Members gilwe Posted October 5, 2007 Members Share Posted October 5, 2007 My Polysix story starts when I actually sold the first one I owned. It was a mint condition unit for which I built a MIDI IN retrofit. I made that big mistake once I finished refurbishing the Trident MKII I picked up at the flea market the same year, and thinking the Polysix was just a scaled down version of the Trident's Synthe section, and since I didn't have too much space at the small apartment I used to live at, at the time, I unfortunately sold it . But I missed it, especially due to the fact that I had my DIY MIDI IN built into it, and the fact it was so mint looking, and of course, great sounding. Then I had to pick up a few SSM's to fix my Trident, and came across an ad about selling two torn apart Polysixes, for about 150$. Thinking about the IC's I needed, I took these two torn Polysixes, and tried to set up a working unit out of the two - of course they both had acid leak damaged computer boards, so I kept waiting for a good condition board to come across so I could set it up to one working unit. Meanwhile I was working on a friend's Polysix, which suffered of just the same problem. A few dead keys, a voice board which couldn't be properly adjusted, a partially broken mod wheel block, and bad cosmetic shape. Then, a few days ago I get a call from someone who just about selling his non-working Polysix (I use to run an add looking for non functioning vintage synthesizers...), and it became that it was just the specific unit I worked on for some time, the one my friend had at his place ! Switching it on, no sound. 30$ cash and it's mine... Taken to my place. Two similar looking connectors have been switched. Correcting it made it start playing. Lithium battery conversion now ! Replaced the bad voice board with a working one, which I also tuned. Replaced a few rubber contacts and a few bad looking keys, using the torn apart P6 parts of course. Than I switched the front panel with the one I had from the broken unit, which is in much better condition. Painted some wood scratches and viola ! an awesome sounding Polysix. And now I realize this is no way a scaled down Trident Synthe section ! It is quite a different beast and has it's own character and capabilities, some of them the Trident won't be able to make, ever. A little programming and I'm in love again ! Fat chord put into memory, some fast arpeggio, a little tweaking in real time - and it's analog heaven !! Now I need to see why it doesn't save patches - probably something is wrong with the battery circuit, no big deal I guess Think I'm going to mod it to support 64 patches. Maybe add a Unison detune pot... Will see Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Yoozer Posted October 5, 2007 Members Share Posted October 5, 2007 Combine all 4 of 'm in a Hexa/Poly! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Don Solaris Posted October 5, 2007 Members Share Posted October 5, 2007 And now I realize this is no way a scaled down Trident Synthe section ! It is quite a different beast and has it's own character and capabilities, some of them the Trident won't be able to make, ever. Just turn Polysix into a Mono mode and you practically have a Monopoly sound! (i know, i got both). Now I need to see why it doesn't save patches - probably something is wrong with the battery circuit, no big deal I guess My unit had the same problem. After discovering battery was ok, it was obvious the problem was the memory chip. Replaced it and job done. A small advice: To fully enjoy the Polysix Sound you need to fully calibrate it. There is a service manual, and calibration will take few hours. But the difference is more than obvious. Of course calibrate after you replace electrolytes. If you can not find "quality" capacitors, then us any type you find. Because they are way better than dry ones. To give an example: I just had Monopoly full capacitor replacement. From above everything was looking "normal". But when i started desoldering those capacitors, and when i finally saw them from below, over 80 were dry or leaking(!!!). So, better take ANY capacitor, than using a dead one! Noise removal:You can make the noise shield and place it above the effects board. Take aluminum foil, measure the effect board. Cut the foil to its size. Repeat this process 10 times (the more, the thicker the shield). Now ask a friend in the office that has laminating device, to put this foil "into the plastic". Prior to laminating, cut 1x1 cm surface into the laminating foil - this is where the screw will go. Once complete, put the screw and bolts in, and ground the shield with a cable. 10 minutes of work. I can send pics if you need. Don't sell your Polysix! Incredible how such a simple synth can cover such a wide variety of sounds. Just a small tweak of the filter, and a completely different sound, thanks to the SSM chips. The analog effect section is awesome. I would give anything to have it on Monopoly! