Rhodes Chroma Polaris

No reserve, currently US$150.

http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3757467639


Chris

Looks like a good opportunity to pick up a Polaris for parts. No  
reserve, currently US$81, ends tomorrow (November 14).

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? 
ViewItem&category=38071&item=3759945390


Chris

--- In chromapolaris@yahoogroups.com, Chris Ryan <chris@r...> wrote:
> Looks like a good opportunity to pick up a Polaris for parts. No  
> reserve, currently US$81, ends tomorrow (November 14).

I wish I had spotted this sooner. I just wanted to share this bit of
info about the symptom this keyboard has. The seller says in the eBay
auction that when the unit is powered up, "everything lights up" and
there is no sound. Although I can't be certain about this particular
unit, I can definitely say that there is a trimmer adjustment on the
power supply board, that if misadjusted, causes this very symptom.
Every light on the keyboard will come on simultaneously if this
trimmer is out of adjustment. The cure is usually to simply adjust the
trimmer until the lights return to normal. Normally, this is a very
easy thing to fix. I hope they aren't selling this unit simply because
of this symptom, it was possibly a 2-minute repair job that requires
no parts.

Then again, there could be other problems. I just want to say that I
have seen this symptom several times, and it's often a quick fix--but
if you bid on this keyboard, I certainly can't promise you that this
particular keyboard is also a quick fix. If you bid on this, it's
definitely a bit of a gamble, but at least there is some hope of a
quick fix.


take care,
McLilith

Thanks for the tip.
And even if buying that dead Polaris it an easy way to get a lot of spare
parts which are expensive as well.
But it would be ashame to canibalize a Polaris just for the parts.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: mclilith2 [mailto:spamtemp@...]
> Sent: Sunday, November 14, 2004 6:06 AM
> To: chromapolaris@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: [chromapolaris] Re: Polaris on eBay
>
>
>
>
> --- In chromapolaris@yahoogroups.com, Chris Ryan <chris@r...> wrote:
> > Looks like a good opportunity to pick up a Polaris for parts. No
> > reserve, currently US$81, ends tomorrow (November 14).
>
> I wish I had spotted this sooner. I just wanted to share this bit of
> info about the symptom this keyboard has. The seller says in the eBay
> auction that when the unit is powered up, "everything lights up" and
> there is no sound. Although I can't be certain about this particular
> unit, I can definitely say that there is a trimmer adjustment on the
> power supply board, that if misadjusted, causes this very symptom.
> Every light on the keyboard will come on simultaneously if this
> trimmer is out of adjustment. The cure is usually to simply adjust the
> trimmer until the lights return to normal. Normally, this is a very
> easy thing to fix. I hope they aren't selling this unit simply because
> of this symptom, it was possibly a 2-minute repair job that requires
> no parts.
>
> Then again, there could be other problems. I just want to say that I
> have seen this symptom several times, and it's often a quick fix--but
> if you bid on this keyboard, I certainly can't promise you that this
> particular keyboard is also a quick fix. If you bid on this, it's
> definitely a bit of a gamble, but at least there is some hope of a
> quick fix.
>
>
> take care,
> McLilith
>
>
>
>
>
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>

I agree about the trimmer.  Also I have seen broken jacks which can 
mean no output.

Flip side is it could have been a blown DAC (happened to me once) 
which is difficult to replace.

Another thing non-techs should investigate when by a polaris is 
detuning due to cap drift.  I wrote a post about that a while ago.  
Basically you want to check to see if any voices are excessively 
detuned or have problems tracking pitch due to aged S/H caps.

-Ben

Mint condition, but not working. No bids yet. US$350 "buy it now" price.

http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3768628813


Chris

At 07:18 PM 12/10/04 , you wrote: 

>
> Mint condition, but not working. No bids yet. US$350 "buy it now" price.
>
>
> <http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3768628813>http://cgi.e
> bay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3768628813
>
>
> Chris



Sorry Chris, but a non-functional synth can't be considered to be in "mint"
condition. The term "mint condition" originally referred to the condition of a
coin, being just as it was at the mint that originally stamped it. To carry
this analogy over to a synth, you couldn't say that a synth which worked at the
factory, but now doesn't, is in mint condition. It's simply not true.

Cosmetically perfect it might be, but it isn't in mint condition. Sorry.

If you don't manage to sell it in this current auction, perhaps you should have
it properly repaired. You could attract a lot more interest from the general
public, if the unit were fully functional. You might even get away with saying
it was in mint condition at that point.  :)


take care,
Glen

On 11-Dec-04, at 10:15 AM, Glen Berry wrote:

> Sorry Chris, but a non-functional synth can't be considered to be in 
> "mint"
> condition. [...]

It isn't my auction, and I don't even know the seller--I was merely 
passing it to the list in case anyone was interested.


Chris

At 01:50 AM 12/12/04 , you wrote: 


>
> On 11-Dec-04, at 10:15 AM, Glen Berry wrote:
>
> > Sorry Chris, but a non-functional synth can't be considered to be in 
> > "mint"
> > condition. [...]
>
> It isn't my auction, and I don't even know the seller--I was merely 
> passing it to the list in case anyone was interested.
>
>
> Chris



Oops! I apologize, Chris. I definitely made a mistake there. I'm truly sorry.


take care,
Glen

On 11-Dec-04, at 10:53 PM, Glen Berry wrote:

> Oops! I apologize, Chris. I definitely made a mistake there. I'm truly 
> sorry.

No problem. I agree that "mint" is a strange designation for a 
non-functioning instrument; perhaps I should have thought more before 
reproducing the seller's description.


Chris

I'm just curious if anyone has done any cool modifications to their Chroma
Polaris? I'm starting to get the itch to customize mine, and it would be
nice to get some inspiration from others.

thanks,
Glen

(Not mine.) No bids, first bid US$400, ends January 24.

http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3777112537


Chris

Item 7353628144. Not mine. 1 bid, US$250, reserve not met. "Buy now"  
price of US$575. Ends October 3.

I also noticed a couple of Polaris cases for sale, items 7351933282  
and 7352173184.


Chris

Not mine. Item 7355696270.


Chris

Item 7359605395 (not mine). Starting bid US$425; "buy now" price  
$450. Looks to be in good shape. 2 days left.

Added to the Polaris instrument registry:

http://www.rhodeschroma.com/?id=2123#302751


Chris

Not mine. Item 7365308690. Starting bid US$750. Ends November 16.


Chris

Not mine. Item 7373219766. No bids, starting bid US$225, "buy it now"  
price US$320.


Chris

Not mine. No bids yet; $200 starting bid; $300 "buy it now" price. Item 
#7379992784. Ends January 12.


Chris

Item #7406468271. No bids yet, starting bid US$395, "buy it now" for  
US$495. Ends April 18. From the description: "This keyboard is in  
great shape for its age! This was the second synth made by Fender/ 
Rhodes after they took over ARP. It has a classic analog ARP sound.  
The sounds can be layered up to 6 voices. It has a typical analog  
synth controls including a cool "sweep" knob for sweeping through the  
LFO or analog filter cutoff parameters. It also has a simple real  
time sequencer and 132 memory patches.  There also a nice andcolorful  
layout with sliders similar to Roland Juno Synths, membrane push- 
buttons and large velocity sensitive 61 note keyboard making the  
Chroma Polaris a very nice synth. It's fully MIDI equipped, the  
polaris will transmit and recieve all it's edit controls through MIDI  
as well as the ability to play up to three patches at once!"


Chris