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Hi folks
Some of you probably know me (by name if not by reputation), others
might be seeing me for the first time. My name is Scott Rider, aka the Old Crow. I've been doing synthesizer design and repair work for many years, with a particular emphasis on the Yamaha CS line, as well as some of their digital instruments. I maintain the website where I try to explain in relatively simple terms what is involved in opening, inspecting and repairing CS-80 problems. In recent years, however, I've been concentrating on how to construct the equivalent circuits of various Yamaha custon ICs, with the goal of making circuit boards useful for CS-50/60/80 repairs that work and sound like the originals, just without the problems of trying to track down the getting-harder-to-find parts. Thus far I have been able to create the "standard parts" equivalents to the envelope generators, filters and VCA chips. I am currently working on the VCO (I have a working prototype the reproduces the 'flawed sawtooth' exactly). I've also made replacement SH and TKC boards. Designed but not yet boarded is a new KAS (key assigner) designed to replace the original KAS, and add a few features such as integral MIDI. Finally, thinking of it to be of some interest, I have also been breaking open the epoxy-potted NE submodule series as used in the GX-1 (and [C]SY-1, [C]SY-2) in order to re-create those voice elements. Thus far I have the highpass, bandpass and lowpass filters figured out. The NE11000 VCO module is next. Some info available here: Regards, Crow /**/ |
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Sex in Tolex
My CS80 is SER-NO 1301 but the poor girl is not working at all.
Funny really when you think I restore them all the time that my one is a big pile of bits in the corner of my room awaiting my attention. But there is a good reason for this, I have a dream. My dream is to take this colection of bits and turn it into a super 80. The plans are drawn up, the money is amassing slowly and with luck there will be a KSR web site showing what is happening as it happens. The first thing to do is to build a new wood case for the keyboard and a case for the panel controls. Then adding all the KSR upgrades like the unison, cv/gate, cv-initial/cv-after for all eight banks, 19" rack mount psu, and a lage collection of moduels from MOTM or Synthersizer.com. I am hopeing that I can tap off from the CS80's main rack certain functions and connect them to jack sockets on the front panel too intergrate with the rest of the modular to make one big kick arse polysynth. It would be nice to get the wiggle control onto the keyboard as well like the GX1 has but I don't think that is going to happen unless Chris (Old Crow) a synth technician who I respect greatly can give me some insight on how the GX1 does the wiggle on the keyboard :) I must say though that this is not a business venture but simply a project to see how far the control of the CS80 can be taken. For me the playing control of the 80 is what makes this baby so sex in tolex. I am open to any idears or comments on this project. Till next time. |
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New file uploaded to yamahacs80
Hello,
This email message is a notification to let you know that a file has been uploaded to the Files area of the yamahacs80 group. File : /Doctor Who Theme (1980 version).mp3 Uploaded by : unfrostedpoptart <david@...> Description : Doctor Who Theme - lots of CS80 in early '80s seasons' soundtracks You can access this file at the URL: To learn more about file sharing for your group, please visit: Regards, unfrostedpoptart <david@...> |
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New file uploaded to yamahacs80
Hello,
This email message is a notification to let you know that a file has been uploaded to the Files area of the yamahacs80 group. File : /07 - Over the Top.mp3 Uploaded by : unfrostedpoptart <david@...> Description : Another rare one: from Cozy Powell's 'Over the Top' - Rock version of 1812 Overture! You can access this file at the URL: To learn more about file sharing for your group, please visit: Regards, unfrostedpoptart <david@...> |
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Re: cs80 serial " i dont know since its in repairs" reporting for latrine duty
Does this particular CS80have a yellow mark underneath one key? If so, its
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Thighpaulsandras old one which once got tossed off its stand by Julian Cope (the Archdrude must be a lot stronger than he appears...). Tim took it to a repair shop (a big one) and never heard of his CS-80 again for years. Hes hoping to get it back some day or other, though... Theres an even better rumour around "CS-80s I didnt get"... a friend of mine spotted one at a fleamarket in the back of some pick-up of a Turkish trader... he asked 150 DM (less than 70 US$) for that organ. This particular friend also picked up a Moog 12 Stage Phaser for 150 bucks at the same fleamarket, and a Bohm Soundlab... Caveat emptor. Buyer beware. Stephen "Human beings are a disease, the cancer of this planet, youre a plague. And we are the cure." (Agent Smith / Matrix) Visit the official [ramp] website at www.doombient.com ----- Original Message -----
