Forum for all other samplers & synths such as Maschine, MVs, Akai S & Z series, Roland, Korg, OP-1, analog synths etc.
By JayTee41282 Sat Feb 22, 2014 10:04 pm
So my ASR-10 i bought worked for a while now it has a blank screen and when i push buttons Characters come up i read this is self test mode i took it to a local shop and was told it doesnt work cause a ribbon was crooked on the main board and it will not send the O.S so its shot unless i get a main board i then called Thesoniq and was told the shop doesnt know what there doing and he guarentees to fix it the problem is im in Baltimore MD and he is in San Jose CA so shipping will be sky high i can get a new main board and try that but dont wanna waste money Anyone had this problem or know how to repair please Help
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By JUKE 179r Sun Feb 23, 2014 1:44 am
I haven't had any problems with my ASR screen. If I were you (and if you are good with disassembling your gear) I'd open it up and recheck the ribbon cables for proper connection to the circuit boards.

I've got a few friends that sent their ASR's to Thesoniq (though it was costly to ship it) and got their ASR's returned fully functional. They swear by Thesoniq.
By JayTee41282 Sun Feb 23, 2014 2:34 am
Ive checked all the inside all ribbons all fuses everything is fine i think it probably is the main board the guy i took it to is pretty good he said that should fix it i just heard Thesoniq is the man shhipping there and back is probably more then the part
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By Star One Thu Aug 14, 2014 5:43 pm
Same story. Just got one on ebay. Worked in their photos, get it home. All LED's lit, no screen, displays characters across as pressing buttons. Reading A LOT online, so many people saying it's different causes. RAM, Fuses, Mainboard, Digital Board, Display Board, and some kinda board for the keyboard.

According to the service manual, if the letters move across the screen as you type it's saying
"the keypad/display is receiving power from the power supply but is not in proper communication with the digital board, the keypad/display board enters self-test mode"

I checked the connections on the digital board, removed it, put it back in. Just incase it was an issue with a loose connection.

It was shipped in a box half a size bigger then the keyboard with some busted up chunks of Styrofoam.

Image

So perhaps something got knocked loose. I'm going to try and check the display/keypad board while I wait on the seller to respond about it.

Image

There are so serious idiots out there, who don't understand what-so-ever on how to send gear.
By Clint Thu Aug 14, 2014 6:50 pm
No comfort to you StarOne, but...

No matter how well a keyboard is packed, the sender has no control over what happens in transit with the couriers. If a delicate, 20 year old synth/sampler is abused in transit, it is difficult to blame the sender when it arrives with issues.

Sender hands it to the courier,
courier loads it and returns to local depot then unloads it,
it is then loaded for transit to distribution hub where it is unloaded again,
it is then loaded and taken to local delivery depot where it is unloaded again,
it is then loaded for local delivery and delivered to you.

Who is responsible for any damage?

7 different people have handled the package by the time you sign for it.

FWIW, it happened to me when I bought my second ASR10, it arrived with two broken keys. I posted a tutorial with photos on how to open the ASR10 and replace the keys. It may be of use to you if you are brave enough to break out the toolkit. It begins on page 62 of Ensoniq ASR-10 help, for ASRonians

viewtopic.php?f=42&t=106526&start=915
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By Lampdog Thu Aug 14, 2014 7:24 pm
I would have bought a flight graded case with lots of cushion and included that in the price of the sale, why, because I KNOW exactly what could happen, it's heavy, and it's old.
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By Star One Thu Aug 14, 2014 8:42 pm
Clint wrote:
Who is responsible for any damage?

7 different people have handled the package by the time you sign for it.


I've had a lot of vintage gear shipped to me. I know how it works. Had stuff filed as "damaged in transit" with destroyed boxes. Items inside, were perfectly fine. No problem at all.

It's like this, if someone orders glass items, being fragile, and they ship it in a plastic bag, it's going to get destroyed. That's why I'm not reckless with shipping things.

There is a professional way to ship things, and one of no experience or thought about the fact it gets passed on by 7 people.
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By Lampdog Thu Aug 14, 2014 8:52 pm
And 7 is supposed to be a lucky number. :lol:
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By THE ADVERSARY Fri Aug 15, 2014 12:42 am
Well your picture doesn't show what appears to be damage from transit.
I would be more of the mindset that the unit had any issue prior to shipping or that the ASR just happen to fail at his time in it's life.
Was it shipped internationally?
Does the unit have SCSI?
Was it enough of a deal to consider finding the problem?
Should the unit just be a return to the seller?

The concept of damaged in transit is on the seller since he would have to refund your money and make a shipper claim.
What did the seller say?


StarOne wrote:
Clint wrote:
Who is responsible for any damage?

7 different people have handled the package by the time you sign for it.


I've had a lot of vintage gear shipped to me. I know how it works. Had stuff filed as "damaged in transit" with destroyed boxes. Items inside, were perfectly fine. No problem at all.

It's like this, if someone orders glass items, being fragile, and they ship it in a plastic bag, it's going to get destroyed. That's why I'm not reckless with shipping things.

There is a professional way to ship things, and one of no experience or thought about the fact it gets passed on by 7 people.
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By THE ADVERSARY Fri Aug 15, 2014 12:45 am
Lampdog wrote:I would have bought a flight graded case with lots of cushion and included that in the price of the sale, why, because I KNOW exactly what could happen, it's heavy, and it's old.

It's not heavy, it's very heavy. :lol:

I have a blue key, a purple key and a rack but what I really want is the 88 but it's just too d*mn heavy.
Every time I lift one of the keys I think about what if this was the 88. :(
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By Star One Fri Aug 15, 2014 2:37 pm

^The picture was not "damaged in transit". I was saying I've had gear shipped to me, one that took nearly a month, and the post office called to say it was damaged in transit. And the gear inside was fine, because it was packaged properly. It's not the ASR I was talking about, it was an example to proper packaging.

Yes it has SCSI. The seller and I worked it out. And he did agree he should have packaged it better. But also mentioned now "Sometimes it does that, you just have to turn it on and off again and it will come on". I've been trying that all day before he said that. Re-seating ram, checking all connections. Following the service manual and others with the same issue.

But he understood that he didn't list a known issue with it. So it did not happen in transit. But he's a very good man. After we worked it out, he's just covering the repairs which won't even cost that much. I found parts for way cheaper then what he sourced. He just felt like it wasn't worth taking back, because then he has to get it fixed, then try and sell it on. That's when he offered to repair.

Then we had an awesome 2 hour long conversation of just about everything xD Nice guy.

I know though, that if I just tossed something in a box and shipped it any distance, that I'm taking a huge risk of jacking it transit. Like if you have a business, you want to protect your assets, income included. So you make sure what you send does not get hurt.

But it turned out to have already been a problem, just never stated. He doesn't know much about this stuff, so just figured it was not a big enough deal to state from the start. So I don't fault him for it.
By Kevinmcnasty Wed Aug 02, 2017 7:54 am
My ASR 10 just did exactly what you're experiencing so I just left it on for about 10 minutes and switched it off then back on and now it works... You have to talk to it a little :hmmm:
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By JUKE 179r Sun Aug 06, 2017 8:56 pm
Always talk dirty to it. It turns it on.
Last edited by JUKE 179r on Sun Aug 06, 2017 10:09 pm, edited 1 time in total.