Great repair hints! The capacitors are a big problem of my SX-G5, 2x SX-U90 and SX-U60. Not many could tell me where they are located and the manuals/wire diagrams haven't really told me. So your video is a big benefit for me!!! Thank you. I hope your organ is still alive and playing!
I'm more into church organs, but I fondly remember my grandparents having an electric organ similar to this but probably not as complicated. The solo at the end was so idiomatic! It's harder to find electronic church organs for reasonable prices but I got lucky last week and bought an Eminent model for £100 from a salvation army shop. It's a massive beast with full concave radial pedalboard - it only just fits in the house! So much fun.
I know a friend of mine who has a mal years ago great big cuddle monster she was he had to put her down poor Mya had a huge tumour on her belly the vets did everything they could to save her but no she passed peacefully rip Mya 😭
Hey Marcus, first off I want to say I love watching your channel. You have a gift of explaining complicated things in such an easy to understand way, and have given me more confidence to attempt repairs.. I've pretty much been through all your video's now! I like fixing stuff too, but unfortunately I don't possess your skills. I've got a problem with a Korg Poly 61 I picked up. When I got it there was only power - none of the displays worked and there was no sound. The internal battery had leaked which is common to this model. I cleaned it all up with IPA and it came back to life - the LED's, all controls and all keys work as normal but the patches sounded weird. I've cleaned up the CPU board, sound board and power board and cleaned and reseated all the molex connectors on these with IPA. I had a direct replacement 3 leg new battery fitted. However, when I load in a WAV file of the original factory patches, it only stores them temporarily(about an hour after power off) and then it reverts to the original internal patches which still sound weird and corrupted. When I load in the WAV sounds it plays them back perfectly with no corruption. It's been suggested that the battery could be the wrong way round, but the 3 leg battery can only be fitted one way so it can't be this surely? Really hope you can give me some pointers as to why it can't save patches permanently - I'm not getting much help off forums. Apologies for long post. Thanks and looking forward to more video's!
Hello Kevin, I think you must have placed the battery correctly as you say its a 3 pin version so only one way is possible. I guess one way to check would be to load the wav file test the sound then turn off then back on again but within 30 seconds then if the sounds play ok then it cannot be the battery polarity because if it was the wrong way round then the memory would be lost within a few seconds of power down. there must be something else draining the power down . can you check the voltage of the battery to see if it has been depleted already ?. that would explin why the memory is not holding. if it is depleted then you need to find why the power is running down on the battery.
When your friend started to play I got a smile in my face. It was like I felt the organ being happy to not being ended in a landfill :-) Keep up the good work Markus! Liked the joke at the end too :-D
This organ is a monster sized beast! So heavy, and that crazy mother board has so many daughter boards on it... no wonder this cost so much. I like the sounds. Nicely played , Jason. Thanks Markus!
@@MreViewer Sounds like a painful job. I love organs, but I don't have the space for one of these. I have have a friend who's tiny house contains about 3 giant Hammond organs and a grand piano. There's very little room left for people..
They also came in portable versions. I have a Technics SX-C600 which is a portable version of E-66 that was the successor to the U-90, but with same technology - except that some sections had gone digital - and build the same way. It's build in a clever way that makes it possible for one person to transport it - though it will probably take two persons to move it upstairs.
Those supercaps were well known for leaking. They used them in various National Panasonic VCR from the 80s. I remember replacing quite a few of them by the late 90s.
I had no idea Technics made an organ! Very cool. I've had their stereos for a long time, from the 70s, to the 80s. Thanks for doing this. Loved the bit at the end, about "earthing". ;)
Technics made all sorts of Keyboards and started when Roland made nothing but Synths. Just look at technicskeyboards.com/technics-organs/ It is a shame they stopped, although even their rival Yamaha don't sell organs in the UK these days
Thanks for this nice video , i have recieved this organ as a present , it s in great condition , everything works fine except that when i switch to Synths preset there is no sound going out , i might open it up someday to see what s going on , but i m not very good at electronics , anyway i was happy to see the inside of this beast !!! Arigatou !!!
Technics did make some very nice organs. I have had the SX-C600 - which is more or less a 1984 version of the U-90 - since 1999 and it has turned out to be my most reliable organ as well as one of the best sounding.
Great video, thanks. Classic organ of the early eighties. Although it is just 2-3 years younger than my Hammond Aurora it looks like a space age thing inside in comparison.
A friend of mine has been really into Technics organs for many years. He has a parts organ that is similar to his other organs, partly cannibalized. I wouldn't be surprised if the missing speaker on your organ was taken for another organ, before this organ was sold or otherwise divested. My friend's parts organ is lesser than the others, but uses many of the same console switches, so for his purposes it's not going to ever go back into service as a functional instrument.
4:50 It's insane how far technology has gotten. You can probably simulate it on a reasonably cheap CPU in software if your code is good enough, you wouldn't even need a DSP
yes theres certainly a lot of components in this organ. I often wonder how big a working model of todays smartphone would have to be if it was made in the 1980s.
@@midiplaybox3453 Depends on the emulation (analog has a lot of subtle inaccuracies, non-linearities, distortion etc), DAC's and proper analog filtering/amplification. Especially with how much we know about analog emulation these days we can get very, very close to the point that 99% of humanity wouldn't hear the difference at all.
@@markusfuller I guess a 64 bit register should be done with a few dip 8bit latches, and a modern cpu has like 16+ of them. Then on top of that all the hidden registers and logic unit... It would probably fill up a room unless they made specialized IC's instead of just off the shelf jellybean parts. And ofcourse it would be horribly slow.
A friend gave me a u 90 after swapping it with a fully working u 90 - the fully working u 90 had been struck by lightning through the mains incredibly the only damage was the amplifier modules got blown up , repaired the tech bolted on LM IC AMP substitute boards and the u 90 is back to normal - Mark that was interesting that you didn't un plug the boards , I did and caused dry joints to show up on the mother board connectors , seems I was chasing a single broken audio line at start luckily all came out OK resoldering everywhere .
Hello Keith. I thought about pulling off the boards to try and see what board did what but I’m glad I did not as that can create new problems to work on. we eventually gave it away to a local charity shop and they somehow managed to make £350 from it which is a very good price.