From: "sir_analogue" <barbara_Streisand@...> To: <yamahacs80@...> Sent: Sunday, August 15, 2004 7:30 PM Subject: [yamahacs80] cs80 serial " i dont know since its in repairs" reporting for latrine duty hi there |
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cs80 serial " i dont know since its in repairs" reporting for latrine duty
sir_analogue
hi there
my name is david im 29 and i like coockies and the color blue. well now that we've gone throug that, i've wanted a cs80 ever since i bought my first vangelis album and anyone who talks crap about the bladerunner soundtrack WILL become very very intimate with the heavy duty skull cracking legs of my rhodes 73. So a fair warning ;) i've been looking for a cs80 for about 9/10 years before i found one i could actually aford. Although it is in dead mint condition cosmetically, it has been in repair for almost 1,5 years now......dont ask but since im short on cash and space it doesnt bother me that much. it also has the kenton midi kit, now all i need is some xtra polyph. aftertouch keyboards, why doesnt anyone make a decent synth with that feature anymore? its so brilliant and with all this dsp power going around it shouldnt be too hard? anyone in the vintage department i also own a cs60 and a cs30 a rhodes 73 mk1, vp330 and an elka "service nightmare" synthex. which is good fun. and some digital synths. I have owned a poly6, ms20, vk7, roland jupiter 8 and some other stuff but nothing beats the cs80. its so perfect, when i stil had it here i used to hug it and pet it ...well i dont need to tell you that. But i have a story to share, just before getting my cs80 from the UK via a hellish journey, i told everyone i knew what i was looking for and keep their eyes open. So one day my local snack bar owner comes to me with a stroy that some old excentric rich guy from around the block died and his son was getting rid of dad's gadgets including "a very heavy, big and knob infested yamaha that no one seemed to understand" hmmmm....... so i said does it have a label, a name? Yes yamaha cs800 or something! So what does he want for it? well around 500 dollar (mind you going rate for a mint cs80 was 2000 pounds!) so after thanking satan for answering my prayers i made an appointment for the very next day. Sunrise...im happy.. bouncing all over the place only to hear that some french guy came that very night and took it with him.... i now hate the french...whats the moral of the story??? Never trust satan! and the french! i had to share that frustration with you guys, sorry 'bout that He krs that mod sounds pretty sweet what are your plans with that? best david |
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Bunch of new members!
A bunch of new members in the group this morning, including
Christopher Rider/Oldcrow! Welcome! For those who deal with the group via email, don't forget to hit the web version at , where you can see the archives (all 16 messages!), the Link page, the Files page (right now just one Eddie Jobson/Zinc tune), and fill out the exciting Database list of your gear. David |
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Re: CS-80 #1585 reporting for duty....
This reminds me of something I learned when speaking to Gerd Drogemuller,
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formerly the head honcho of Yamaha CS-80 distribution in Germany: Some power supllies on the CS-80 tend to create odd voltages that can fry the entire machine. Something to check out, I think, even though he pointed out that this bug occured only with the earliest machines and actually is no issue to get worried about. Stephen "Human beings are a disease, the cancer of this planet, youre a plague. And we are the cure." (Agent Smith / Matrix) Visit the official [ramp] website at www.doombient.com ----- Original Message -----
From: "Quazimodo" <noddyspuncture@...> To: <yamahacs80@...> Sent: Sunday, August 15, 2004 1:09 AM Subject: [yamahacs80] CS-80 #1585 reporting for duty.... Hi Gang. I'm relatively new here, but we all are really aren't we? My names Tom, from the UK. I own CS-80 #1585. Bought it around 1986 for 250 UKP....;^) It is pure sex on chrome legs. It stays in my bedroom and has been in tune ever since I went through the procedure shortly after getting it... was it really 18 years ago? (Managed to get hold of the service manual from Japan as well) I've only ever had the one problem with it. About a year after getting this baby, it just blew a fuse and went silent ever now and then. A strange fault that was quite hard to track down. Eventually, (after a few hundred fuses) I found that whenever I pressed the highest Bb - POOF - off it went. There is a cct board right underneath the keyboard assembly, and it has a row of those little blue 'tantalum' capacitors - one associated with every key. Well, the top Bb one was short circuit. If ever yours has a similar fault, and it's quite un-nerving I can tell you, you'll know where to look. Cheers for now. TOM Yahoo! Groups Links |
