Patches and discussion for Ensoniq VFX family

On Apr 25, 2010, at 8:14 PM, heavyw8t wrote:

> Has anybody done the now famous keyboard hard wiring fix on their own or has everyone gone to a technician? I have one of the offending VFX units that the keyboard suddenly blasts a batch of note on messages and then freezes. I don't get a calibration error but I do get the freeze up. I once had a diagram that showed what to do, and if I remember it seemed simple enough that you solder a wire from 1 to 1, 2 to 2, etc... but I am hoping to hear from someone who has done this before to see if it is as simple as that or not. I love the sounds of the thing but it isn't much good to me if it freezes up.

I applied this fix to mine and it works fine now (no more kbd calibration errors, shutdowns, etc…). I'd echo what the others have said here… use a jeweler's screwdriver for the springs: stick it in the spring hole, lift slowly, and out they pop (watch out, they can shoot out and can be tough to find in the carpet :-) And, a flathead screwdriver to pull the keys. Then, solder a wire jumper across each path that the ribbon cable jumps. (that's what the ensoniq tech note says to do). It's a little tedious, but not at all impossible to do at home. I'm not an engineer or anything like that and I pulled it off without too much hassle. 

Good luck,
Erick