Rhodes Chroma Polaris

I just finished repairing my 2nd Polaris.

It had pitch instability that varied from voice to voice (detuning 
beyond the fairly slow octave beating that is normal) that you 
couldn't turn off).   One voice was definately broken as the pitch 
would slide vs. stepping.

The fix was to replace the S/H capacitors which are the 4 orange caps 
on either side of the TL084 opamps near the CEM voice chip.  
Replacement caps were panasonic polypropylene caps from 
www.digikey.com.   I didn't want to take out the motherboard so it 
was sort of tricky.  You will need a good soldering iron, and 
desoldering equipment to clean the pads.

If you notice voice to voice variation (use Lower function - channel 
select to isolate voices) you may want to try this repair.


While I was in there, I reinforced the fragile membrane on the 
control panel that is between the left and right side PCBS w/hot-melt 
glue.  Now the PCB bonding provides strain relief.  If your panel 
*is* working, I suggest you do the same to keep it that way.

Good luck,
Ben