Xpantastic!

--- In xpantastic@yahoogroups.com, "mursupeppe" <petri.alanko@...> wrote:
>
> Hi there,
> 
> I'm probably _NOT_ the only one in desperate need, but I'd really, really like to find one or two CEM3374 chips for my Matrix-12 project. I bought from a German guy, insisting everything in it is all right, but it turned out it had "quite a few" problems, among which:
> 
> - dead left output
> - Midi Out and Thru terminals are quite badly corroded (!)
> - at least one CEM3374 is gone, the second one is being tested today
> - two CEM3372s are dead
> - 13 push buttons are totally dead
> - 4 of the rotary encoders are what I call beyond dead
> 
> All this with a "yez it'z a perffecktly funkzionink" Matrix-12. :-D Ok, it was relatively cheap and I could turn it into a 6-voice thingy, but that would destroy the profound essence of its beauty. But still I find it very tempting to drive a few kilometers and visit the guy with some ugly motorist friends of mine. 
> 
> (I know. Violence is _not_ an answer, an aggressive lawyer is. If anyone knows a good German-speaking lawyer, let me know. ;-D Thank goodness I saved all the seller's emails where he was insisting it was a perfectly good, like new.)
> 
> Also, I've noticed it has sometimes "a bit" trouble tuning itself, so I'm afraid there are quite a few logic chips malfunctioning as well. How, dear Xpantastic acquaintances, should I start troubleshooting my Matrix - other than doing chip-swapping, which is being done as we spe... write.
> 
> -Peter
>

Ah yes I feel your anger I two am looking for voice chips, my xpander dropped a voice and is now only running on five. Luckily I got my seller to stump up the cash to fix it. I've always had trouble with big synths and always payed a bit too much...I did want a 12 originally but ended up with the Xpander?!?! Though I do love it. Also think power supply needs re-capping as its getting noisey?! Anyway after swapping chips and finding out which ones faulty by process of elimination I would contact a synth repairer, I realise it can be pricey but will usually avoid any major headaches..things like left output could be a simple dry joint and just need a new bit of solder, a real possibilty if its suffering from a bit of rust around the midi ports, they also are relitively simple to replace. I don't think I've ever heard of that many buttons being dead, could it possibly be a problem with the board or are the 13 dotted about all over the place?!? That could be better than replace all those buttons, also the rotarys would be time consuming. Things like these seem like they'll be easy to replace but can end up being a nightmare I had a simple pot to replace on a Prophet 5 and the nut had fused itself to the pot which meant if I had forced it I would have ripped it off the board. There are a few guys in the UK that deal with Oberheims and parts but...I know that most of them are fully booked for a while, they nearly always are. Wherabouts are you? Sorry I'm not of much help I'm sure someone else will chime in eventually!!

Sean