New buttons for MPC3000?

Hey all,

So today i copped a very well worn MPC3000 form a friend of mine who has used the shit out of it for the last 12 years. Trust when i say alot of material has been pushed out of this machine. I got it for a really good deal as he has moved onto a MPC1000 for portability reasons.

I want to replace all the buttons and tact switches out, as alot of buttons are broken or missing. All the tacks switches work, but I should replace them when i have it open anyways.

Now im wondering, where do i get say 45 of these little buttons and the one large button that is to the right of the main screen button (its missing so i dont know what its for) from? He had just replaced the transport buttons and tact switches 2 years ago just before he started the switch tot he 1k.

I looked on MPCstuff.com and on VST service and cant seem to find the small buttons. Only small buttons i see are for the 2k and up.

Anyone know where i can get a full set of the small replacement buttons from? I could care less if they are the orignal colors for their slots, just all white or blue or whatever would be good.


Oh and when loading off the ZIP drive, should it be making this weird squealing noise threw the headphones?
Thanks

thefirehooligan wrote:
Anyone know where i can get a full set of the small replacement buttons from? I could care less if they are the orignal colors for their slots, just all white or blue or whatever would be good.

Don't rely on what their website say. Call them up as they may not have them in stock but can special order them. Don't forget about calling Forat and Armen as well.

thefirehooligan wrote:
Oh and when loading off the ZIP drive, should it be making this weird squealing noise threw the headphones?
Thanks

Make sure the drive is attached to the case properly. It should be screwed in very tight, if there's any gap it may cause a ground bounce causing the noise you are hearing

Sorry i should be more specific, the ZIP in a ZIP100plus external. I havent checked to see if its coming out the outputs besides the headphones. Its not a huge deal, its like a whine almost not a killer noise.

VST has replacement buttons..... $5 each. So a full set is like $250 US plus shipping and conversion to Canadian dollars.
Im waiting to hear back from Forat. Im going to drop a line to Armen as well, almost forgot about him.
I kind of wonder if maybe a place like mosher or Digikey has that part is stock as well.

I did find the buttons in a set of 3 for $12 on MPC-stuff, but in their picture of where they fit, the 4 softkeys under the LCD and the - and + buttons are highlighted. These are all broken or missing on my machine. Does anyone know if they are actually the same buttons or are they in fact different then the rest? (From the outside they look the same, butI cant tell what they look like inside)

I think $250 is a little much for some buttons. I paid $100 more then that for the MPC, Zip drive and like 50 ZIP disks.

Thanks very much for your response.

Rob

well you got a great deal for $350 if the MPC functions!! The Buttons are all the same size and clip into the same hole layout on the PCB underneath so Yes you are good with that.

Bruce Forat can sell you the small tact switches you need, I bought a dozen when i got my MPC as some were shot and you had to really push hard to make a connection. While i was in there i took off all the buttons and scrubbed them clean of the grime and dirt so they look much better, plus i did some LED change outs from Red to Blue Regardless if the cost was $250 for new buttrons getting that investment back wouldn't be an issue at all if they are all replaced! Even $600 for a 3000 is darn cheap!!

I just wanted to make sure they are all the same. Im going to wait and see if Bruce emails me back about the buttons. If he has the tact switches and i can get a good deal on all the buttons and switches from one spot ill buy them. If not ill buy the buttons from someone and the tact switches from mosher

It is a good deal, its just some tact switches dont work all the time and i have to press hard to make them work and 1/3 of the buttons are broke or missing.

When all the parts arrive im taking it apart, soldering in the new tacts, changing the backlight foil, painting the chassis (having a custom graf logo done as well) and my dad has the measurements to make me some wood side and front panels.

should have her all done up, looking, and most importantly functioning good again within a few weeks.

thefirehooligan wrote:VST has replacement buttons..... $5 each. So a full set is like $250 US plus shipping and conversion to Canadian dollars.
Im waiting to hear back from Forat. Im going to drop a line to Armen as well, almost forgot about him.
I kind of wonder if maybe a place like mosher or Digikey has that part is stock as well.

You may have a difficult time finding a second source for the buttons. Unless the price has gone up tremendously, you may be mistaken in the price for the buttons. When I fixed mine on my 3000, it was something like $6.00 per row of 3 buttons -- not per button.

You will find the tact switches cheaper at a supplier such as Mouser. There is a link for the switches in the sticky at the top.