@@markusfuller I tried to make a DIY schematic of the whole system but only just got so far to get a partial overview. EG the key and stop scanning is basic/ standard gear. The u 90 shares some same technology ( CPU ) as the famous polysix , saw your video on one that was wrecked beyond repair. Yes 350 pound was a good return for the charity . So many organs sound the same on both keyboards u 90 has this too but with enough extras to make it ok.
@@markusfuller interesting, sounds like you liked the u 90 Ime seeing a Technics g 7 (1986 ?) available in Australia for around a hundred pounds , I guess it's a very different animal to try and repair and not worth buying.
Anybody besides me do a double take when at 16:00 the organ suddenly starts making synthy filter sweepy sounds? That was not expected. I saw Markus react with interest / surprise.
Hey Markus, thanks for this video ! I'm dealing with problems with my U90 pro too... When I switch it on there is no sound und all the LEDs in the preset buttons don't work and nothing happens when I push the preset button. Checked that gold caps on the board and they were all leaky. Got 3 new of them and replaced. I switched on the U90 and having the same problem as before. No sound not LED on preset button and no reaction when I push them. Do you have any idea ? thank you so much !
Correct. Voltage rating of a cap indicates the highest voltage it can tolerate (not the voltage it requires or produces or whatever). Thus a, say, 16 volt cap in a 5 volt application is fine but a 5 volt cap in a 16 volt application explodes (or at least emits foul smelling smoke and shmoo).
@@sootikins A follow up about caps - why did he lower the capacitance? I'm not following the math. Since the caps are RATED higher, but still only going to charge to the given voltage, shouldn't he have gotten a single cap rated the same (or higher) voltage and triple the farad?
@@@sagetx When capacitors are in series, as they were in this organ, the voltages sum up but the capacitances (farads) *divide* (much like resistors in parallel do). He sort of covers this at 6:00 but to clarify: when caps of identical value are connected in series, the total capacitance is the value of one cap divided by the number of capacitors and the max voltage is the sum of the caps' voltage ratings. If the caps are not identical the math becomes a little more complicated. Maybe this link helps: farside.ph.utexas.edu/teaching/302l/lectures/node46.html
I have just received an SX- U90 for our club unfortunately it has a problem with the top manual, it has distorted sound which is as if it has a sore throat the distortion is there without any keys depressed, any suggestions as to the cause of the fault , and where can I get a service manual. I am in the UK.
I got a used technics organ the gn9. One of the keys plays just once when i start the organ and then just quits! If i restart the organ the key plays again, just once and stops! Have you encountered smtg like that? Any idea what it could be?
Hello Markus! I really liked your video about repairing the Technics U90 organ. I have the same organ, but recently I moved to a new house and decided to test the organ and cranked up the volume. Then suddenly a huge brumming sound emerged and a foul stench emitted from the organ. I have taken the organ apart but I dont know where to look for the problem, I was wondering if you could help me a bit?
The U60 has two 8" and just one 2.6". Hence probably the 'spare' hole? The hole looks like nothing has ever been there (I'd take of the 'remaining' one to see how it looks when there'd been one). But who am I?
Yes I could not believe that I looked past that without thinking about why is there a hole and no speaker. though i have seen this in other organs where that hole is there just as a radiator of sound. but the wires gave the game away that it is indeed missing.
Did you remove a speaker above the pedals? Or is it missing? (yes, I am aware it is a year since you posted). Reason I am asking is coz I got a U-90 recently that I will try and modify :-)
I have an SX-U90S but only the top portion. No base, no speakers, no amp. It does have outputs on the key platform underneath. ( phones, aux, mic with volume potentiometer, and line out ) And I see two IEC cables coming from it. Do you know the voltage as I imagine it’s a low voltage IEC. I certainly don’t want to fry anything attempting to plug 110 into it. Thank you.
Hi, I have a Yamaha B-4B. However all the B notes across the organ are dead (no sound is produced) do you know what might be causing this? I was given the organ so have no idea how to fix the issue but really want to try Cheers
Hi, I have a Technics PCM Sound E11L that I bought second hand. I love playing it. It's my baby! But for some strange reason each key has started making a wobbling/distorted sound. I don't have a manual for it. I've tried changing the settings but to no avail. Can you help me? I'm based in Buckinghamshire. I really want to get it fixed. If you can help, or refer me to an organ fixing service that would be a great help
Dear Markus, thanks firstly for a wonderful video. I am living in the Philippines where house wiring does not have earth and I have taken your advice and added a earth-jar and this helps no end. The other, more annoying, fault my Technics organ has has not improved though and I was wondering if I could ask for your advice .. So, basically I have a Technitone SX-70GW which is older than your U90, built around 1973. Unlike the U90 it's 100% analog including a drum machine with analog sounds (the U90 probably has PCM). It's 'similar but different' when taken apart, there are no flat cables like on the U90, instead it is bunches of coloured cables going onto boards everywhere - there are two banks of circuit boards mounted behind the keyboards one near the other flat (no mainboard) and nothing at all is labelled. The tone generator for the pedals is totally separate and is housed in the bottom compartment where the speakers are. The way this thing works (I am reasonably sure) is to have 12 oscillators, one for each note, frequency divided to go down the octaves.. it's 5 octaves of keyboards (2 x 4 octave keyboard spaced 1 octave apart) and then there are 'lengths' from 16' down to 2' so that's another 4 octaves. The problem I have is that sometimes when you turn on the F# keys do not work on both the manuals .. pedals are a separate synth so those work fine. I know for sure that the keyboard is OK (wouldn't fail on all F# at once, firstly, and if you turn on 'keyboard percussion' the keys work and produce a snare-ish sound). Pressing the F# keys produces a very quiet, high pitched sound which is correctly tuned and sounds slightly different (as in different harmonics but always high pitched) depending on which key is being pressed and which combination of voices is used - I think this is some leakage current and the problem lies somewhere inbetween generating the original tone and filtering it down to whatever should go out. If you leave the organ switched on, after a while (could be 5 minutes, could be an hour) the F# keys start working too, once they start they never stop again, even if you turn the organ off and on again within a short time. If you leave it off and come back next day, the problem repeats. This makes it very difficult to diagnose because once it 'starts working' there is nothing wrong with it. I have identified 6 almost identical boards, side by side, that I think are the main tone generators - they are connected to the rest of the organ by wire-wrap terminals on the edges. I am thinking the fault is some sort of dry joint or maybe a bad wire-wrap though jostling (gently) the board components on what I think is the F# channel (nothing at all is labelled - I am assuming C is the furthest to the left so F# would be the 7th 'channel') doesn't create any static or help. Any suggestion on how I could track down the fault further?
