So when it arrived it was quite evident there is something wrong electronically. The display would show random numbers if it worked at all, and the sounds are messed up. So when I have time I will have to open it and assess.
I opened it up and replaced the battery with a new battery holder, but after a bit more testing realized the damage was too bad. Plus you can never stop the corrosion, just slow it down. So I ordered a new replacement board from Synthtronics. I was thinking I might order a MIDI kit as well but because both kits are a bit pricier than I thought, the MIDI kit will have to wait.
The new board arrived today! It didn't take very long to install. And then I started to check out the sounds. Very cool stuff, but I quickly learned it is quite limited. There are only 20 parameters. No noise source, no chorus. Even the Juno-106 has 24 parameters.Still it does sound very good. Super easy to use. It's funny you never hear people complain about the lack of controls on this keyboard. There is still 1 issue, and that I'm assuming is the corroded pin that goes tot he voice board. I had asked for a replacement part for this as well but it was not in the package. On certain sounds every 6th voice does something funny. I may just jumper across it as ordering the part by itself will be too expensive. But today was a big step, from not working to working! I am looking into the MIDI kit and starting to think I may not really like it. Especially for the price. I just want something to change the sounds (programs), and maybe a bit more. No Midi kit does this except for the original and then you're stuck to channel 1. Oh well. I am glad it is working, I will have to play it a while before I decide what to do.
I still have to fix the one issue, the organ sounds won't play on that voice. But I think I am starting to understand why I like the sound of this keyboard so much. I think it is simply the range of each control. My JX-3p is similar but seems so conservative with the range of each control, and of course the filter sounds wildly different. So even though it is lacking a good deal of parameters, it makes up for that with it's sound. I now understand why people don't like the JX-3p as much, and am glad that I had that first. If I can get a decent MIDI upgrade for this, it will definately be a must have keyboard for my rig.
I bought it for 515$ c
I owned it from November 2023- present
Current PrePay value n/a
cosmetically
Corners are a little smashed, but the rest isn't too bad. And a good cleaning.
electronically Just needs one small fix.
2023: Set up in my media room for now.