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Re: CS-80 #1650 here
Mike & Tom & others,
thanks for the input. I'd appreciate it if you clicked on the Database page, clicked on 'CS80s in the world', clicked on 'Add Record', and put in your info. I think it's set up that anyone can add records. Please let me know if you have a problem or if you have any suggestions for changes to the fields. David --- In yamahacs80@..., Mike Fisher <hciassociates@y...> wrote: I have CS-80 serial #1650. Purchased about a year and |
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CS-80 #1650 here
I have CS-80 serial #1650. Purchased about a year and
a half ago. This CS has a full MIDI (in) implementation - it responds to poly aftertouch and everything. Pretty neat. I've tuned it a couple of times, using the strobe mode of a Korg digital tuner. Basically the tuning is stable, but I wouldn't say it's perfect. I moved it from one end of the house to the other (on a rolling rack... I didn't have anyone else around at the time to help) and it's been in need of a minor tuning tweak since then... it's still quite playable but off enough to annoy me a little. However, anyone who's tuned one of these knows why I've been putting it off... Cosmetically this CS is very good. Some of the tolex on the bottom is scratched up, but everything topside is in great shape. And the pitch ribbon works just fine. I need to get it to my tech to fix a minor problem with the MIDI implementation, but again those who have moved a CS know why I've been putting that off too. Since I've had it I've used it on a number of projects, including a remix for Sophie B. Hawkins (track #13 on her new album 'Wilderness' in case anyone's interested). Every once in a while I think about selling it - after all, it does take up a ton of space, is hard to move, etc. etc. But when I play the ol' bastard, I usually forget about all of that. The CS sound is definitely in a class of its own. I've A/B'd it with the Arturia CS-80V and found that while the software emulation does do a pretty decent job of capturing the overall flavor of the CS filters, there's just nowhere near enough depth/low end/balls/whatever to call it a CS "equivalent". So I'll just have to stick with the real thing. Mike __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? New and Improved Yahoo! Mail - 100MB free storage! |
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Re: Technician
--- In yamahacs80@..., "kent_spong" <kent_spong@h...>
wrote: It has come to my attention that in the last year or so I havefound that no one in the U.K. is restoring CS80's.Kent - welcome to the group. I know you'll be a very valuable member! With all the new upgrades comming soon from KSR tohave got unison on your 80. Yep all 16 osc playing together,This sounds great! What is KSR? Wild guess: Kent Spong Research? Is there a website? When will this be out? I thought of doing something similar, but like some other polysynths (A6? Mono/Poly?) have: hit one key, all 8 voices in unison, hit 2, get 4 & 4, etc. It would be nice to have a mode locking it in mono, maybe with choices of priority (high note, low note, last note). There is alot of people going around saying that 80's go outtune once done, only the one's that were not tuned correctly go out ofI totally agree. I drives me nuts reading all the articles about how unstable it is. One of the big advantages of using linear VCO, instead of exponential, is better stability, since the exponential convertor is where most of the error pops in. Of course, it also lets you bend notes down to DC!! David |
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Technician
Hi all,
It has come to my attention that in the last year or so I have found that no one in the U.K. is restoring CS80's. Only two other people in the world at the moment will even look at an 80 one being Kevin Lightner although he told me that he don't like working on them much, the other being The Old Crow how is very good at doing 80's But I can say with hand on heart that no one in the world does more to an 80 than me. With all the new upgrades comming soon from KSR to make these baby's even better than they were plus the full restoration work that I do already. For example how many of you have got unison on your 80. Yep all 16 osc playing together, it will fracture a cows pelvis from 800 yards away I can tell you. I love the CS80 with all my being, always did and always will, I love comming up with new ways to make them sound better and play like they should. Yes it true you can get one for a couple of grand but every time it will be almost unplayable and I shuld know I've seen 18 cs80's this year alone that cost about that much and all of them needed exstensive repairs so that there new owners could use them. There is alot of people going around saying that 80's go out of tune very easily and that is a common problem with them. Well they are talking out of there arse because every 80 will say in tune once done, only the one's that were not tuned correctly go out of tune every three days. Till next time KSR |
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CS-80 #1585 reporting for duty....