Hello Dave. I have had this problem before where one certain key like f# would not work on any octave until things warmed up and it was a problem finding out where the fault was as there was no google or internet in those days and i had no workshop manual. I think my problem turned out to be a faulty frequency divider chip. I think I was applying pressure to the chips one by one with my finger thinking there may be a dry joint and pushing a chip with a dry joint would would make it work. I also had someone playing the keys up and down while i was doing this, however i was touching the sides of the chip where the pins were and noticed there was a strange tone at one key meaning when my friend played up the scale the C key suddenly sounded strange like there was a new fault so i touched another of the frequency dividers in the side and the C# sharp made the same wierd sound when played. therefore i managed to work out which chip controlled which key. then i could concentrate on just the section that had the fault and found changing the frequency divider chip did the job for me. I did spend several days on it as the problem sorted itself out once the organ warmed up which means looking back now i’m not 100% sure the chip was faulty but maybe it was a very fine dry joint on one of the chip legs where when it warmed up it would connect and just soldering a new chip in meant i resoldered the dry joint. however it is possible that chips of that age can have thermal issues but normally they break down when they warm up not correct themselves when they warm up. I would look to see if there is frequency divider chips in your organ and touch some of the legs while you play the keys you may find one key will go strange or even leak its sound to the next octave. then you can start mapping out the notes to the chips and finally narrow your problem to a much smaller area of F#.
@@markusfuller , and Dave Allen. I was going to guess the same as You Markus. Organs have been using the same basic schema, and architecture since the 1940's. The dividers which are basically flip flips , used to be made from components, and even had the same basic circuit when they used vacuum tubes, (in Lowrey organs.they had all the components for the dividers inside a ceramic case so they looked like giant squared off ceramic caps with too many legs). A flip-flop is a cross coupled (non linear) dif amp., and similar to an astable multivibrator but it is stable. There are a pair of transistors (probably) in this one with equal value collector resistors, and a couple of caps from one collector to the opposite base. There may also be steering diodes to direct the input signal to the unsaturated transistor base. The problem is probably that one divider (at the top octave of F#) no longer flips and flops because of latch-up or another bad component. This could be because of a leaky cap in the power supply (local for that series of dividers) or maybe a leaky coupling cap in the top octave. When the dividers are on chips they may be SN7474's or 7473's (old 5 volt computer logic), if they are wired from individual transistors there should be a pair of transistors for each octave and each note. It may be fairly easy to figure out which one is for F#. I would try swapping out cards, if the different octaves are on cards or perhaps a card for each note? and see if that way, the in-operable note moves to a different pitch. It is likely to be the top divider for F#. If you have a transistor radio, You should be able to find all notes of the organ always in play by connecting a little shielded patch cord to the input of the volume control of that radio. Naturally the circuits for each note should reveal themselves that way. Try disassembling in the suspect area, and using deoxit, or doing Your best to clean the board,.. but it could easily also be the wonderful humidity, and micro-organisms in the Philippines, or a bad cap making life a joy for that organ. It may be that moisture gets driven off when it warms up, or there is a cap with a longitudinal crack across it especially, if this organ uses ceramic discs for the cross coupled caps. Try also using a hair dryer on the suspect parts for awhile before cold start up, and see also if that helps localize the area of the problem. (The hairdryer will drive off the moisture) Lots of luck. I hate the sound of this organ by the way! YUCK ! ! ! hahahahaha.
@@Geopholus Thank you for your info. it will be a great help to people. I too did not really like the sound but some was ok. we passed it onto a charity shop and they sold it for over £300.
Hello I have bought an organ on my own (Hammond Romance series). It has a really weird problem. If you have any ideas where this problem may come from or tips on what to look for while searching fo the problem that would be awesome! Here 's the problem: When I start it most registers don't really work until I press a lot of keys at the same time. Then they work for some time. If they stop working I have to do that again. First I thought that this problem might be about a minimum signal strength for the amp but it seems more complicated: If I get the volume (expression) all the way up that doesn't help. Only pressing more keys helps. I already opened it once and had a look for broken capacitors but didn't find any. Greetings from Germany :)
Hello . I am really sorry but I just do not know what to suggest, I have never worked on a hammond romance series organ but I have never come across this problem with any organ so I cannot understand what the problem may be or even where to start looking. I am truly sorry, if i had the answer or even an idea i would be glad to help but this baffles me.
@@markusfuller Thanks for answering so fast and trying to help. I think I'm gonna have to take another look inside. I just found your channel today and already learned a lot of nice tricks to check components. Unfurtunatly I don't have an oscilloscope though :/ Also thanks for sharing all your knowledge with us.
Where can one get these serviced in the UK? I've been wanting to get one but am told nobody services them anymore and parts not available. Would someone knowledgeable in electronics be able to service it if the organ servicing places say they won't? I know nothing about electronics myself.
Hi It is best if you can find a proper organ service engineer but almost all the electronics inside is still available to buy from places like rs-electronics or mouser or even taken from other old organs though some of the microchips may be very difficult to get hold of now. so yes a good electronics person should be able to repair this depending on the fault.
Hello Markuss I own a U90 technics organ it was electrically disconnected for 9 months There is no more sound I have changed the capacitors as shown on your video. by 3 capacitors in series and tested + 5 Volts in total I still don't have sound Do you have another solution I thank you for Yours sincerely
No sound at all . check any fuses where the amplifiers are . I think ther are in the back above the pedals. I no longer have mine so cannot remember but check if there are any fuses down there as the amplifiers may have their own.
