Buyer's advice?

3K. wrote:Clint, once I get to this stage, I'll do that.

Is there by any chance an overview on the available pad options? Had a look at mpcstuff.com, and I felt overwhelmed with too many options (lacking proper descriptions apart from their colour).
My 3K comes with dark grey pads which, I assume, are 3000 LE pads, but I'd prefer the bog standard (matching) grey type. From what I've found in this forum and on the net, there's no definitive guide as to which pads are still available for the 3K and what the differences are (apart from their colour). Would be good to know if the original Akai pads are still available (where?) and how they compare to aftermarket types; also, which pads are to be avoided.
Is there a general opinion on what advantage the so called fat pads offer, if any?

the original akai pads are the same as the aftermarket ones. the only difference is with the fat pads. i had them on an 2500 and never liked them. never considered putting those on my 3000. do your pads feel right? if yes and it is just the color, order the grey type you like and call it a day. give them some time to wear in, in terms of how they feel but the pad action should be the same.

Good to know, soundtech.

My MPC arrived today, now that the family's sleeping, I got around for a test drive. Quite disappointing though. The backlight's dim and needs to be replaced, Drum Pad 5 is dysfunctional (looks like the whole pad thing needs to be replaced?), Soft Key 1 tact switch needs to be replaced, Stereo Volume pot is scratchy, Note Variation slider is a bit sticky, the floppy drive is f%&$ed (Errors FF04/FF10, tried 19 diskettes, 10 of 'em new, no formatting nor saving possible) and the RAM is just 8MB.
To make it all worse, the smelly unit hints at a heavy smoker's studio. Even the rear jacks metal parts are stained from the nicotine. This looks like a lot of work, researching and sourcing parts from I dunno where to put it back into an adorable condition. At least it powers up and samples fine, so it seems. Couldn't test the IB-CRT (need a VGA cable) and the individual outs just yet.

Welcome to today's edition of eBay frolics
After negotiating with the kind seller, I got a refund for the spare parts. You could argue that he should've payed more attention to what he was selling (it seems he sold it for someone else, not knowing the real condition of this unit), but at least he's been cooperative. It's a pity there isn't an european shop for MPC spares, as postage and customs make buying in the US unattractive, thus I contacted Jazzcat just now in hope for the parts I need.

Jazzcat can't provide the parts I need.
I had my first retr0bright trial yesterday, sadly without any success and luckily without any damages. Reasons are likely to be: too little UV as the sun quickly went away and I couldn't move stuff after the gel was applied. It really seems to take a day or so, making some kind of UV lighting manadatory.

Apparently the plastic sides are factory painted and the yellowing appears where the paint has come off. Lacking a proper UV source, I do feel reluctant to take another go at it. Instead I ordered a couple of buttons, but those smaller grey, blue and white buttons are hard to source and at $5 each, I'd rather keep my yellow set.

Any chance of sharing some nice quality photo's of this machine?
Interested to put some images to your descriptions.

Use Flickr or summat and link to the images.

I can only offer quality pictures of all its buttons ready for the retr0bright treatment, and with the gel applied. Also, the large tact switch PCB before and after being washed and dried. The 3K itself is still dismantled, as I'm waiting for all parts to arrive, which sadly won't be before sometime next week I guess. So, unless you want to see its innards, it's just a pile of PCBs and stuff now.

The fat pads did not improve the action on my 1000 over the standard size with the cork sheets underneath. I ended up switching back. They really looked good though

Is there a way to recognize the type of pads without having both in front of you? I'd rather choose the original pads, which I bought at mpcstuff in original colour. Alas, they're still on their way.

Furthermore, it occurs to me that tapping those pads to full level requires quite a force (I know there's a Full Level button). Never had a MPC before this, so I can't compare.