Discussion about the Korg PolySix synthesizer

Hello again all...

Finally got a SSM2056 chip for my P6 which fixed the annoying 6th 
note enigma I was having, it's good to hear all notes play normally 
now.
That said, once I got going, I noticed that little response was had, 
from altering most of the knobs (the VCO section, is the only thing 
that made any difference). Playing about through all the patches, I 
got very little change (hardly any) when altering the FILTER, EG or 
MG sections.
Wondering what had changed, I put the faulty SSM2056 back in, but 
the same thing happened.New chip back in........

I then wthought,  did it need warming up? so I left it fo 20 mins, 
but no change, however, this morning, I went out, and switched it 
on, come back 5 hours later, and it's warmed up, the cutoff knob 
works well enough, the resonance does work (but I don't think 
fully), most other knobs work (though some don't seem to do 
anything, some of the time - I think maybe the way a current patch 
is setup, that particular knob changes don't make any difference)..

Two thoughts, how long should it take to warm up, how long does 
yours take.....?   Does this need a service, can it be "calibrated" 
so that it works much better, or should I expect this from now on. 
(I've tried pulling all the IC's that I can, and re-seating them)

Last thing, any recommendations for a UK service/repair man. Tony 
Allgood has said he's too busy at the moment, I looked at music 
control website, which diverted me to cimplesolutions, who told me 
they don't repair classics like the P6, the only other one I thought 
of was synth-restore, but I emailed them 3 weeks ago, and didn't get 
a reply. I have seen old crows web site, with a guide on how to do 
the job, but I don't own an oscilloscope, and I don't want to make 
it any worse, so would prefer putting it in the hands of someone who 
knows what theyre doing.

Thanks for your previous help..
 cross modulated  Rob

On Mon, 23 Feb 2004 15:16:04 -0000, dotwav wrote
> Two thoughts, how long should it take to warm up, how long does
> yours take.....?  

15 seconds. Filters and envelopes work immediately. The oscillators take 15 seconds to adjust.

>Does this need a service, can it be "calibrated"
> so that it works much better, or should I expect this from now on.
> (I've tried pulling all the IC's that I can, and re-seating them)

It sounds like something is still wrong, but I have no clue what is wrong.

Cheers

Frank Carvalho




[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Mine takes 10 seconds to warm up, get in tune and start functioning !


--- In PolySix@yahoogroups.com, "dotwav" <rob19@e...> wrote:
> Hello again all...
> 
> Finally got a SSM2056 chip for my P6 which fixed the annoying 6th 
> note enigma I was having, it's good to hear all notes play normally 
> now.
> That said, once I got going, I noticed that little response was 
had, 
> from altering most of the knobs (the VCO section, is the only thing 
> that made any difference). Playing about through all the patches, I 
> got very little change (hardly any) when altering the FILTER, EG or 
> MG sections.
> Wondering what had changed, I put the faulty SSM2056 back in, but 
> the same thing happened.New chip back in........
> 
> I then wthought,  did it need warming up? so I left it fo 20 mins, 
> but no change, however, this morning, I went out, and switched it 
> on, come back 5 hours later, and it's warmed up, the cutoff knob 
> works well enough, the resonance does work (but I don't think 
> fully), most other knobs work (though some don't seem to do 
> anything, some of the time - I think maybe the way a current patch 
> is setup, that particular knob changes don't make any difference)..
> 
> Two thoughts, how long should it take to warm up, how long does 
> yours take.....?   Does this need a service, can it be "calibrated" 
> so that it works much better, or should I expect this from now on. 
> (I've tried pulling all the IC's that I can, and re-seating them)
> 
> Last thing, any recommendations for a UK service/repair man. Tony 
> Allgood has said he's too busy at the moment, I looked at music 
> control website, which diverted me to cimplesolutions, who told me 
> they don't repair classics like the P6, the only other one I 
thought 
> of was synth-restore, but I emailed them 3 weeks ago, and didn't 
get 
> a reply. I have seen old crows web site, with a guide on how to do 
> the job, but I don't own an oscilloscope, and I don't want to make 
> it any worse, so would prefer putting it in the hands of someone 
who 

> knows what theyre doing.
> 
> Thanks for your previous help..
>  cross modulated  Rob

Did you check all of the connectors?  Was your CPU board a victim of 
the battery leak and was it repaired well?  Are you saying the magic 
words?

My PolySix seems like it's ready immediately once I turn it on.  Of 
course, it take about 10 or 15 seconds to power on everything else, 
so, perhaps mine takes the 10-15 seconds the others have mentioned.

Good luck!

Further to my recent question about warming up time. Anyone know 
what is the chip that is affected by the warming up, (or does this 
depend on what problem someone might be having).
 My P6 takes a good few hours (at least 2) to warm up. I get sound 
out of it straight away, but I can't get any editing done. In the 
first couple of hours, the VCF and EG sections do nothing. They do 
respond once it's warmed up, but can't do anything until then. (when 
I say they respond, the cutoff and res make a different tonal 
change, but I wouldn't say they were working to their full ranges.)
So, I'm thinking, is there any chip (or chips) I can replace to help 
remedy this.
I had to change a SSM2056 recently, I'm wondering should I have 
changed all 6 at the same time. (The 6 that were in it, all had a 
number on (other than the 2056), that were the same, now 5 are the 
same and one is different (obviously the replaced chip), does this 
make much difference.

Finally, I have to ask again, coz I didn't get much response last 
time, is there anyway this can be calibrated or re-initialized if 
serviced.

Thanks if anyone can help....   Rob

Old Crow has a lot of information on his site regarding the P6 
servicing including the service manual, which includes all 
initializing/clibrating procedure. It also has a nice article of 
which chip commonly get defected on vintage synth and such.

You can check volatges to see if anything is wrong, as a start. 


--- In PolySix@yahoogroups.com, "dotwav" <rob19@e...> wrote:
> Further to my recent question about warming up time. Anyone know 
> what is the chip that is affected by the warming up, (or does this 
> depend on what problem someone might be having).
>  My P6 takes a good few hours (at least 2) to warm up. I get sound 
> out of it straight away, but I can't get any editing done. In the 
> first couple of hours, the VCF and EG sections do nothing. They do 
> respond once it's warmed up, but can't do anything until then. 
(when 
> I say they respond, the cutoff and res make a different tonal 
> change, but I wouldn't say they were working to their full ranges.)
> So, I'm thinking, is there any chip (or chips) I can replace to 
help 

> remedy this.
> I had to change a SSM2056 recently, I'm wondering should I have 
> changed all 6 at the same time. (The 6 that were in it, all had a 
> number on (other than the 2056), that were the same, now 5 are the 
> same and one is different (obviously the replaced chip), does this 
> make much difference.
> 
> Finally, I have to ask again, coz I didn't get much response last 
> time, is there anyway this can be calibrated or re-initialized if 
> serviced.
> 
> Thanks if anyone can help....   Rob