Razmo's Gear Rant Thread...

[Razmo]

First little experiment today, just to make sure I got the right organ... I did!

I was surprised to experience, that the Eminent 310 Unique actualy have a spring reverb built in, aside from also a chorus/tremolo unit...

The organ is in really good cosmetic shape, and it works 100%, exept that the keys need some cleaning... they crackle and pop quite a lot, but there's instructions on how to clean on the internet, so it should pose no problem.

Also I'm really amazed about the bass pedals on this thing... damn it can make the floor tremble! ... It struck me, that the deep bass drone in the beginning of Jarre's Equinoxe album was in fact the bass pedal of the Eminent.

[Commie_User]

Marvellous. That sounds very much like a Lowrey I once played on and I look forward to hearing more from it.

My Electone has spring reverb too. If I knew electronics I'd engineer using it as a separate insert effect. Would you do that with yours?

[Razmo]

The Eminent 310 Unique actualy have a Jack connector on the back, that allow you to route external audio through the build in Orbitone and Spring Reverb, so there is no need to modify it really

The most strange is that it does not have an input for the String Ensemble which is the Eminent 310's absolutely most stunning feature... the Ensemble effect is what this organ is all about, having been judged as the best string machine ever developed.

But I'm very reluctant to do any kind of mods to this beauty... it does what it has to very well by itself and as is.

The first thing I've done today was warm up more than 200 soldering pads, and twist as many contact springs as well... these tend to get dirty with age, and that's what is causing the crackles and noises that you can hear in the beginning of the notes in the audio example above... doing this tedious procedure helped quite a bit, but not enough... I suspect some of the contacts that these springs touch may have become dirty as well, or maybe oxydized... So I'll be doing an in depth deoxiding job soon...

Besides that, the lower manual have around 140 of these springs as well, so it's a darn tedious process to clean them, but it has to be done.

Also the stops (switches) has oxydized on the contacts... makes the switching give out noise when used... that has to be fixed as well.

But other than that, I cannot find any other things to fix, exept for a good dusting and cleaning of everything inside and out.

Here are some pictures of it while I was fixing the contacts:

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[Razmo]

Here is a few more... note the 5 contact soldering points for every key...

Also I was puzzled as to why it has four speakers inside... there is one extra in the left side of the cabinet, but the organ only has three simultaneous signal outputs from the the delay lines running in the Ensemble effect and Orbitone chorus.

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[Razmo]

A small riff from Zoids played on my E310U:

I'm still fixing stuff on this organ... The whole upper manual has been deoxydized on the key contacts which took almost an entire day... Next thing will be the lower manual.

[Razmo]

Allright... if you wanna know why I've got this organ, you'll know when you hear this clip :

Just the Eminent run through an EH Smallstone Phaser v.1 and some added echo... this is probably the Jarre signature sound...

[Chris Abbott]

Colour me impressed. Didn't Marcel D. have this setup as well to use on Sidologie? Marcel?

Chris

[Razmo]

If I recall right, I think I read something about Marcel getting this organ, just for that album? ...

[Chris Abbott]

And the phaser pedal, if I recall...

[Razmo]

Surely yes... it would be hard to get that swooshing sound without exactly the EH Smallstone Phaser pedal... there really is nothing quite like it.

But I'm uncertain if it was the 310U or the Yamaha CS-80 he was talking about back then... guess we'll just have to wait until he might read this thread to find out

[Razmo]

Anyways.. just found out last night, that there is a severe PSU problem with the Eminent... it started making loud "popping noises" at some point, and now does this after a while when turned on. I found a dammaged resistor on the power supply to confirm my suspicion, so I've ordered some new ones for replacement, and hope that solves it... also the voltage supply is off according to specs... about 2 volts lower than normal, so there clearly is a problem with the PSU... the popping sounds like a capacitor beginning to fault or being influenced in some way, with periodic pops of less than a second or so, and gets louder and louder over time.

But a friend of mine have contact with the tech guy i the Netherlands that restore these organs, so he might be able to help solve the problem... which I hope will be solved, cause the organ is pretty useless with these popping sounds

[Commie_User]

Well what can I say? If you're re-incarnating Jarre then that organ's just got the magic. And I'm glad it's in your hands if you know how to maintain it. Myself, if I want my Tascam to last, I have it serviced by maybe the remaining experienced tape recorder guy nearby, then use it sparingly after he retires.

You have a nice little heirloom there. (And you could sample the popping sounds too.)

[Marcel Donné]

Colour me impressed. Didn't Marcel D. have this setup as well to use on Sidologie? Marcel?

Chris

Indeed, I did. It cost me a plant. It belonged to an elderly lady who didn't want any money for the Eminent as she gained so much space in her living room
She and her husband were the first owners from 1976.

I sold it for €300 a few years after Sidologie was finished and I found myself not wanting to move the organ into my attic

[Razmo]

Colour me impressed. Didn't Marcel D. have this setup as well to use on Sidologie? Marcel?

Chris

Indeed, I did. It cost me a plant. It belonged to an elderly lady who didn't want any money for the Eminent as she gained so much space in her living room
She and her husband were the first owners from 1976.

I sold it for €300 a few years after Sidologie was finished and I found myself not wanting to move the organ into my attic

Did the organ not have any problems? ... i mean, Mine is right now failing because of capacitors going dead after 40 years (those usualy have a life span around 20 years max)... I'm thinking about recapping the entire organ to be honest

One of the modulator boards has stopped working correctly giving loud pops and clicks, and yesterday I suddenly realized, that the pedals did not work anymore unless they were routed to the string ensemble.

Seems the capacitors are starting to die like flies here

[Commie_User]

Well thank heaven you can fix it Razmo, otherwise it would be one more for the refuse tip I suppose.

I also suppose if the equipment isn't used much then the bits inside it are more likely to last a while longer. My 1975 Electone is still fine and the only thing wrong with my Hammond (also around the same vintage) is that it is starting to sound a little distorted. I would have had that repaired but I like it.


Just one thought - what did the manufacturers of these organs think the owners would do after the capacitors stopped working? Get the units repaired? Or did they think owners would have already thrown them away or died by then? Even the Mellotron was originally marketed as a home organ for your granny to sing along with.