Synthesizer

[Pepe]

Thanks for the further information, Old_Iron! That explains why I haven't heard (of) this album before. I listened to the full album while cleaning the keys of the MS-20. Really a late-'70s masterpiece, this album!

I finished cleaning and calibrating the MS-20 a few hours ago. Now it works like a new unit and the overall cosmetic condition is impeccable. From the look of the keys I can see that they have almost never been touched, I only had to polish two black keys and that was it!

This is so much more fun than the MS-20 mini, which was shrunk to 86% of the original size. Full size is really what I need to play comfortably. I won't miss the mini too much. I am going to sell it soon.

[laurie]

I finished cleaning and calibrating the MS-20 a few hours ago. Now it works like a new unit and the overall cosmetic condition is impeccable. From the look of the keys I can see that they have almost never been touched, I only had to polish two black keys and that was it!

Nice! Pics please

[Pepe]

I have to shoot a few more pictures of the synths in the next days. Both are now cleaned and properly calibrated. The MS-50 needed new electrolytic capacitors. The waveforms were misbehaving and once the board was recapped they sounded great again. I ordered 7 metres of wire and 32 plugs to make those 16 patch cables. These are a few more than what came with the MS synths back in the day, but I need more cables already!

Both synthesizers sound awesome! The MS-20 has the later filter circuit which is normally not regarded as the better (or cooler) sounding one, but my exemplar sounds fantastic and much more powerful than my MS-20 mini. It has a lot more punch and "hi-fi" sound. The MS-50 was a bit of a problem child, because all the potentiometers and jacks were horribly dirty inside. Now some of the jacks only crackle a little bit from time to time, but turning the plugs a bit solves the problem instantly. I can easily play the MS-50 via the keyboard of the MS-20. It sounds fantastic as well and it offers a few cool options that the MS-20 doesn't have. Both synthesizers can interact with each other on a lot of levels, leading to very cool sounds. All in all I'm very happy with these units!

[Old_Iron]

Man, this is so cool!

Those patch cables matches very well with the synths.

Beautiful, congrats Pepe.

[laurie]

Magical mate!

[laurie]

1/4 inch phone jacks are meant to be "self cleaning". They were designed for telephone switchboards where there were 1,000s of insertions. Each insertion "wiped' the contacts a little, keeping them clean.

Get contact cleaner, spray the plug, then insert and remove it about 20 times. That should sort out connectivity in the jack. If not, keep inserting and removing until it is better.

[Pepe]

Thanks!

I cleaned the contacts with isopropyl alcohol, first with a trumpet mouthpiece cleaner (my regular and approved method), then with the plugs soaked with it. It definitely gets better over time, but if some spots remain unreliable I will try it with contact cleaner. Thanks for the tip!

[laurie]

Taking a longer look at these synths. They are really (really) impressive pepe. What a great job and a great feeling to rescue some totally cool old gear like this. I have a lot of empathy!!

[BearBoy]

You just need the matching sequencer now, Pepe

[Pepe]

Actually this one was for sale as well, but I was there by foot and train to pick up the MS synths. I hadn't had a chance to carry the sequencer with me on top. And I don't know how much it had cost me. But I know that I had only bought this one for resale, because I don't use sequencers at all. Arpeggiators are a fine thing for me, but fiddling for minutes to create a simple looping melody is not my cup of tea.

Taking a longer look at these synths. They are really (really) impressive pepe. What a great job and a great feeling to rescue some totally cool old gear like this. I have a lot of empathy!!

It's also awesome what you do with amps like the Baldwin, my friend! Rescuing old gear is indeed always coupled with great feelings.