Home › Forums › Vintage EHX › 80s EH mini synthesizer

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  • January 2, 2009 at 12:03 am #77472
    danieldanger
    Participant

    3157335392_c2e0e95dcd_o.jpg

    way bigger than i thought it would be, i always assumed it was in the larger sized EH chassis. put a cassette tape in there for reference. for such a simple device it has a fairly large range of possible sounds. lots of sliders and switches. the actual keyboard isnt real keys, its like touching a painted metal sheet. membrane buttons? its strange, but works in this really wonky endearing way. then theres a little speaker and a single output. really barebones, but i like it. even though its seriously silly.

    though i gotta admit it sounds out of tune? and crankly. maybe i gotta open it up and use an air duster.

    for giggles, heres the manual..
    tinymediaempire.com/pedals/minisynth/IMG_5298.JPG
    tinymediaempire.com/pedals/minisynth/IMG_5299.JPG
    tinymediaempire.com/pedals/minisynth/IMG_5300.JPG
    tinymediaempire.com/pedals/minisynth/IMG_5301.JPG

    January 2, 2009 at 12:09 am #89960
    The EH Man
    Moderator

    There’s a rarer version of the Mini Synthesizer that has a built-in delay, a guitar input and 2 outputs: regular and echo. The neatest feature is a Glide bar on the keyboard, right above the keys. They don’t show up very often. I’ve only seen a 1 or 2 in the last few years.
    I’ll get some pics of mine soon and put them in an article on my site.

    January 2, 2009 at 12:12 am #89961
    danieldanger
    Participant

    what did the guitar input do? that sounds appealing.

    im curious about the dude on ebay who painted his pink and made a new “keyboard” for it, which he said made his work better. this one works pretty well, but theres definatly a wonky spot on one key.

    January 2, 2009 at 12:28 am #89962
    The EH Man
    Moderator
    Quote:
    what did the guitar input do? that sounds appealing.

    You know, I don’t think I’ve ever tried it. Guess I’ll have to now.

    Quote:
    im curious about the dude on ebay who painted his pink and made a new “keyboard” for it, which he said made his work better. this one works pretty well, but theres definatly a wonky spot on one key.

    The keys are kind of wonky anyway. If you feel up to it, you can remove the circuit board under the key foil, clean the board and foil and reassemble it. Not really a big job to do but it may make it work better. If any dirt gets between the foil and the circuit board it interferes with the triggering.
    Hadn’t seen the pink one.

    January 2, 2009 at 12:33 am #89963
    danieldanger
    Participant

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2b4M4_GLc6E&watch;_response

    thats the pink one. its a good watch. his seems to be triggering perfectly. said he reprinted the keyboard on some “foil board” or something.

    ill pull it apart, im curious anyways.

    January 2, 2009 at 12:48 am #89964
    The EH Man
    Moderator

    That’s a great video that really shows the range of sounds available.
    I saw one on ebay a few years ago that someone had interfaced to a real keyboard.

    January 2, 2009 at 2:15 am #89967
    danieldanger
    Participant

    well great, haha. so i opened it up, and literally did nothing but unscrew the circuit board, blow that out with a duster, and pull off the keyboard part and dust that. put it back together and now it wont make any noise at all. hmm.

    January 2, 2009 at 3:25 am #89971
    The EH Man
    Moderator
    Quote:
    well great, haha. so i opened it up, and literally did nothing but unscrew the circuit board, blow that out with a duster, and pull off the keyboard part and dust that. put it back together and now it wont make any noise at all. hmm.

    Make sure you didn’t break any of the wires to the keyboard.

    January 2, 2009 at 3:41 am #89972
    danieldanger
    Participant

    i dont see anything loose or broken, i was really careful with it.

    January 2, 2009 at 12:02 pm #89985
    The EH Man
    Moderator
    Quote:
    i dont see anything loose or broken, i was really careful with it.

    Since you did this on my advice, I’m going to allow you to ship it to me for a free repair. I’ll PM you the shipping address.

    January 2, 2009 at 9:29 pm #90014
    danieldanger
    Participant

    hey ron, thanks for the offer. i might have to take you up on that if i cant figure this out myself (as well as pick your brain on some other old EH things). but ultimately, i opened it, my bad. but id greatly appreciate any help.

    http://tinymediaempire.com/pedals/minisynth/
    i put up a couple high-res photos of the innards to see if maybe anyone can just eyeball something simple im just missing. as far as i can tell, no wires are disconnected, everything looks as if its where it should be. im curious what connects the metal printed sheet to the lower divided section of the keyboard, maybe something isnt triggering right. when i first plugged it in after reassembling it it made like 20 seconds of really bizarre noise and sqeezing it slightly changed the tone, but i unplugged it right quickly, so i didnt explore that any further. but the next time i plugged it in, and ive tried it with batteries, it doesnt make any noise. tapping the output jack with my finger creates a hum through the speaker, but thats about it.

    January 2, 2009 at 9:46 pm #90017
    The EH Man
    Moderator

    First thing to check: use a wire and short the 2 points on the pic below together (with the unit turned on). It should make a noise. By doing this you’re essentially pushing a key down. It doesn’t really matter which resistor in the row you short it to.
    This is also how you can hook up an external keyboard.

    January 2, 2009 at 9:51 pm #90018
    danieldanger
    Participant

    it in fact makes a tone. progress!

    January 2, 2009 at 10:10 pm #90021
    The EH Man
    Moderator
    Quote:
    it in fact makes a tone. progress!

    Functionally then, it’s fine. The problem is that there has to be a complete circuit to make a sound. If you look at the circuit side of the keyboard, you’ll see where the lead you connected to on the end comes through the board to a bare strip down the side. Solder a bare piece of wire (like a piece of resistor lead), about 1″ long, along this strip. When it’s reassembled the wire you soldered helps make the circuit complete. Make sure the nuts on that side are tight. I’ve done this several times in repairs.

    January 2, 2009 at 10:21 pm #90024
    danieldanger
    Participant

    http://tinymediaempire.com/pedals/minisynth/IMG_5294.jpg

    the one next to the crosshair?

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