@@markusfuller Hello Markuss Thank you for your very very quick response I am French and I live in LORRAINE (France) When I plug in and turn on the organ with the button (Push on Power) and Main volume at maximum the pedal to the maximum too I hear the sound from the "subwoofer" diameter 30 cm and on the 2 speakers of 20 cm no sound on keyboards but: "the conductor orchestral" is fully "ON" (blocked) 6(sélections) keys in "UPPER" and 4 (selections) keys in "LOWER" Do you have another solution Thank you cordially
Wondering why this didn't show up in my subscription feed and I had to stumble upon it by accident. Something is seriously wrong with youtube recently.
im trying to fix some old EKO new tiger duo, it has no sound from any key and none of sounds work, only working thing is drum.machine, does anyone have any schematics for thise im having really hard timr trying to get them to work
Hi I just check all possible contacts that are under or behind the keys depending on the mechanism used then move onto checking solder joints etc which there will be many. but you may be lucky and find a godod clean of contacts is all it needs. It’s difficult for me to guess what the problem is on your organ without seeing it for myself. good luck I hope you get it fixed.
@@youexterminated787 sure no problem but if they are just a few dead keys then i guess it would be a matter of cleaning contacts or checking cables and solder joints.
@@markusfuller Well yesterday I looked through the whole thing for about an hour and nothing seemed to be wrong, I also scrubbed a few boards with a toothbrush and removed alot of dust that way. Do you have any way I could contact you?
The stk amplifier modules are either stereo or dual mono dunno why they used stks when they could've used discrete MOSFETs well stk modules now are probably faux Chinese rip offs ps take good care of her she's gorgeous
hi just asking i have a acc with RS my self have at any time you had RS not like one man job's in the past RS did not like me being a one man fixer up man and would not let me have a acc i the end they gave any i had to set something up to keep RS happy
My mom has a U60 in her estate Now it seems nobody wants it because it's not working I said I wanted it and the local electronics repair guy said it was very repairable. He'll take a look at it in two and a half weeks He said this age of Technology is made so that it is repairable.
well i guess you could get away with that though if a supercap was charged you would certainly not want to use your fingers or hold the resistor like i did as it would still shock you. I knew this was new so discharged but thought i would mention it.
Its really sad that you can pick these organs up for next nothing on ebay etc. I bought an old Yamaha for £10.00 just to use the base pedal assembly to make some Taurus Type Bass Pedals.
Do people realise that cost as much as a Ford Fiesta car in 1981? 1 Capacitors in series was a bad design choice. You could easily end up with all the voltage across one. A single capacitor was a much better choice.
Ideal crematorium music at the end. You can almost see the coffin moving down the rollers towards the doors and fiery oblivion.
Lovely thought LOL
Mr. Organaut is a BEAST on the organ! he just starts playing that thing with finesse and ease. strong, silent type. mad respect bro!
It always amazes me when i say just make something up non copyright and that just flows out of his imagination first take.
Great repair hints! The capacitors are a big problem of my SX-G5, 2x SX-U90 and SX-U60. Not many could tell me where they are located and the manuals/wire diagrams haven't really told me. So your video is a big benefit for me!!! Thank you. I hope your organ is still alive and playing!
I just got one these from a neighbor that recently deceased. I love the sound, the layout and the design. Absolutely beautiful! Mighty mighty U-90!
Thanks Dan. It is a great sounding organ.
I'm more into church organs, but I fondly remember my grandparents having an electric organ similar to this but probably not as complicated. The solo at the end was so idiomatic! It's harder to find electronic church organs for reasonable prices but I got lucky last week and bought an Eminent model for £100 from a salvation army shop. It's a massive beast with full concave radial pedalboard - it only just fits in the house! So much fun.
Always love it when Jason makes an appearance.
He is a much better player than me.
Your dog's very well behaved!
I had a real malamute years ago that was bigger than that dog on the stairs. I love Husky dogs
I know a friend of mine who has a mal years ago great big cuddle monster she was he had to put her down poor Mya had a huge tumour on her belly the vets did everything they could to save her but no she passed peacefully rip Mya 😭
Hey Marcus, first off I want to say I love watching your channel. You have a gift of explaining complicated things in such an easy to understand way, and have given me more confidence to attempt repairs.. I've pretty much been through all your video's now! I like fixing stuff too, but unfortunately I don't possess your skills. I've got a problem with a Korg Poly 61 I picked up. When I got it there was only power - none of the displays worked and there was no sound. The internal battery had leaked which is common to this model. I cleaned it all up with IPA and it came back to life - the LED's, all controls and all keys work as normal but the patches sounded weird. I've cleaned up the CPU board, sound board and power board and cleaned and reseated all the molex connectors on these with IPA. I had a direct replacement 3 leg new battery fitted. However, when I load in a WAV file of the original factory patches, it only stores them temporarily(about an hour after power off) and then it reverts to the original internal patches which still sound weird and corrupted. When I load in the WAV sounds it plays them back perfectly with no corruption. It's been suggested that the battery could be the wrong way round, but the 3 leg battery can only be fitted one way so it can't be this surely? Really hope you can give me some pointers as to why it can't save patches permanently - I'm not getting much help off forums. Apologies for long post. Thanks and looking forward to more video's!
Hello Kevin, I think you must have placed the battery correctly as you say its a 3 pin version so only one way is possible. I guess one way to check would be to load the wav file test the sound then turn off then back on again but within 30 seconds then if the sounds play ok then it cannot be the battery polarity because if it was the wrong way round then the memory would be lost within a few seconds of power down. there must be something else draining the power down . can you check the voltage of the battery to see if it has been depleted already ?. that would explin why the memory is not holding. if it is depleted then you need to find why the power is running down on the battery.
Brilliant playing in the end!
Thank you from Jason (organaut)
When your friend started to play I got a smile in my face. It was like I felt the organ being happy to not being ended in a landfill :-)
Keep up the good work Markus! Liked the joke at the end too :-D
Thank you very much. It is a shame so many of these have ended up as landfill.
@@lordjoshuarobindumbleton275 Why yes, that word does indeed appear in mima14031985's original post. And???
@@lordjoshuarobindumbleton275 Did I miss something? That guy is not Markus' friend?
Like the organ was saying thank you for saving me
@@ChristianPinnock-u5c Yeah, definitely!
This organ is a monster sized beast! So heavy, and that crazy mother board has so many daughter boards on it... no wonder this cost so much. I like the sounds. Nicely played , Jason. Thanks Markus!
