Polivoks home-service

[fantastic cat]

Hi
My polivoks need some service - keyboard cleaning, tuning. Also phones out and signal in jacks doesn't work, probably need simple soldering.

There's problem - i'm used to user friendly rolands, korgs... but what should i do to open polivoks? I dont know where to put my screwdriver! Maybe there are some hidden screws?

Second one - pots under "polivoks" plate are fully anonymous. I need to know their functions.

Thanks!

[otto]

Those pots are where you tune the polivoks.

http://polivoks.free.fr/Resources/vladimirTuning.html

[fantastic cat]

Thanks otto, now i know everything.

[Solderman]

On that Kuzmin tuning page, the part about using your fingernail to tune it made me chuckle. If you so much as breathe on the Scale trimpot, the thing goes out of whack.

I too would love to know if there's a tech in North America that will service the Polivoks. OJambo mentions Synth Repair Services in the UK in this thread.

The filter cutoff pot on mine is so f**k up, turning it while playing doesn't just produce bursts of static, the cutoff voltage jumps around like a squirrel on PCP. I'm half tempted to open it up and replace it myself. I wonder if there's someone selling original 'Vox parts in Europe or NA?

[sam]

http://s748.photobucket.com/albums/xx13 ... CN4269.jpg

I would like to replace the transistors on power board...My board is different than the schems i have.

Any help .....

[otto]

Decided not to sell solder? Sounds like its gone downhill. To my knowledge that synth has been shipped from russia and across the united states at least 3 times before it got to you. If you ask jumbo, his didn't survive the first trip in tact. I guess they are fragile.

I've asked the question of a possible tech in the US a couple times on the analogue heaven mailing list to no avail. I imagine you could find someone willing to take it on as a project. have you tried deoxing the pots? That might be a first step before replacing. I would guess you could find equivilant pots if you can decode the russian schematics - which don't look like any schematics I ever saw. That was probably the primary reason I sold in the first place, too much of a liability since I didn't know anyone who could fix it and the CV implementation works but annoyed me.

[Solderman]

Agreed on the odd schematic, coupled with what Ojambo said about his not working after he had to disassemble it to put the cards back in. I'm sort of intimidated into believing that only a tech with experience on a Polivoks should be taking the front plate off and replacing parts. You can see through the face plate hole that the pot is surface mounted though, so once you know the do's and don'ts of disassembling, it would be a pretty easy replacement job, I think. Just find the ohms rating for the pot, a knob that fits the shaft, and a size approximate to the original. Either that or swap with another pot in the synth, that isn't as critical, of equal ohms.

...the CV implementation works but annoyed me.

Yeah it's awkward as feck. My Kenton Pro 2000 has to transpose the CV up 2 octaves, half a semitone, and the scale was some odd value, like +34 out of +-127. But now, as long as it's warmed up, the tuning matches exactly when you switch between keys and CV.


I'm sort of learning to live with it as it is. It does all kinds of whacky s**t, like the oscillator mix volume sometimes adjusts the pitch fine tune, and the pitch scale slope changes when you switch between 1 and 2 voice. I'm just glad it still makes music. It actually sounds pretty damn good.
It just isn't destined for live tweaking, perhaps.

Do let me know, and this is addressed to anyone here, if there is a tech in North America who is up to the challenge.

[otto]

yeah I loved the sound of that thing.