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new to the group and I have a few mod questions

new to the group and I have a few mod questions

2002-09-08 by ibuygijoes

I'm glad to find others that are into the poly800 as much as I am! 

I got it a few years ago and it is probably the cheapest piece of 
gear I have but it is my fave by far. Nothing I have heard cuts thru 
the mix quite like it. The bass sounds are amazing and window 
rattling! The leads are big, cutting and ugly! And even uglier when 
run thru distortion(I run mine Boss se50 and it makes metal guitars 
sound wimpy). Also if I get bored of a sound in the middle playing I 
can always just hit the poly800 for a new sound;)

I was looking for info on modifing it when I came across this group. 
I have wanted to do a rez/cutoff mod for a while now. I'm not a 
electronics expert but can wield a solderiron pretty good when I have 
directions to follow. I have seen mods that use 2-50k(moog slayer), 2-
100k or 100k/10k audio tapers and I was wondering if it makes a 
noticable difference in the overall sound quality.

Also as a hobby I dabble in plastic resins and I have considered 
making custom colored body, keys and other parts for the poly800. 
Would anyone be interest in purchasing such items? Making the molds 
would be pretty expensive for me to do it for just one use otherwise.

james t

Poly 800 Replacement Keys

2002-09-08 by David F. Delchamps

Hi, Everyone ---

A recent posting reminded me of a question I've been meaning to ask.
A few of the keys on my Poly-800 Mark I have some surface damage.
I think a previous owner tried to clean them with something caustic.
I was wondering whether there was a source for replacement keys.
I suppose one solution would be to find a dead machine and cannibalize
it, but I figured there might be a less destructive solution.

Thanks,

--Dave--

DCO's death? HELP!

2002-09-09 by soymuycortez

Hi:
 I'm new to this list but I have a modded poly800 (did the cutoff/rez 
knobs and a noise too) I used a 100k pot for the filter cutoff, a 50k 
for the rez, and a 250k for the noise all audio and they work great, 
I also added a momentary switch to the pedal so I can advance the 
programs by just pushing one button intead of having to do all the 
buttons presses to get a patch or having yet another pedal on the 
floor. 
 But alas, it has stopped working, I can only seem to be getting 
noise and resonance, so I suspect the DCO's are gone. Can anybody 
point me in what direction I should go, I did reload the memory tape 
and all the time I'm getting a "GOOD" message, and the patches seems 
to be different with the  different banks I'm loading (I have the 
original tape plus some by Kid Nepro). This particular unit has a 
battery for memory back up and it has good charge (3.1 v)
 Thanks
 Jorge

Re: DCO's death? HELP!

2002-09-09 by funkwit

--- In korgpolyex@y..., "soymuycortez" <cortes01@h...> wrote:
[edit]
>  But alas, it has stopped working, I can only seem to be getting 
> noise and resonance, so I suspect the DCO's are gone. Can anybody 
> point me in what direction I should go, I did reload the memory 
tape 
> and all the time I'm getting a "GOOD" message, and the patches 
seems 
> to be different with the  different banks I'm loading (I have the 
> original tape plus some by Kid Nepro). This particular unit has a 
> battery for memory back up and it has good charge (3.1 v)
>  Thanks
>  Jorge

hi jorge,

welcome to the list!  sorry to hear about your problem - i hope it 
works out.  here are the things i'd suggest you try:

1. open the synth and look for any dry solder connections or shorted 
connections.  if your poly's in anything like the condition mine was 
in you'll probably want to blow some of the dust out of the way at 
this stage, also.
2. look for any obviously dead parts (i.e. melted things), and try 
replacing any you find.  some components just get old and die; i 
guess this could be it.  if you know what you're doing, have a look 
at the schematic and check voltages across different components etc, 
to make sure they're the correct values and haven't died.
3. again if you know what you're doing, have a look on the schematic 
diagrams available in the files section.  there are a few probe 
points on there, with diagrams showing ideal oscilloscope readings at 
those points...  the point labelled "I" seems to be the osc clock 
waveform, so maybe that would be one to check out, if you have a 
scope.  if you do this step, then even if you don't know what needs 
to be done to solve the problem (and i sure as hell wouldn't), you 
can at least let your technician know what you think might be wrong 
(see below).
4. try to find a good technician in your area - and take the 
schematics in with you when you go to see him or her.  getting a tech 
to fix the synth for you will probably cost lots, unless you happen 
to have one as a friend, but some of these people are miracle workers 
so it may well be worth the money.
5. if all else fails, keep an eye out for cheap poly-800s for sale 
with broken keyboards, etc, and then if you find one, experiment with 
changing the main board or individual parts over into your unbroken-
but-not-working poly...  it can't hurt to try.

anyway, i hope this helps...  i'm not an electronics genius by 
anybody's standards, so i don't want to suggest something that turns 
out to have been bad advice.  i haven't spent much time looking at 
the schematic, either, so i can't direct you straight to where the 
DCOs are (maybe somebody else can?).  good luck with your synth 
though - i hope it feels better soon.

-gareth

Re: DCO's death? HELP!

2003-04-04 by noiz76

Being slightly off topic but... are the KidNepro patches any good?
Greets from Switzerland


--- In korgpolyex@yahoogroups.com, "soymuycortez" <cortes01@h...> 
wrote:
> Hi:
>  I'm new to this list but I have a modded poly800 (did the 
cutoff/rez 
> knobs and a noise too) I used a 100k pot for the filter cutoff, a 
50k 
> for the rez, and a 250k for the noise all audio and they work 
great, 
> I also added a momentary switch to the pedal so I can advance the 
> programs by just pushing one button intead of having to do all the 
> buttons presses to get a patch or having yet another pedal on the 
> floor. 
>  But alas, it has stopped working, I can only seem to be getting 
> noise and resonance, so I suspect the DCO's are gone. Can anybody 
> point me in what direction I should go, I did reload the memory 
tape 
> and all the time I'm getting a "GOOD" message, and the patches 
seems 
Show quoted textHide quoted text
> to be different with the  different banks I'm loading (I have the 
> original tape plus some by Kid Nepro). This particular unit has a 
> battery for memory back up and it has good charge (3.1 v)
>  Thanks
>  Jorge

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