Clavinova repair at Bammel TV Technology Services
/ By admin / Digital Piano repair / • / 0 Comments

for Yamaha Clavinova Repair, Call Bammel TV

   

for Yamaha Clavinova Repair, Call Bammel TV

Yamaha Clavinova Repair at Bammel TV Technology Services

 

Like any piano, over the course of time a digital piano can get hammered—so to speak. All too common is the user, typically a youthful one, who dreams he is Jerry Lee Lewis working out on some ancient tank upright, or playing a million-dollar Steinway piano at Carnegie Hall—although even this class of instrument is not immune to the effects of excessive force. If you stomp on the piano too hard, even in a stomp-piano style, folks, you WILL damage the keybed assembly components!

We see it all the time, and recently a customer brought in a fine and classic Yamaha Clavinova, with fine and lustrous wood, bearing the hallmarks of juvenile abuse: numerous recessed keys, their hammer-weight individual mechanisms damaged or destroyed by excessive playing force.

In some instances we are able to perform individual keybed-component repair; indeed, in some instances we’re forced to do this, or attempt it; but the preferred solution is typically to simply order and replace the entire keyed assembly, which lends a fresh-start approach to the repair operation and the instrument gets a new lease on life. The Clavinova’s were a fairly high-order instrument in their day, requiring a substantial investment. The sound and tone are still great, even by today’s modern digital piano standards, so we very much enjoy restoring these instruments whenever we are asked to do so.

In some cases we’ve run into some No Longer Available parts situations, on some brands; fortunately here this was not a problem. The recommended treatment, replacing the entire keybed assembly, was still a feasible option.

Summary: Yamaha Clavinova Repair successfully completed, at Bammel TV. 

We’re the go-to guys in Houston for Yamaha keyboard repair (and many other brands as well; visit our main Digital Piano Repair page for more information), including the sweet and coveted Clavinova’s. We sourced the part, developed the repair quote, briefed the customer, ordered the parts, and fixed ‘er on up.

A full video of the repair is up at Youtube. Another successful digital piano repair job at Bammel TV Technology Services.

Bammel TV Technology Services
/ By admin / Synth repair / / 0 Comments

Oberheim OB-8 Vintage Synthesizer Repair

Oberheim OB-8 Vintage Synthesizer Repair

VINTAGE SYNTHESIZER REPAIR at BAMMEL TV TECHNOLOGY SERVICES

We had occasion of late to fix up a real classic: the vaunted Oberheim OB-8 synthesizer. Similar synths in the OB-X line by Oberheim defined much pop sound in the early 1980’s, the most notable example being the classic album Moving Pictures by Rush.

The customer brought in his OB-8 with complaint of No Sound. Upon bench diagnostics we found many swollen and leaking capacitors, with many dirty and contaminated control potentiometers. We developed our repair prospectus and estimate for the customer. Our notes indicated:

UNIT NEEDS SIGNIFICANT RESTORATION, POSSIBLY 4-6-8 HOURS OF LABOR, POWER NEEDS TO BE RESTORED AT COMPONENT LEVEL WHICH WILL REQUIRE EXTENSIVE TROUBLESHOOTING  AND RESTORATION OF THE POWER SUPPLY.

UNIT ALSO NEEDS KEYBED CLEANING,  KEYBED ALIGNMENT, CAP REPAIR JOB, and ORIGINAL PATCH RESTORATION.

In the event, restoring the instrument’s original sound patches proved the seemingly-insurmountable barrier to repair completion. In the early 1980’s only comparatively primitive techniques for importation of sound patches existed. We spent far more time than had been originally budgeted, but we eventually solved this issue and repairs were ultimately successful.

Another one bites the dust at Bammel TV. For our main Digital Piano Repair and Synth Repair page, click here. Here, a link to the Youtube video for this repair:

 

 

Bammel TV Technology Services
/ By admin / Audio repair • Guitar amp repair / / 0 Comments

EGNATER GUITAR AMP repair at Bammel TV!

July 29, 2016

Need Egnater guitar amp repair? We’ve added another splendidly sharp arrow to our highly diversified quiver: Bammel TV Tech Services is now the Authorized Service Center in Houston for Egnater guitar amplifiers.  Scoring this certification adds another premiere guitar amp manufacturer to our (already illustrious) profile, which includes Marshall, Fender, Peavey, Crate, Hughes & Kettner, and Randall—add Egnater now to the mix.

Kudos to co-manager Dean Doba for liaison work with the manufacturer. In the course of seeking parts support for repair on an Egnater 4-100, Dean was able to break through the typical manufacturer firewall and get us set up. Lots of manufacturers still need highly qualified service centers to address occasional problems with their units. We fit the bill for them!

We received an Egnater product recently for service, brought to us by the local Music Go Round store, with a complaint that the unit’s high-gain channel was nearly inaudible. To judge by our overview of this Model 4-100 unit, it is an extremely well-built, versatile and rugged guitar amp, with numerous and flexible hook up and rigging options. According to their website, “Egnater Amplification is today the fastest growing guitar amp manufacturer in the industry.” To judge by the 4-100 product, we can see why this might be the case.

For this particular product repair, we did our initial assessment; technician at that point requested the product service manual. This is not always necessary for our expert technicians, but in some cases there’s simply no way to proceed without a service manual and circuit schematic, along with block diagrams, parts lists, and the like. Fortunately in this case, we were able to get the 4-100 amp repaired with a physical repair (repair of cold solder or connexion fractures) on the high-gain channel of the amp.