Mark Innes Thank you Mark. now you know why this is downstairs in the hallway. I would die trying to get it upstairs into the house.
In the 80's I had a part time job at a local music shop delivering these monsters in a tiny Honda Acty van - hernia material!
@@MreViewer Sounds like a painful job. I love organs, but I don't have the space for one of these. I have have a friend who's tiny house contains about 3 giant Hammond organs and a grand piano. There's very little room left for people..
I'm sure one of these would have cost more than a new Acty Van. Did many people buy these for cash or were they all on HP ?
They also came in portable versions. I have a Technics SX-C600 which is a portable version of E-66 that was the successor to the U-90, but with same technology - except that some sections had gone digital - and build the same way. It's build in a clever way that makes it possible for one person to transport it - though it will probably take two persons to move it upstairs.
Those supercaps were well known for leaking. They used them in various National Panasonic VCR from the 80s. I remember replacing quite a few of them by the late 90s.
I had a U90 when I was 13/14 in mid 80s. Loved it
You guys are amazingly talented! I love watching your videos!
Thank you very much.
It's nice to see you are still into these old things.
Beautiful sounding organ
Thanks Markus. Enjoyed the presentation.
Thank you David
I had no idea Technics made an organ! Very cool. I've had their stereos for a long time, from the 70s, to the 80s. Thanks for doing this. Loved the bit at the end, about "earthing". ;)
Thanks Thomas. it was good fun making this video and especially the gag at the end.
Technics made all sorts of Keyboards and started when Roland made nothing but Synths. Just look at technicskeyboards.com/technics-organs/ It is a shame they stopped, although even their rival Yamaha don't sell organs in the UK these days
You get all the best projects Markus, love that old technology ❤️
Thanks for this nice video , i have recieved this organ as a present , it s in great condition , everything works fine except that when i switch to Synths preset there is no sound going out , i might open it up someday to see what s going on , but i m not very good at electronics , anyway i was happy to see the inside of this beast !!! Arigatou !!!
Great video guys. Pleased you got it working and sounding good in Jason’s hands.
yes better Jason playing it rather than me.
👍
I loved the U90 when new. Used to play one each week while waiting to take my organ lesson at Kitchens Music in Newcastle on Tyne😎
First time I personally have heard one and I like it very much.
Technics did make some very nice organs. I have had the SX-C600 - which is more or less a 1984 version of the U-90 - since 1999 and it has turned out to be my most reliable organ as well as one of the best sounding.
Les White, I used to repair organs for Kitchens in Newcastle in the 70’s and 80’s. I remember the store well.
Alan Dixon Cheers Alan. I used to turn up after the shop was closed for a lesson with Bob King. Occasionally gave him a lift home to Washington 😎
Awesome Dude…loved the Jam too!!
Great video, thanks. Classic organ of the early eighties. Although it is just 2-3 years younger than my Hammond Aurora it looks like a space age thing inside in comparison.
I love to see lots of circuit boards stacked like that knowing theres a good chance that this can still be fixed today.
One of the best home organs of all time.
Midi Play Box Sounds really nice to play.
I reckon that's one of the best car boot finds ever! A good fix too - nice one guys :-)
Thanks Eddy. can't wait to hear you have a play on it.
Wonderful explanation Mark and well done...and wunderful playing Jason ..we love it ...best wishes from us out of Breda
Thanks Harry.
I would LOVE to see you repair a Lowrey MX-1
Love the sound of those old organs. Great video. :-)
I’ll be digging up the soil for my next audio project ;-)
Russell Cottier Hmm nice jar of soil always useful. I could not resist that silly gag.
Got to love a guy who has a pillar drill in his hallway.
Theres lots of things everywhere . nothing like a regular house.
Perhaps they used 3 caps in series for a reason? Isn't adding that wire changing the capacitance value?
A friend of mine has been really into Technics organs for many years. He has a parts organ that is similar to his other organs, partly cannibalized. I wouldn't be surprised if the missing speaker on your organ was taken for another organ, before this organ was sold or otherwise divested. My friend's parts organ is lesser than the others, but uses many of the same console switches, so for his purposes it's not going to ever go back into service as a functional instrument.
I love lounge lizard organ music!!
Thank you
Markus sos un genio. Son geniales todos tus videos. Saludos desde Argentina
I love RS Components for that. Makes for quick turn arounds.
CS Power They always seem so fast, yes you can get things cheaper but you want the fast delivery so you can get on with the fixing.
4:50 It's insane how far technology has gotten. You can probably simulate it on a reasonably cheap CPU in software if your code is good enough, you wouldn't even need a DSP
yes theres certainly a lot of components in this organ. I often wonder how big a working model of todays smartphone would have to be if it was made in the 1980s.
Yes, you can emulate it on any smartphone or tablet, laptop etc, but you can't get thick and warm sound that comes out of this beast.
@@midiplaybox3453 Hmm perhaps. If fed through the amp inside of this.. you'd probably get very close though
@@midiplaybox3453 Depends on the emulation (analog has a lot of subtle inaccuracies, non-linearities, distortion etc), DAC's and proper analog filtering/amplification. Especially with how much we know about analog emulation these days we can get very, very close to the point that 99% of humanity wouldn't hear the difference at all.
@@markusfuller I guess a 64 bit register should be done with a few dip 8bit latches, and a modern cpu has like 16+ of them. Then on top of that all the hidden registers and logic unit... It would probably fill up a room unless they made specialized IC's instead of just off the shelf jellybean parts. And ofcourse it would be horribly slow.
A friend gave me a u 90 after swapping it with a fully working u 90 - the fully working u 90 had been struck by lightning through the mains incredibly the only damage was the amplifier modules got blown up , repaired the tech bolted on LM IC AMP substitute boards and the u 90 is back to normal -
Mark that was interesting that you didn't un plug the boards , I did and caused dry joints to show up on the mother board connectors , seems I was chasing a single broken audio line at start luckily all came out OK resoldering everywhere .
Hello Keith. I thought about pulling off the boards to try and see what board did what but I’m glad I did not as that can create new problems to work on. we eventually gave it away to a local charity shop and they somehow managed to make £350 from it which is a very good price.
@@markusfuller I tried to make a DIY schematic of the whole system but only just got so far to get a partial overview. EG the key and stop scanning is basic/ standard gear.