I hope it is all going well on the upgrades, I cleaned my unit up and replaced LED's and tact switches as soon as I recieved the 3000 in the mail! Where did you order the backlight el-foil from just out of curiosity? I have one from the German place from about 10 years ago i just put in mine but was also thinking about trying a different color to get a bit more contrast.

Good suggestion on Mouser or other electronics supplier for the tact switches in bulk. I do alot of electronics building Mic pre's and compressors EQ's etc and i just spaced it forgetting that the tact switch isn't anything special to Akai and can be bought anywhere really!

Sorry if its a bit off the topic but still might be helpful as he is doing a rebuild on the MPC3000. Do you know of what is done for the Output Boost Mod for the 3000? I have a few MPC3000's on my bench at the moment and 1 of them is Painted / customized by Bruce so it MIGHT have this mod done to it but i need to look closely and see!


feel free to hit me up if you need any help along the way and def take the before and after pictures!

MPCHunter wrote:

thefirehooligan wrote:VST has replacement buttons..... $5 each. So a full set is like $250 US plus shipping and conversion to Canadian dollars.
Im waiting to hear back from Forat. Im going to drop a line to Armen as well, almost forgot about him.
I kind of wonder if maybe a place like mosher or Digikey has that part is stock as well.

You may have a difficult time finding a second source for the buttons. Unless the price has gone up tremendously, you may be mistaken in the price for the buttons. When I fixed mine on my 3000, it was something like $6.00 per row of 3 buttons -- not per button.

You will find the tact switches cheaper at a supplier such as Mouser. There is a link for the switches in the sticky at the top.

I found the tact switches from Mouser, and they are dirt cheap. I just ment say if Forat had the full set of buttons and gave me a decent price on the tact switches i would just buy it all at once instead of making multiple purchases. It would be easier because i dont have a credit card, and live in Canada. I'll just get one of those pre-paid visa cards and do it that way i guess.

I just emailed VST to see if their price of $5 was per button or per row of 3. MPC-stuff's price of $12 is per row of 3, so if VST is per button, MPC-stuff is cheaper by $45 for the whole set. That difference easily pays for the tact switches.

Where is the best place to get the backlight foil? I push the button down and the backlight doesn't come on, and the machine is 12 years old so id guess its toast.

Another good point brought up by Eastwood: What is involved in the output boost? Could i do it myself, im pretty handy with a soldering iron as i work as a audio video installer im just not good with electronics building. If someone say said you need these parts, put together in this order and soldered to here and here I could do it. If not ill just wait and send my machine to Bruce later on.

Thanks again for all your help, now back to chopping sample on this beast with buggered tact switches and bad buttons, it makes for sore pinky fingers!

Rob

yeah i think just getting the switches from mouser would be the best way. Shoot me an email anyway I might be placing an order to mouser pretty soon anyway if that helps. I need some parts for other Mic Preamp projects i am working on...

the El-Foil for the backlight i bought from this place a long time ago and plan on getting a few more as i have 2 units that need new backlights.

Here is the main page and price list, you want the top one "Foil Type 1" cost's 25,EUR or about $34 US according to todays exchange rates on google...

http://www.midi-rakete.de/eng/elfolie.htm
http://www.midi-rakete.de/eng/preise.htm

I think Bruce would match a price if you told him you would rather just buy it all from him and stated what they are asking at the other MPC places. He is a nice guy and can answer questions if you catch him on the phone even.

I have been trying to track down a "real" professional mod for the output boost, If i can find anything I will let you know or vise versa!

I was just looking at VST and on there online site they do not even list the buttons for the MPC3000! Maybe did you call them to ask and got the $5 price? I think $4 a button is hight as well, maybe a bulk discount would be an ok thing to get? I wouldn't mind getting some of the LE purple buttons or even the grey for mine...

Also another thing, have you had any luck tracking down a Slider Cap for the 3000? I see VST has one with a blue line that isn't the exact one but will fit... kinda crap as i would like the real part for this unit i am fixing up too.

I emailed them to see if they stocked the 3000 buttons. They have like 60 some purple ones from the LE and 20ish grey i think he said.

VST?

VSTService.com - another good MPC parts supplier.

Right- I know about VST, just curious who hooligan emailed-

thefirehooligan wrote:I emailed them to see if they stocked the 3000 buttons. They have like 60 some purple ones from the LE and 20ish grey i think he said.

Is that who you emailed?

Sorry, yes I emailed VST and thats the estimation they gave me on how many they had in stock of each color. They want $5 per button, and MPC-stuff want $12 per row of 3. VST and MPC-stuff said the buttons are all the same and will mount in all slots