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gilwe Posted October 5, 2007 Author Members Share Posted October 5, 2007 Thanks Don ! You saved me a few hours of work, indeed it is the 5514 memory chip. Fortunately I have a few available so I replaced and it works fine. Caps, caps... I think I have to make an order for a few packages of high quality electrolytes, which will serve only for that purpose... sooner or later I'll have to do the recap on all of my vintage equipment. As for the effect board - I think setting the effect board so it can be used individually should be very simple. I can sell or trade you for one (I have two, as I noted before) so you can set it into an external Polysix effect unit and use it with other boards as well ! See here: http://www.naturalrhythmmusic.com/files/Polysix_Diag_Large.JPG http://www.naturalrhythmmusic.com/diy.html Actually I think I'm going to do that myself, using one of the two ! So we do that together Another idea I have is to make a keyboard-less, MIDI controlled P6. BTW, have you ever had the double-patch-memory mod applied on a P6 ? I think I'm about to do that on both my P6 and Trident... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members OPEN OCEAN Posted October 5, 2007 Members Share Posted October 5, 2007 hey gil....you should have kept the original p6 man...you could skip all this frustration anyway hehe...speak soon... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members OPEN OCEAN Posted October 5, 2007 Members Share Posted October 5, 2007 btw wanna ask you something next time online... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kpatz Posted October 5, 2007 Members Share Posted October 5, 2007 Makes me wish I still had mine. It was the only analog I owned, and it was great. It could meow like a real cat! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Don Solaris Posted October 5, 2007 Members Share Posted October 5, 2007 I can sell or trade you for one (I have two, as I noted before) so you can set it into an external Polysix effect unit and use it with other boards as well ! See here:PM me with some price quote. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gilwe Posted October 5, 2007 Author Members Share Posted October 5, 2007 hey gil....you should have kept the original p6 man...you could skip all this frustration anyway hehe...speak soon... Sure, but keep in mind I made about 500$ on that deal Anyway, yah, it's kind of furstrating as the previous one was really mint. Both outside and inside. And I put some time and effort building the MIDI IN for it. But keep in mind I live in Israel which is quite a small place, and equipment which is being sold, almost always gets back to the classified board Still waiting for that guy to sell that particular one... Don - how you going to supply the +15v / -15v for the unit ? Are you going to take voltage out of your Mono/Poly ? ... and I really need to try the unison detune mode ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Don Solaris Posted October 5, 2007 Members Share Posted October 5, 2007 Don - how you going to supply the +15v / -15v for the unit ? LOL! Thats trivial. Let me know if you need schematic. Are you going to take voltage out of your Mono/Poly ? Well i could, since i've built a custom toroidal transformer for MonoPoly that has almost as twice as the necessary power. But few moments ago i had another idea. Why limiting this effect to just one synth. Why not build a true external unit. In the store, they sell empty 1U module. Effects in, power supply in, transformer in and the unit is finished!!! Downside is: for that money (1U rack unit + transformer + polysix board) i can buy an analog chorus / ensemble unit... So i am not sure should i start this project or not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gilwe Posted October 5, 2007 Author Members Share Posted October 5, 2007 But few moments ago i had another idea. Why limiting this effect to just one synth. Why not build a true external unit. In the store, they sell empty 1U module. Effects in, power supply in, transformer in and the unit is finished!!! lol, but that's what I ment as for power supply, well, of course building one should be very simple, althogh it's a little bit of work... I'm sure this should sound very nice on various synths other than Korg polys ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ElectricPuppy Posted October 5, 2007 Members Share Posted October 5, 2007 Nice work, Gilwe! I like to hear successful resurection stories. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Don Solaris Posted October 5, 2007 Members Share Posted October 5, 2007 las for power supply, well, of course building one should be very simple, althogh it's a little bit of work... Yes.... some 5-10 minutes... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Fuzzlabs Posted October 5, 2007 Members Share Posted October 5, 2007 Downside is: for that money (1U rack unit + transformer + polysix board) i can buy an analog chorus / ensemble unit... So i am not sure should i start this project or not. Ahhh.. but try finding something that sounds the same?? :poke: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gilwe Posted October 5, 2007 Author Members Share Posted October 5, 2007 Ahhh.. but try finding something that sounds the same?? :poke: Besides, you wanted that particular effect, didn't you... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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