The u 90 shares some same technology ( CPU ) as the famous polysix , saw your video on one that was wrecked beyond repair.
Yes 350 pound was a good return for the charity .
So many organs sound the same on both keyboards u 90 has this too but with enough extras to make it ok.
Keith Citizen If only I had a larger place I would have gladly kept the U90 but I live in a small flat so it’s difficult to keep too much gear.
@@markusfuller interesting, sounds like you liked the u 90
Ime seeing a Technics g 7 (1986 ?) available in Australia for around a hundred pounds , I guess it's a very different animal to try and repair and not worth buying.
Anybody besides me do a double take when at 16:00 the organ suddenly starts making synthy filter sweepy sounds? That was not expected. I saw Markus react with interest / surprise.
I can still remember how the buttons feel when you press them. I can still smell it.
Hi Markus! I appreciate the video! I have a 1980 yamaha electone c405 and the top keyboard doesn't work. Do you know what might be the cause of this?
Hey Markus, thanks for this video ! I'm dealing with problems with my U90 pro too... When I switch it on there is no sound und all the LEDs in the preset buttons don't work and nothing happens when I push the preset button.
Checked that gold caps on the board and they were all leaky. Got 3 new of them and replaced. I switched on the U90 and having the same problem as before. No sound not LED on preset button and no reaction when I push them.
Do you have any idea ?
thank you so much !
I guess the higher voltage on the replacement cap is ok? Just not the other way around no?
Correct. Voltage rating of a cap indicates the highest voltage it can tolerate (not the voltage it requires or produces or whatever). Thus a, say, 16 volt cap in a 5 volt application is fine but a 5 volt cap in a 16 volt application explodes (or at least emits foul smelling smoke and shmoo).
@@sootikins A follow up about caps - why did he lower the capacitance? I'm not following the math. Since the caps are RATED higher, but still only going to charge to the given voltage, shouldn't he have gotten a single cap rated the same (or higher) voltage and triple the farad?
@@@sagetx When capacitors are in series, as they were in this organ, the voltages sum up but the capacitances (farads) *divide* (much like resistors in parallel do). He sort of covers this at 6:00 but to clarify: when caps of identical value are connected in series, the total capacitance is the value of one cap divided by the number of capacitors and the max voltage is the sum of the caps' voltage ratings. If the caps are not identical the math becomes a little more complicated. Maybe this link helps: farside.ph.utexas.edu/teaching/302l/lectures/node46.html
Where shall we put it? Just get it inside. Hallway it is then. 😁 great save and another catchy choon👍
funny I said to the guy who dropped it off "we need that upstairs" you can imagine his face.
Where can I get my Lowery Majesty LS/510 repaired? Or a repair manual?
Good work if you used crt battry insted of capaceter will work bettr with the memory
Hi, I just got a Technics U40 and can't work out which settings to have it on to make sound come out. Could you be any help?
I have just received an SX- U90 for our club unfortunately it has a problem with the top manual, it has distorted sound which is as if it has a sore throat the distortion is there without any keys depressed, any suggestions as to the cause of the fault , and where can I get a service manual. I am in the UK.
I got a used technics organ the gn9. One of the keys plays just once when i start the organ and then just quits!
If i restart the organ the key plays again, just once and stops! Have you encountered smtg like that? Any idea what it could be?
Love your Videos! Very interesting!
Thank you very much
Hello Markus!
I really liked your video about repairing the Technics U90 organ. I have the same organ, but recently I moved to a new house and decided to test the organ and cranked up the volume. Then suddenly a huge brumming sound emerged and a foul stench emitted from the organ. I have taken the organ apart but I dont know where to look for the problem, I was wondering if you could help me a bit?
My grandmother had a simpler model of a technics organ. I still miss it as something happened to it and it broke.
The manual (SX U90) seems to say one 12"speaker, one 8" and three 2.6" speakers. First thing I noticed, indeed, the missing speaker.
The U60 has two 8" and just one 2.6". Hence probably the 'spare' hole? The hole looks like nothing has ever been there (I'd take of the 'remaining' one to see how it looks when there'd been one). But who am I?
Yes I could not believe that I looked past that without thinking about why is there a hole and no speaker. though i have seen this in other organs where that hole is there just as a radiator of sound. but the wires gave the game away that it is indeed missing.
Hi there. I have just bought one of these at an auction and have to transport it. Does it come apart and, if so, how?
There are so many of these beautiful things in the trash. If I had the space I would buy them all to save them. Let's save the dinosaurs musical
Did you remove a speaker above the pedals? Or is it missing? (yes, I am aware it is a year since you posted). Reason I am asking is coz I got a U-90 recently that I will try and modify
:-)
Lol, wait til you seen the whole video before you ask stupid questions....
I have an SX-U90S but only the top portion. No base, no speakers, no amp. It does have outputs on the key platform underneath. ( phones, aux, mic with volume potentiometer, and line out ) And I see two IEC cables coming from it. Do you know the voltage as I imagine it’s a low voltage IEC. I certainly don’t want to fry anything attempting to plug 110 into it. Thank you.
Well the reason why you don't see any speakers underneath is because the speakers are separate it comes with two great big stereo amped speakers
Hi,
I have a Yamaha B-4B. However all the B notes across the organ are dead (no sound is produced) do you know what might be causing this? I was given the organ so have no idea how to fix the issue but really want to try
Cheers
Hi, I have a Technics PCM Sound E11L that I bought second hand. I love playing it. It's my baby! But for some strange reason each key has started making a wobbling/distorted sound. I don't have a manual for it. I've tried changing the settings but to no avail. Can you help me? I'm based in Buckinghamshire. I really want to get it fixed. If you can help, or refer me to an organ fixing service that would be a great help
Can you change the beat system by replacin it with that of u60
I have a couple of speakers here from organs that have gone to meet their maker - what diameter do you need?
Dear Markus, thanks firstly for a wonderful video. I am living in the Philippines where house wiring does not have earth and I have taken your advice and added a earth-jar and this helps no end. The other, more annoying, fault my Technics organ has has not improved though and I was wondering if I could ask for your advice ..