Hi Gang.
I'm relatively new here, but we all are really aren't we? My names Tom, from the UK. I own CS-80 #1585. Bought it around 1986 for ?250 UKP....;^) It is pure sex on chrome legs. It stays in my bedroom and has been in tune ever since I went through the procedure shortly after getting it... was it really 18 years ago? (Managed to get hold of the service manual from Japan as well) I've only ever had the one problem with it. About a year after getting this baby, it just blew a fuse and went silent ever now and then. A strange fault that was quite hard to track down. Eventually, (after a few hundred fuses) I found that whenever I pressed the highest Bb - POOF - off it went. There is a cct board right underneath the keyboard assembly, and it has a row of those little blue 'tantalum' capacitors - one associated with every key. Well, the top Bb one was short circuit. If ever yours has a similar fault, and it's quite un-nerving I can tell you, you'll know where to look. Cheers for now. TOM |
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Proper English (sort of...)
开云体育Hi folks,
?
apparently, my last email got a little scrambled
up... here it is in proper English for the archives:
?
Hi Pat,
I think it was Vintage Synthesizers by Mark Vail where you came across that number. I?m quite sure most of them still exist in one form or the other, but -- alas -- some might in fact have been taken to the dumpsters (my former tech took loads of Farfisas to a local dumpster, and one day he even threw away a small synthesizer in a suitcase). As for Vangelis, he had nine CS-80s, if I remember correctly what Raphael Preston told me. Vangelis used to have studios in London (which was later defunct, then one in Paris (that Glass House on top of his house which some neighbours disliked), Rome (Hotel), Athens and New York. If you take into consideration that Vangelis got himself one of the first production models and had it shipped?from Japan through Russia by train?(Transsib) you can be sure that he owned?at least one, if not more CS-80s that were in no way temperature-stabilized. He sure replaced them with more reliable ones later on as soon as those were available. Out of these nine, one was borrowed to Suzanne Ciani (I guess she has returned it in the meantime).?Somewhere on the net, there?s a nice picture with Vangelis playing two CS-80s stacked on top of each other. I sure wouldn?t hesitate to gut a 50 or 60 for spares. Stephen ?
?
?
"Human beings are a disease, the cancer of this
planet, you?re a plague. And we are the cure." (Agent Smith /
Matrix)
?
Visit the official [?ramp] website at |
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Re: New tables in Database
David Evans
On Sat, Aug 14, 2004 at 09:15:40AM +0200, wavecomputer360 wrote:
I sure wouldnt hesitate to gut a 50 or 60 for spares.You should get one anyway. The -50 in particular is a wodnerful synth with a different "feel" to the -80. Not to slag the -60; I've just not used one much. -- David Evans dfevans@... Ph.D. Candidate, Computer/Synth Junkie University of Waterloo "Default is the value selected by the composer Ontario, Canada overridden by your command." - Roland TR-707 Manual |
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Re: Technician
开云体育HI Richard,
?
that?s a good idea bI won?t get to England before
next year, if at all (we might be playing a concert there), and I don?t know how
long such a repair would take. IF I went to England back and forth two times to
deliver and collect the synth plus theservice charges... ugh, that might easily
get me another CS somewhere here. Which doesn?t work properly, either, but
that?s adifferent story 8)...
?
Kent Spong isn?t a former BBC technician, is he?
Has anybody dealt with KEith Kniveton in the past? Peter Forrest seems to be
rather fond of his servicing skills.
?
Thanks anyway.
?
"Human beings are a disease, the cancer of this planet, you?re a plague.
And we are the cure." (Agent Smith / Matrix)
?
