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Discussion about the Korg PolySix synthesizer

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Re: [PolySix] [Poly 6]-Cleaning or replacing the key contacts

2001-08-12 by Andrew Dennison

Hi there...

This post (courtesy of Fred Warren) is from an earlier incarnation of the 
polysix list.  I've performed this procedure on three Polysixes with 100% 
results on all of them.  I highly recommend it.  (Note that I've subtracted 
the glue from this fix with no problems.)

The problem with the Poly 6 keyboard is not so much one of dirty carbon
buttons, but with the aging of the rubber stuff that forms the strips.  As 
they age, they lose their "bounce" and no longer really go down far enough 
or hard enough to make contact properly.  Replacing the button strips is a 
good solution, but they are fairly hard to find.  I came up with an approach 
to lengthen their lives that works, but has some minor consequences.

What you do is go to a large office supply store (Office Max or Staples in 
the States) and buy some replacement eraser rubber sticks that are used in 
one of the Japanese eraser "pencils".  They come in a three pack, are about 
3" long and are white.  It turns out that these are the exact diameter as 
the hole in the rubber buttons on a P6.  SO, pop the keyboard and get access 
to the button strips. Put a small amount of a glue into the well of the 
button, insert the rubber stick, and cut it off flat with a matte knife.  
Fill all the holes and let the keyboard dry.  Put it back together and I 
expect you will have cured your problem.  The only down side that I can see 
is that this might increase
the wear on the carbon buttons and the circuit board, particularly if you 
really bang the keys, but it will keep the P6 alive for quite awhile. 
Eventually you will have to replace the button strips and/or the keyboard, 
but that is likely years away.

Good Luck,

Andrew.


"The patch in fig. 2-23 gives the sound of a cracking whip.  (Why don't you 
try to synthesize some screams to go along with it?)"
                       - Roland Model 104 Sequencer Manual



----Original Message Follows----
From: "Scott Shingle" <raydeen@mindspring.com>
Reply-To: PolySix@yahoogroups.com
To: <PolySix@yahoogroups.com>
Subject: [PolySix] [Poly 6]-Cleaning or replacing the key contacts
Date: Sun, 12 Aug 2001 03:55:44 -0400

     Hi. I've got an old Poly 6 that I found moldering in a friends 
basement. Everything worked on it except several of the keys have to really 
be mashed in order to produce sound, and even that's not consistent. I 
finally got up the courage to take it apart to see just what needed to be 
changed or cleaned. I got the keyboard unscrewed and removed the contact 
board. There doesn't seem to be anything wrong with the rubber contacts but 
it's possible they need to be replaced. Also, I noted that there were 
several spots where there could be missing plastic clasps. That is to say 
there are grooves under the keyboard where 2 or 3 plastic clasps (to hold 
the contact board in place) might have been but weren't. Just curious if I 
need to have all the slots filled or if several were left empty when these 
units were manufactured. To sum up, I have problems with the keys, the unit 
is apart, and I'm not sure how to continue. TIA for any and all advice. 
-Scott


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