing 2 “A” keys, a “D” key and a “G” key.  These need to be replaced with NOS (or used) Korg MS-series keys available online.

6) Modify it for CV & Gate jacks for external control.

7) Modify for VCF Audio input

Add the two fuses around the power supply that someone replaced with wire.

I think that is all that needs to be done to get this back in near new condition.  Luckily it plays well; all the issues seem to be cosmetic.  Stay tuned for updates to this page as I progress in the project.

If you’ve worked on these or have leads on these parts; please contact me!

 UPDATE (1/25/2013): MISSING/BROKEN KEYS ON ORDER (Project total so far:  $31)

Found a good deal on eBay for early Moog/Korg keys so I purchased the ones needed.  I figured that would be the harder part; but keeping your eyes open (thanks to automated searches) and having good luck is “key” .

I bought some cleaner that is supposed to take the old duct tape residue off of the metal and I’m going to test that out today.

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