68 Silicon chip Australia’s electronics magazine siliconchip.com.au
SERVICEMAN'S LOG
Dave ThompsonRepairs for a ‘key’ client
It could just be that this is the age
where equipment tends to fail, or
folks who own appliances of that vin-
tage are of a generation that typically
loathes to bin their hard-earned pos-
sessions at the drop of a hat. But it’s a
sad fact that so much hardware these
days is not built to the same quality
as it once was.
Finding a replacement appliance
made to the same standard as your old
one can be frustrating (if not impossi-
ble), which is why many try to extend
the useful life of existing devices by
refurbishing or repairing them.
We also live in an economic climate
where vendors and retailers aim for
the lowest common denominator buy-
ers, which usually means keeping the
price low rather than keeping the qual-
ity high. So most modern appliances
are built ‘down’ to a price.
Nevertheless, many appreciate qual-
ity and are prepared to spend more
(sometimes, a lot more) on something
well-built and made to last. Unfortu-
nately, choices for those people are
becoming more limited.
For example, I can go to the nearest
‘big box’ store and buy a ridiculous-
ly-oversized stereo/radio/DVD-player
combo, with a blow-moulded plastic
case, too-many gaudy flashing LEDs
and an offensive amount of bass boost
for a mere couple of hundred dollars.
But if I want anything decent, there’s
almost nothing between it and a very
expensive, name-brand 100W/chan-
nel Class-AB reference amplifier, with
rubber mountings, oxygen-free-cop-
per transformers, hand-wired circuit
boards and heavy-gauge matte-black
steel case.
I’d much prefer this high-end am-
plifier, but would be soon destitute af-
ter purchasing the matching speakers,
solid gold cables, Oracle turntable and
Accuphase tuner to go with it. While
the big-shed special will likely blow
itself to bits after a few too many row-
dy all-nighters, the high-end amp and
components would easily see me out
(and quite possibly whoever inherits
it once I’m gone!)
Don’t get me wrong, I’m a ‘gearhead’
at heart and am always looking for an
excuse to buy a better mobile phone or
upgrade my computer with the latest
goodies; the difference is that I know
these devices have a finite lifespan.
Given time though, even a $6000
amplifier can fail. Whether it’s a
scratchy potentiometer, a blown out-
put transistor or a dried-out capacitor,
these ‘wear and tear’ issues can usu-
ally be resolved quite easily, mainly
because quality devices are designed
to be disassembled and repaired in
the first place.A job arrives through
the grapevine
Which brings me to my current chal-
lenge. A while ago, I repaired a Yama-
ha electric piano for a neighbour. To be
honest, it wasn’t a particularly taxing
job, but it was laborious.
The sheer size of the thing and the
number of fasteners, clips and plugs
to undo makes working on large in-
struments a pain, especially with the
limited bench-space in my small shop.
Another neighbour heard
about that Yamaha repair and
called me with her own tale
of woe. She’d purchased a
then top-of-the-line Roland KR-
500 keyboard back in the 1980s.
She didn’t say what she’d paid for it,
but it was likely a small fortune.
About ten years ago, it was repaired
by a local music store; they’d replaced
half-a-dozen keys that were physi-
cally damaged by a friend’s kid, who
thought playing it involved smash-
ing the keys repeatedly with a timberblock. Since then, it has been covered
when not being played.
Recently, the owner noticed that
one or two keys would intermittently
not sound, and when a couple more
started playing up, she sought out the
same repair shop. Unfortunately, this
business had closed after the quakes
and had never re-opened.
The owner called around a few other
music stores and was told the instru-
ment was “too old” to repair. They
all kindly offered to sell her the latest
model, though!
Out of desperation, she’d shipped
the thing up to the main Roland dis-
tributor in Auckland, who sent it
straight back, stating that it was non-
repairable. Given the size and weight
of the keyboard, even without the sol-
id-wood pedestal it is usually mounted
on, transporting it to them and back
would not have been cheap.
When she heard via the bush tel-
egraph of a local who could fix key-
boards (ie, me), she couldn’t get on theI’m getting a wider variety of items into the workshop for repair these
days, and I’ve noticed that almost all are high-quality electronic devices
which were generally manufactured before the 1990s.