i chickened out

[bill]

so last week i picked up a increasingly rare roland d50 synthesizer. it was the one time i did not plug it in a go through it . i dont know why really part of it was it was fairly cheap and the other part of it was i kind of expected that it would need cleaning anyways. sure enough it needs cleaning.
i found a site online how to do it and it looked pretty simple but really time consuming to get under the hood and disassemble the keyboard and clean it.
the board uses those old carbon contact switches and i hate them. i mean they always crap out from the dust that gets in there. this thing looked pretty mint but upon further examination i it revealed a lot of flaws from lack of use.
the good news is everything works when i control the board with midi and it sounds great too.
i am looking forward to getting it back and putting it in between the jupiter and juno.
i also have decided to take in all the old synths in the next few months to have them all cleaned and have the batteries changed.i am also going to get them to check all the electronics and replace anything they find acting up strange.
i found a really good tech and i dont think it will be hard for him to do the work. all of them work now but i dont want to let it go much longer .
i have been thinking of selling all of them and going with software synths so i can have some more space here but i just cant do it. i mean its just not how i want to do stuff.
i will post pictures of the d50 once i get it back from restoration.

 

[floyd]

yeah it's hard to keep the old electronics going but it's worth it considering there isn't too much newer stuff that interest me in any way plus the newer stuff is not made to be worked on just thrown away when it stops working.

 

[Fatdog]

The Roland D50 keyboard is a true workhorse. Roland really hit the mark when they put it out. Congratulations on finding a good deal on one, Bill!

Now, you need to find me a Roland TR-606.

 

[bill]

bob you know tr606 when i first started a decade ago seldolmly brought more than a hundred and fifty bucks. now its basically come up to four hundred plus bucks when they do turn up.
you know tho.
i kind of like those mfb 522 drum machines out right now.
they are not super expensive and analog and well they dont sound exactly like a tr808 but they do sound right between the 606 and 808.
hardware is getting harder and harder to find. the new synths being made now are really poorly made. i mean there is no way they are gonna be around in ten years.
i can remember people telling me synths are cool but they are never gonna be valuable like guitars. well this is obviously not the case. i mean i doubt you will see a jupiter8 selling for a hundred grand but the last time i checked they have been bringing close to five grand.
i have a friend who just got a arp2600 for three hundred dollars. he took it into have it serviced and was offered six grand for it.