Casio SA-1 & PT20

[sn7ke]

Woah.... zero mods installed, and now my Casio SA1 isnt working anymore?!
What could be wrong!

I cut the jumper wire for the volt drop, but when i connect em again and feed the casio with the adapter, i only hear a low bubbling noise. Eventually i will hear a crash sometimes. Normally i would hear 3 buttons pressed (somehow they are stuck on the board or whatever, cant release em but will not be hard i guess ) and then i could use the casio.

Ehrr...i tought maybe the ON switch wasnt connected so good, but i screwed the whole board to the casing, and everything looked steady and fitted...

What could i have done wrong, is the casio R.I.P...? lol

Bye!

[nochtanseenspecht]

hmm strange...a multimeter would be helpful for you...
hope you will fix it somehow..it's a real nice little bastard

[Signal:Noise]

If you've tried to instal teh deep crash mod, it's probably worth checking that you've not managed to accidentally solder up two pins, I did this andthe keyboard stopped working, but it was solved easily enough by filing out the bits of solder.

[sn7ke]

Well, i can only say i cut the jumper for the voltage crash. After that i screwed it of the top casing so i could chek the back, while the jumpers were linked again with two wires solderd.
After that, the Casio started tripping, making no sounds, and sometimes a crash sound. My adapter went dead after that, and on batteries it doesnt work anymore. I only rememberd poking around with a piece of metal at the solder points, but thats about it, i didnt forced anything, just gently touched

Is there a SA rerscue team? damn! i think its dead!

(and thanks no:signal, but i wasnt even up to that point yet! l)

I tried other adapters...but no signal or sparks or anything, could the power-routing or whatever be broke in the casio?

[sn7ke]

Update of the problem: (sorry i feel like bombing this topic!)

WHen i switch the CASIO SA 1 , and put my ear close to the speaker i hear a small, low ,buzing sound...
Thats about all the sound it makes...even when i press the keys. Nothing is bend yet.


Mmm...what could be broke

[Signal:Noise]

I've thought of a possible cause of the problem, when you soldered the pot across the wire, it's possible that you managed to move it out of contact with the circuit board and in doing so created a dry joint. Poke around with teh soldering iron and move things around when the solder's liquid.

[sn7ke]

Hi guys,

After leaving it alone for a couple of days, i managed to get it all working again. Somehow i had to solder a wire  from the small chip to the bigger one, but it works again so there you go.
I got the voltage drop working with a 470 ohm pod, i also tried it wirh a 1k pot (works)
however with both i can only turn the knob a few millimiter before the voltage already is too low. Afcrourse it makes cool crashing sounds, but you need to turn the knob with great precise and care. Not good for live work etc. On what does it depent? Lower /higher Ohm? Thanks to my lack of knowledge i have no clue!

(btw, bougt an Sa-5 today. First planning to kill/mod my SA-1. If i can cross out the "Kill" word, than my SA-5 will be bend Bending is cool!)

[Signal:Noise]

Lower is better for mor control.

[sn7ke]

Hi there!

Small update: My casio is up & running again, and i even installed a couple of mods already. It looked harder then it actually was!
I still have some small questions that I hope some of you can answer!

This guy: http://www.johannesson.dk/SA1_eng.htm
has a crash/glitch button, wich he has a second meter that controls the first one. You can control the intensity of the crash.
This seems pretty wicked, but how is it done? He  is using the Deep crash function
Can you solder a Potmeter between the Push to connect deep crash button? (wich let you control the intensity of the crash? – and if yes: what value?) Or is it done in another way

Another question goes about body contact points, I found a few buzzing points on the SA-1. When touching the soulder points directly, it works. But it doesn't work anymore after connecting a wire and some metal object. Even touching the wire doesn't make it buz. I have this feeling Im doing something stupid.. Directions are welcome!

Im also searching for points to create a dissortion switch. So far I only found a disortion bodypoint. The Casio in the link above has a dissortion switch

Third: Bought a Casio SA-5. Can you do different/exclusive mods to this, that differ from the SA-1? Hope so!

[Signal:Noise]

I did something similar to my sa-21 to get the deep crash working, you need to solder a really low value pot between the push button and the chip, and buy low I mean low 1K or less.

[sn7ke]

Ok , i noticed even 470 Ohm is a little bit too heavy for the crashes, you can only turn it up a quarter before the actuall crash comes....Im going to get some nice parts today, and continue bending!

[Signal:Noise]

Try combining resistors in parallel, if i remeber my a level physics correctly that will reduce the overall resistance.

[sn7ke]

Heh, ok how to do that, what is parallel? i still dont get all these technical stuff, but im defenitly willing to learn!
Btw: Casio SA-1 is finally done now i only need some spray paint

[andy_wheels]

i was bending an sa-5 yesterday. the voltage drop as seen in this thread for the sa-1 doesn't seem to work. i cut the wire (seemed to look the same as the sa-1) but it made no difference to the synth! it just kept on working!

hmmm.... most odd.

[sn7ke]

Chek http://www.natemc.com/news/?p=203 for a bend Sa-5 with some pics of the points etc.

What value pot did you use? I noticed 200 OHm works the best, probably lower if you wish to turn the know more.
If you used 1K or higher probably it will kill the voltage imideatly, you wont even hear a thing.
Connect 1 point to the right, and the other point to the TWO other pins left on the pot.

Ok hope this helped