Analog Synths Refurbishing

Robert L's Analog Synths

   Cleaning & Servicing Details                                      Home Page
      Established in 1992.                                                                Refurbishing
      18 years of experience                                                Item List

          Want to have an analog unit that will serve you from the moment you buy it?
          Want to be sure that, under proper treatment, it will last for years?
          Want to have an instrument that sounds better because it is fully serviced and adjusted professionally?

Then consider buying from Robert L's Analog Synths!

1.	Because what we sell here are not instruments that are just found somewhere, proclaimed to be in a "mint condition", and put on sale! The items on sale here are prepared by Robert L. or his associates, and fully supervised by Robert L (see also Refurbishing, and Robert L. Qualifications). It is our policy of action to maintain the highest possible quality of servicing and refurbishing. The customers' satisfaction is our top priority.
2.	Because of the thorough and professional cleaning and refurbishment, inside and outside, which will assure disinfection and nice look! Prior cleaning, every unit is fully dismounted to its components, e.g. all keys from the keyboard instruments are taken off, cleaned, washed if possible, as are all plastic parts. If necessary, the keys are polished. The keybed on which the keys reside is cleaned from rust, protected and lacquered. Every contact is cleaned and checked, every potentiometer cleaned and treated for enduring use. Every trace of dirt and dust, grease and rust, is removed. all PCBs cleaned by our proven technology. From the outside, tiny scratches and imperfections are carefully and discretely camouflaged. On rare occasions when larger-scale damages appear, a thorough treatment from the ground up is made and customers are fully informed about it in details. You can be sure that you will get an instrument of, at least very satisfying, and most often the excellent look. In any case you will always know exactly what you are buying from big resolution photographs, and detailed descriptions.
3.	Because of the full servicing, adjustment and tuning procedures! All problematic parts are treated, replaced if possible, batteries checked and replaced to have the voltage and capacity ready to serve for years. All potentiometers are checked for the smooth action, the problematic ones are changed, all micro-switches checked, changed if needed for instantaneous response. Voltages are adjusted, as well as the digital boards on processor-controlled instruments. Synthesizers: the VCOs are tuned to the best possible level, usually better then claimed by original specifications. If the synth is DCO-based, the oscillators cannot go out of tune, but there are still many things to adjust in analog sections. Most of the synthesizers approaching age of twenty or more, no matter if they were used or not, needs proper servicing and adjustment. Among many other things to do, the most audible one is adjustment of the filter resonance volume and pitch. After the proper filter tuning, when you put the resonance on high level, and the Keyboard tracking of VCF to 1 octave / 1 octave, you can actually play the scales with sinus waves produced by the VCF self-oscillations. With adjusted oscillators and filters the program patches will sound surprisingly equalized and pleasant comparing to what you find on average second hand synthesizer. El. pianos (Rhodes): full cleaning, mending or substituting of broken missing parts, complete adjustment procedure according to the Rhodes servicing specifications, tuning, additional modifications optional. Tape-echoes: the transport mechanism is checked, fitted if needed. The magnetic heads are checked and their azimuth corrected if needed. All relevant trimmers adjusted for standard operation.
4.	Because you get 100% functional, 100% complete, ready to play instrument with a great look* To avoid any problems and assure your satisfaction, everything is checked and rechecked. The instrument is shipped 100% functional, with all parts, caps, screws, etc... All the necessary parts, like power cords, are included. You will be informed about all the relevant details and things that we noticed and that may be source of problems in the future. The customer specific AC input voltage will be considered. If possible the internal rewiring will be done for the voltage of the buyer's country (220V for Europe, 240V for UK, 110V for U.S.), if not, other solutions to the problem will be suggested. _________________________ *Any difference to the totally correct functioning and look is stated to the best of our knowledge. See point 5.
5.	Because you get all available additional materials, manuals, program patches, software... E.g. the synths are filled with the original factory presets if available, the tape echoes have new tape loops, etc... If the manual is available you will get either an original, or a neat hard-copy. Extra sound banks, available software, additional info and online help is ensured for the buyer. The tape echoes have new tape loops, etc... If the manual is available you will get either an original, or a neat hard-copy.
6.	3 months or longer warranty and expert information on every unit sold! If anything goes wrong you have a place to turn to: Robert L's Analog Synths! The first guarantee you have is our more than 15 years in the business and more than 10 years on the Web. Our experience tells us to do as much as possible to free you and us of any possible problems with the delivered goods. If, however, the problems do occur, we are here to help. If not caused by damaging the synth physically, by using excessive force to the keys and pots, if the slide potentiometers are not destroyed by constant sliding, or generally, if advices stated below in point 7 are practiced, we are ready to cover the costs of repair within 3 months of the delivery, and in some cases longer (without shipping expenses). In the later period we do everything we can to help repair and maintain the instruments, either by direct help, by expert advising, by sending available spare parts, and giving all other information possible. The warranty does not include damages caused by mishandling, dropping or breaking of the instrument, connecting it to the wrong AC outlet voltage, or similar inappropriate use.
7.	We treat your future instruments with utmost care and love, from the start to delivery. Treat them the same way and, after the servicing that we have done, they will serve you for years! After the servicing we have done, the instruments should serve you for many years. However, the old instruments have their problems no matter how great they are built. Be aware that all movable parts, like keys, potentiometers, both slide and rotational ones, are prone to tear and wear. Especially the slide controllers that make your programming so easy and intuitive, are hard, or even impossible to find. In many cases the parts are quite hard to replace, too. Take care of all the parts, and note that there are not meant for excessive use. In the same manner, take care of the heads on your tape-echoes by stopping the tape every time the units is not in use. A few hints. E.g. if you do the frequency sweep on your analog synthesizer, be aware that the usual type of sliders have a layer of graphite that will wear sooner if abused excessively. If you insist on constantly changing the sound parameters controllable by the sliders, think of the following: i) try to record the SysExcl data into your sequencing machine (computer) if this is possible on the synth you use (e.g. on Juno 106 this is possible), ii) try to do the same thing via external VCF control voltage input (usually on the rear of your synth, if available), removing the intensive wear to the external potentiometer, which is probably of rotational type and easier to replace), iii) try to do the same thing by your modulation wheel -- it too is of the rotational type, and probably easier to replace.