So, basically I have a Technitone SX-70GW which is older than your U90, built around 1973. Unlike the U90 it's 100% analog including a drum machine with analog sounds (the U90 probably has PCM). It's 'similar but different' when taken apart, there are no flat cables like on the U90, instead it is bunches of coloured cables going onto boards everywhere - there are two banks of circuit boards mounted behind the keyboards one near the other flat (no mainboard) and nothing at all is labelled. The tone generator for the pedals is totally separate and is housed in the bottom compartment where the speakers are. The way this thing works (I am reasonably sure) is to have 12 oscillators, one for each note, frequency divided to go down the octaves.. it's 5 octaves of keyboards (2 x 4 octave keyboard spaced 1 octave apart) and then there are 'lengths' from 16' down to 2' so that's another 4 octaves.
The problem I have is that sometimes when you turn on the F# keys do not work on both the manuals .. pedals are a separate synth so those work fine. I know for sure that the keyboard is OK (wouldn't fail on all F# at once, firstly, and if you turn on 'keyboard percussion' the keys work and produce a snare-ish sound). Pressing the F# keys produces a very quiet, high pitched sound which is correctly tuned and sounds slightly different (as in different harmonics but always high pitched) depending on which key is being pressed and which combination of voices is used - I think this is some leakage current and the problem lies somewhere inbetween generating the original tone and filtering it down to whatever should go out. If you leave the organ switched on, after a while (could be 5 minutes, could be an hour) the F# keys start working too, once they start they never stop again, even if you turn the organ off and on again within a short time. If you leave it off and come back next day, the problem repeats. This makes it very difficult to diagnose because once it 'starts working' there is nothing wrong with it.
I have identified 6 almost identical boards, side by side, that I think are the main tone generators - they are connected to the rest of the organ by wire-wrap terminals on the edges. I am thinking the fault is some sort of dry joint or maybe a bad wire-wrap though jostling (gently) the board components on what I think is the F# channel (nothing at all is labelled - I am assuming C is the furthest to the left so F# would be the 7th 'channel') doesn't create any static or help.
Any suggestion on how I could track down the fault further?
Hello Dave. I have had this problem before where one certain key like f# would not work on any octave until things warmed up and it was a problem finding out where the fault was as there was no google or internet in those days and i had no workshop manual. I think my problem turned out to be a faulty frequency divider chip. I think I was applying pressure to the chips one by one with my finger thinking there may be a dry joint and pushing a chip with a dry joint would would make it work. I also had someone playing the keys up and down while i was doing this, however i was touching the sides of the chip where the pins were and noticed there was a strange tone at one key meaning when my friend played up the scale the C key suddenly sounded strange like there was a new fault so i touched another of the frequency dividers in the side and the C# sharp made the same wierd sound when played. therefore i managed to work out which chip controlled which key. then i could concentrate on just the section that had the fault and found changing the frequency divider chip did the job for me. I did spend several days on it as the problem sorted itself out once the organ warmed up which means looking back now i’m not 100% sure the chip was faulty but maybe it was a very fine dry joint on one of the chip legs where when it warmed up it would connect and just soldering a new chip in meant i resoldered the dry joint. however it is possible that chips of that age can have thermal issues but normally they break down when they warm up not correct themselves when they warm up. I would look to see if there is frequency divider chips in your organ and touch some of the legs while you play the keys you may find one key will go strange or even leak its sound to the next octave. then you can start mapping out the notes to the chips and finally narrow your problem to a much smaller area of F#.
@@markusfuller , and Dave Allen. I was going to guess the same as You Markus.
Organs have been using the same basic schema, and architecture since the 1940's. The dividers which are basically flip flips , used to be made from components, and even had the same basic circuit when they used vacuum tubes, (in Lowrey organs.they had all the components for the dividers inside a ceramic case so they looked like giant squared off ceramic caps with too many legs). A flip-flop is a cross coupled (non linear) dif amp., and similar to an astable multivibrator but it is stable. There are a pair of transistors (probably) in this one with equal value collector resistors, and a couple of caps from one collector to the opposite base. There may also be steering diodes to direct the input signal to the unsaturated transistor base.
The problem is probably that one divider (at the top octave of F#) no longer flips and flops because of latch-up or another bad component. This could be because of a leaky cap in the power supply (local for that series of dividers) or maybe a leaky coupling cap in the top octave. When the dividers are on chips they may be SN7474's or 7473's (old 5 volt computer logic), if they are wired from individual transistors there should be a pair of transistors for each octave and each note. It may be fairly easy to figure out which one is for F#. I would try swapping out cards, if the different octaves are on cards or perhaps a card for each note? and see if that way, the in-operable note moves to a different pitch. It is likely to be the top divider for F#. If you have a transistor radio, You should be able to find all notes of the organ always in play by connecting a little shielded patch cord to the input of the volume control of that radio. Naturally the circuits for each note should reveal themselves that way. Try disassembling in the suspect area, and using deoxit, or doing Your best to clean the board,.. but it could easily also be the wonderful humidity, and micro-organisms in the Philippines, or a bad cap making life a joy for that organ. It may be that moisture gets driven off when it warms up, or there is a cap with a longitudinal crack across it especially, if this organ uses ceramic discs for the cross coupled caps. Try also using a hair dryer on the suspect parts for awhile before cold start up, and see also if that helps localize the area of the problem. (The hairdryer will drive off the moisture)
Lots of luck. I hate the sound of this organ by the way! YUCK ! ! ! hahahahaha.
@@Geopholus Thank you for your info. it will be a great help to people. I too did not really like the sound but some was ok. we passed it onto a charity shop and they sold it for over £300.
Hello
I have bought an organ on my own (Hammond Romance series). It has a really weird problem. If you have any ideas where this problem may come from or tips on what to look for while searching fo the problem that would be awesome! Here 's the problem:
When I start it most registers don't really work until I press a lot of keys at the same time. Then they work for some time. If they stop working I have to do that again.
First I thought that this problem might be about a minimum signal strength for the amp but it seems more complicated: If I get the volume (expression) all the way up that doesn't help. Only pressing more keys helps.
I already opened it once and had a look for broken capacitors but didn't find any.
Greetings from Germany :)
Hello . I am really sorry but I just do not know what to suggest, I have never worked on a hammond romance series organ but I have never come across this problem with any organ so I cannot understand what the problem may be or even where to start looking. I am truly sorry, if i had the answer or even an idea i would be glad to help but this baffles me.