For our main Guitar Amp Repair page, click here. If you need Egnater guitar amp repair, call the professionals—call Bammel TV.

Bammel TV Technology Services
/ By admin / Guitar Effects Repair • Pro Audio Repair / / 0 Comments

Guitar Pedal Repair: Line 6 Pod Pro, Rocktron Prophesy, Digitech GSP2101 Repair

RACK GUITAR PEDAL REPAIR: LINE 6 POD PRO REPAIR, ROCKTRON PROPHESY REPAIR, DIGITECH GSP2101 REPAIR

June 10, 2016

Our report on three repairs performed on a customer’s Line 6 Pod Pro, his Rocktron Prophesy, and his Digitech GSP2101.

This customer owns ALL THREE of these classic units! It’s guitar pedal repair time at Bammel TV Tech Services!

Pod Pro Repair

The Pod Pro is a classic 2-rack space effects unit from Line 6. Capable of multiple simultaneous effects of the classic sorts: distortions, delays, dynamic effects, tremolo, wah, reverb, pitch shifting—a wide tableau—no, make that a panoramic sweep of tones. With dual XLR-outs as well as digital outs, and multiple possible input configurations, these were excellent machines. We haven’t seen very many, but as the authorized service center/master service center in Houston for Line 6, when those products need some TLC and attention, we’re the destination of choice for the customer.

In this case the Pod Pro exhibited periodic loud screeching noises—obviously hideously unacceptable for a guitarist. Specifically, the customer complained of a “Works 12 seconds, screeches 12 seconds” phenomenon. Our master techs would have liked to get the Main PCB for this repair, but it was NLA from Line 6. That left us scratching our heads…We came up however a solution: we REPAIRED the main PCB assembly fault. We ordered up an IC from China and were successful at restoring this high-quality unit.

Rocktron Prophesy Repair 

The same customer also brought in a Rocktron Prophesy—one of the classic units designed by Tom Scholz of Boston.  This unit was simply dead, exhibiting a no-power symptom. We isolated and replaced seven discrete faulty components, and unit is restored and back to proper operation.

 Digitech GSP2101 Repair

Finally, customer also brought to us his Digitech GSP2101—another rack-mounted classic effects unit (and one of our personal favorites.) The 2101 was/is/remains legendary due to two 12AX7 vacuum tubes (or valves, as our British friends call them)in the preamp section, permitting a wide range of natural analog tones, from crystal-clear-clean to radically saturated distortions—that’s in addition to a huge range of digital effects, on top of an analog compression/EQ/gating stage. Altogether a wonderful unit, which fortunately in this case required only minimal service to restore.

Summary: When you need guitar pedal repair… 

Three more bite the dust, courtesy of your crew at Bammel TV Tech Services. For our main Pro Audio repair page, click here.

Bammel TV Technology Services
/ By admin / Audio repair • High end audio • Pro Audio Repair • Unusual Product Repairs • Vintage Product Repairs / / 0 Comments

How We Fixed a 24 Track MCI JH-24 Recording Deck

How We Fixed a 24 Track MCI JH-24 Recording Deck

How We Fixed a 24-Track Studio Recording Deck

Customer brought to us an early-1980’s vintage studio recording deck: a 2″ tape, 24-track recorder—the MCI JH-24.

The MCI JH-24 is a rather legendary studio multi-track recorder—a very impressive piece of equipment, the first commercialized 24-track recorder. Many rock classics were recorded on MCI machines: Eric Clapton, the Eagles, Led Zeppelin, and the Bee Gees recorded many of their 1970’s era hits on MCI 16-track machines. The JH-24 carried an original purchase price in the $30,000 range. Even today working units are being sold online for over $8000, not including freight.

By the early 1980’s digital recording was emerging on the horizon, but many artists then, and still today, prefer the perceived “warmth” of analog recording equipment. And so we found ourselves facing a non-functioning JH-24 deck—the first one we have seen.

Assessing the Repair Prospects on the MCI JH-24, and Phase 1

Customer’s complaint was that “Tape transport won’t function.”  Our diagnostic assessment found the following:

“MAJOR RECONSTRUCTION REQUIRED in POWER SUPPLY, STANDBY CIRCUIT WORK, and SYSTEM CONTROL CIRCUIT. ADVANCED TROUBLESHOOTING PLUS REPLACE OF MISC COMPONENTS INCLUDING DISPLAY LAMPS—HOWEVER IT IS OTHERWISE IN GOOD SHAPE AND REPAIR IS FEASIBLE & RECOMMENDED FOR REPAIR.”

After considerable efforts by one of our master technicians, our repair essentially stalled out—“I can’t fix it.” Despair set in. Eventually I transferred the ticket to our other master tech and assigned him a full time assistant for this challenge. The risk was considerable: should he and his team flame out, and the unit prove unrepairable, this would represent a large loss of valuable repair production time.

Phase 2: Breakthrough

The second tech team completed the remaining work, but having done so, we ran into additional complications with this very complex product. Customer had requested that at least 16 of the original 24 tracks be restored. As it turned out, each individual recording track presented individual electronic circuit issues. Both our master techs worked on the unit, and were finally successful in restoring 23 of the 24 tracks, each of which required individual troubleshooting and circuit repair, for a total repair cost below $4000—thus saving the customer over $4000 off the cost of purchasing a replacement.

Summary: We Fixed It

Finally, we presented the triumph to the customer: a restored, functioning MCI JH-24, at just half the cost of a working replacement. Just another save-the-day at Bammel TV Tech Services. For our main Pro Audio repair page, click here. Click on the video player below for a brief video review of the final, functioning unit.