Well, that is not quite me...although I wish it was. At least, I am not able to fix the electrical components of my equipment, but I can fix the mechanical ones. A few days ago I did just that-- all for a small piece of plastic that was destined to break.
Here is a bit of a back story:
I have been playing multiple keyboards in a Top 40 pop band (like everyone knows now) for 3 years. It has usually been a digital piano and 1-2 synthesizers. Digital pianos are built like brick houses (the ones above $1k are at least)-- they offer minimal instrument samples but offer the realistic feel and sound of a piano (and I love this). I upgraded my digital piano at the beginning of the year, jumping from the 12 year old Kawai Es1 to the Es6 (the Es8 is out now I believe). For synthesizers I have always played Korg by default-- I never owned one, only borrowed.
I began playing two synthesizers: a Korg M1 and a Korg X-3
The M1 was made in 1988 and it had one sound that I used all of the time-- everything else was so 80's (but not in a good Duran Duran way). This keyboard was a loan from the production company that started MaineStream.
The X-3 was made in 1993 and was a step up from the M1-- 3 times the amount of sounds but it lacked the feel of the M1-- not very solid. After MaineStream split up and became UnCharted, this became my main synth (and I started playing more than fake accordion and guitar sounds on it). It has held up for years and given me some top notch performances, but I knew there was something better out there for under $1k (great synths of the past few years cost well over $1k-- $3k-$4k is about right). This keyboard was donated by my boss the day I landed the MaineStream gig.
Before MaineStream went away, in a dash to find new sounds for upcoming major gigs I convinced the powers that be to order me a Korg micro.
This keyboard had a strong array of sounds, a bad vocoder, and many techno samples. I now had 4 keyboards at each gig and I was jumping back and forth like crazy. Unfortunately this keyboard was truly micro-- tiny keys with horrible action and overblown sounds (they were always cranked to 10). When I played this thing it even scared me that such a small collection of plastics was burning ears in front of me. It was hard to play and after two major gigs I left it in a box in my closet until the production company came to town to collect it 5 months later.
Skip ahead a few months to two weeks ago, and I had another idea of upgrading since a previous gig made me feel like I was playing a toy synth (X-3). A student of mine from the previous year convinced his lawyer father to drop $4500 on a Korg Karma and literally overnight he became Dream Theater (he played alright before but now he had all the sounds). I couldn't believe that I was still playing this 20 year old synth.
Hello Ebay!
After some research on the Korg wiki of chronological synth manufacturing, I came up with a short list of all the synths better than what I had but not new enough to cost as much as a bad car. It so happened that every 2 years Korg would seem to make a new synth or release a different from factor of a previous one. I was in the market for one of these cheaper but better workstations.
It took a week of narrowing it down on Ebay, but I watched 4 finalists as they were being bid on. At the last moment I chose one that would give me the easiest time changing patches-- it had a touch screen interface!
I lost the auction.
2 days later, for a Buy it now price, the same keyboard came up for auction-- better condition, better owner (clean studio), and at a price that I would have to live with ($525). I made two offers and then just bought it before anyone else might jump in. The keyboard was a Korg M50 (made in 2008)
The keyboard is light but sturdy, The sound is amazing and I can finally combine up to 16 sounds at the same time (custom patches). The touch screen is no Ipad, but it is bright and will work under stress. The Apple sticker hopefully will not get be beat up-- the other side has a Behringer sticker which seems ironic. Anyways, I have not tried it with the band yet but I am happy with the change.
How did I fund this buy? The X-3 made it onto Ebay, and apparently it is a vintage masterpiece! It sold for almost $100 shy of the M50. But, before I sold it, I had a problem to fix-- a key that worked, but did not spring back to place.
So-- finally-- here is the subject to this blog!!!!
Warning-- what you are about to see might look scary--- a lot of computerish stuff and wires (guts).
Notice the floppy drive for this keyboard-- who has these still?
The keys came apart after 20 screws.
Once you see how cheap and minimal this part is you are amazed that these keyboards work at all. Well-architectured plastic is the name of the game-- something a 3-d printer can solve nowadays ( I will end up with one eventually).
This was the culprit-- a G# key that was missing a small plastic bit. Superglue and needlenose pliers did the trick. It was not easy-- but I couldn't wait for spare keys to be ordered (this was sold that day on Ebay).
Afterwards I used my pictures to remember where all the screws went. I only ended up with 2 in the end (just kidding, they all went back in).
I plugged it in, it worked, so I boxed it up and shed a tear. I hope you find a good home!
The moral is: Some musicians fix their own gear and most do not. I suggest that you do-- it makes a good story and you get to see how the world tries to minimize cost. I hope the M50 doesn't create any issues, but if it does, my screwdriver is ready!