Visit the official [?ramp] website at
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Re: New tables in Database
Hi Pat,
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Show quoted text
I think it was Vintage Synthesizers by Mark Vail where you came across that number. Im quite sure most of them still exist one form or the other, but -- alas -- some might in fact have been taken to the dumpsters (my former tech took loads of Farfisas to a local dumpster, and one day he even threw away a small synthesizer in a suitcase). As for Vangelis, he had nine CS-80s, if I remember correctly what Raphael Preston told me. Vangelis used to have studios in London (which was later defunc(that Glass House on top of his house which some neighbours disliked), Rome (Hotel), Athens and New York. If you take into considethat Vangelis got himself one of the first production models and shipped from JApan through Russia (Transsib) you can be sure that he at least one, if not more CS-80s that were in no way temperature-stabilized. He sure replaced them with more reliable ones later on as soon as those were available. Somewhere on the net, theres a nice picture with Vangelis playing two CS-80s stacked on top of each other. I sure wouldnt hesitate to gut a 50 or 60 for spares. Stephen "Human beings are a disease, the cancer of this planet, youre a plague. And we are the cure." (Agent Smith / Matrix) Visit the official [ramp] website at www.doombient.com ----- Original Message -----
From: <enmach@...> To: <yamahacs80@...> Sent: Friday, August 13, 2004 11:15 PM Subject: Re: [yamahacs80] New tables in Database David,(like the Jupiter 8). I can no longer remember where I came by this info, sorry. For whatever reason, it seems like Yamaha is determinedly mum on the subject of their obsolete lines. hundred of them have fallen victim to 'dumpster' syndrome (too old/too heavy/too expensive/acting too flakey to be worth moving and repairing). I once read that Vangelis bought an additional half dozen for spare parts. I think this is somewhat exaggerated - he may have had residences/studios in a few cities/countries, far apart, and wanted access to the -80 in each. Maybe one or two were for spares. Maybe this is completely apocryphal. Would be great if someone who actually knew would speak up. has specified a dodgy -50 or -60 as 'organ donor'. "unfrostedpoptart" <david@...> writes: I'm figuring out what you can do in a Yahoo Group. I created a table |
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Re: New tables in Database
David,
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I've long been under the impression that only 2000 of these were made (like the Jupiter 8). I can no longer remember where I came by this info, sorry. For whatever reason, it seems like Yamaha is determinedly mum on the subject of their obsolete lines. From some of the comments I've seen over the years, I'm betting a few hundred of them have fallen victim to 'dumpster' syndrome (too old/too heavy/too expensive/acting too flakey to be worth moving and repairing). I once read that Vangelis bought an additional half dozen for spare parts. I think this is somewhat exaggerated - he may have had residences/studios in a few cities/countries, far apart, and wanted access to the -80 in each. Maybe one or two were for spares. Maybe this is completely apocryphal. Would be great if someone who actually knew would speak up. Concerning the 'spares' issue, comments along these lines I've ever seen has specified a dodgy -50 or -60 as 'organ donor'. Pat In a message dated 8/13/2004 4:48:11 PM Eastern Daylight Time, "unfrostedpoptart" <david@...> writes:
I'm figuring out what you can do in a Yahoo Group. I created a table |
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New tables in Database
I'm figuring out what you can do in a Yahoo Group. I created a table
on the Database Page. Anyone should be able to add records to put in info about CS80s (and related) they own. It would be great to build up a good list of what's out there! From what I've read, there were maybe a few thousand CS80s built. Anyone have a better idea? Any guesses as to how many are still alive? David |
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Re: Hi
开云体育Hi Stephen ? I use a top CS80 restoration guy in the UK. So if you are able to get yours to England then why not contact the following: ? Name: Kent Spong Email: kent_spong@... ? Kent has restored 20 x CS80’s for me which I have sold mainly into the professional domain in the last 12 months. ? Regards ? Richard Lawson
Tel: +44 (0) 1189 472474 Mobile: 07986 470853 ? ? -----Original Message-----
From: wavecomputer360 [mailto:wavecomputer360@...] Sent: 12 August 2004 10:35 To: yamahacs80@... Subject: [yamahacs80] Hi ? Hi folks, ? just wanted to introduce myself, my name is Stephen Parsick, I?m from Germany and I?ve been a avid CS-80 user for years. I purchased my CS-80 in 2000 from a studio musician in France who was about to retire to Australia (and would have?taken his CS to a dumpster, hadn?t there been some buyer for it). My CS is #1791, and apart from minor issues it plays well and looks great. Does anybody know a courageous technician in Germany who wouldn?t be afraid of touching a CS-80? ? Regards, ? Stephen. ? ? "Human beings are a disease, the cancer of this planet, you?re a plague. And we are the cure." (Agent Smith / Matrix) ? Visit the official [?ramp] website at
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