@@markusfuller Thanks for answering so fast and trying to help. I think I'm gonna have to take another look inside. I just found your channel today and already learned a lot of nice tricks to check components. Unfurtunatly I don't have an oscilloscope though :/ Also thanks for sharing all your knowledge with us.
Where can one get these serviced in the UK? I've been wanting to get one but am told nobody services them anymore and parts not available. Would someone knowledgeable in electronics be able to service it if the organ servicing places say they won't? I know nothing about electronics myself.
Hi It is best if you can find a proper organ service engineer but almost all the electronics inside is still available to buy from places like rs-electronics or mouser or even taken from other old organs though some of the microchips may be very difficult to get hold of now. so yes a good electronics person should be able to repair this depending on the fault.
Hi....... Sorry, are you selling U90 Technic Organ?
Hello Markuss
I own a U90 technics organ
it was electrically disconnected for 9 months
There is no more sound
I have changed the capacitors as shown on your video.
by 3 capacitors in series and tested + 5 Volts in total
I still don't have sound
Do you have another solution
I thank you for
Yours sincerely
No sound at all . check any fuses where the amplifiers are . I think ther are in the back above the pedals. I no longer have mine so cannot remember but check if there are any fuses down there as the amplifiers may have their own.
@@markusfuller Hello Markuss
Thank you for your very very quick response
I am French and I live in LORRAINE (France)
When I plug in and turn on the organ with the button
(Push on Power) and Main volume at maximum
the pedal to the maximum too
I hear the sound from the "subwoofer" diameter 30 cm and on the 2 speakers of 20 cm
no sound on keyboards but:
"the conductor orchestral"
is fully "ON" (blocked)
6(sélections) keys in "UPPER"
and 4 (selections) keys in "LOWER"
Do you have another solution
Thank you
cordially
Regulator chips often failed in those..worth a check.
phantom hand and foot appear @0:36 ... :)
Ha i see what you mean :-)
Where are the bateries of this Organ?
Wondering why this didn't show up in my subscription feed and I had to stumble upon it by accident. Something is seriously wrong with youtube recently.
did it keep a programmed tune in its new capacitor powered RAM memory ?
Maico yes the memory is holding custom patterns. that part seems fine.
good thing !
Marvelous stuff
Thanks Gary
OH MY GOD MARKUS I LOVE THE WOLF
Thanks Helen I had a real malamute (husky) years ago that was bigger than that wolf. I love wolf's and husky's
im trying to fix some old EKO new tiger duo, it has no sound from any key and none of sounds work, only working thing is drum.machine, does anyone have any schematics for thise im having really hard timr trying to get them to work
Do you know a way to repair Kimball organ dead keys?
Hi I just check all possible contacts that are under or behind the keys depending on the mechanism used then move onto checking solder joints etc which there will be many. but you may be lucky and find a godod clean of contacts is all it needs. It’s difficult for me to guess what the problem is on your organ without seeing it for myself. good luck I hope you get it fixed.
@@markusfuller Alright! And do you mind if I possibly contact you later with pictures of it?
@@youexterminated787 sure no problem but if they are just a few dead keys then i guess it would be a matter of cleaning contacts or checking cables and solder joints.
@@markusfuller Well yesterday I looked through the whole thing for about an hour and nothing seemed to be wrong, I also scrubbed a few boards with a toothbrush and removed alot of dust that way. Do you have any way I could contact you?
That wolf statue is pretty though~
Thanks I really like that wolf.
@@markusfuller she's utterly gorgeous and very beautiful bless her
Like being back in a working mens club in the 70's lol
The stk amplifier modules are either stereo or dual mono dunno why they used stks when they could've used discrete MOSFETs well stk modules now are probably faux Chinese rip offs ps take good care of her she's gorgeous
Nice vid mate
Formanski Thank you
hi just asking i have a acc with RS my self have at any time you had RS not like one man job's in the past RS did not like me being a one man fixer up man
and would not let me have a acc i the end they gave any i had to set something up to keep RS happy
Hello Bobjerome I think you can pretty much go to the counter now .
Feh! It's not April fools day yet? 😂
Dear can u fix my cavendish organ please
My mom has a U60 in her estate
Now it seems nobody wants it because it's not working I said I wanted it and the local electronics repair guy said it was very repairable. He'll take a look at it in two and a half weeks He said this age of Technology is made so that it is repairable.
Where to buy that earth? It works like a charm 🙄
Ahem between me and you its actually coffee and its a brand called Markus
nice video, beautifull organ.. the jar with sand in it, joke right ? hahaah
Great-Grandmother board
moshe banano Yes I guess thats right as it is a little bit old now.
@@markusfuller it crazy to think that a small nano chip can do the work of this board :)
ROFL I wonder how many ppl take the advise at the end seriously
I just could not resist dropping that gag into this video. I tried so hard to keep a straight face.
10:50 "Just put a resistor across it" Do you mean your fingers? :-)
well i guess you could get away with that though if a supercap was charged you would certainly not want to use your fingers or hold the resistor like i did as it would still shock you. I knew this was new so discharged but thought i would mention it.
Amazing
Well saved.
Thank you David, It sounds amazing but I need a bigger place.
I have an electric technic organ but its spoiled 25 years ago its a waste I want to learn how to fix it
Its really sad that you can pick these organs up for next nothing on ebay etc. I bought an old Yamaha for £10.00 just to use the base pedal assembly to make some Taurus Type Bass Pedals.
I have a roland g6 keyboard . can u repair pleaseeeeeeee
Herba Ash Hi Herba Ash. sorry I cannot take any repairs on as i already work full time and simply do not get the time to take on any extra work.
I liked the video very much,you can torture people with that machine.
put a little earth on me, LOL
None of the keys or pedals works and it hums when you turn it on and turn up the volume
very nice!
Thank you
Do people realise that cost as much as a Ford Fiesta car in 1981? 1 Capacitors in series was a bad design choice. You could easily end up with all the voltage across one. A single capacitor was a much better choice.
Luvly!
You will be long gone before that capacitor will need replacing.
my neighbours got given one of these ,at first it worked great... then they left it outside ..and don't want to give it away
What a waste.