Juno 106

[pablotf]

I have a chance of picking up a Juno 106 that's not working properly for little money. I've yet to see it/play it, but according to the seller the synth can't "hold any of its modes" and "doesn't make any musical sound." But apparently it turns on and makes a sound. I was just wondering, in general, how hard and expensive can it be to fix up one of these.

I understand this is a completely open ended question because anything could be wrong with it. I guess I'm just looking for other fixing/restoration experiences to kind of gauge if it'll be worth my time and money to pick this Juno up. I have pretty much no experience whatsoever with analog synths, but for $50 I'm thinking: why not?

Any help will be much appreciated.

Thanks,
Pablo

[joel hamilton]

Not sure how bad it would suck....

hey! my mom lives in PR! She lives in Vieques....

Anyway, maybe post in the DIY section. Those guys will help you more than me, for sure!

[pablotf]

Thanks, Joel. Also, your mother must be a very happy woman. Vieques is amazing. I wish I could live there myself.

Pablo

[ned]

i own a juno 60 with a flaky arpeggiator i've thought of having fixed, but unless you can repair these things yourself, it's going to be tough to find someone who will do it locally (depending on where you live) - and it's probably not worth the trouble to spend $100 in shipping (these things are heavy!) and $100 in repairs on a $50 keyboard.

BUT... if there is a local shop that can work on these things, i'd snag it for $50. if they can repair it - great, and if not, they can chop it up for you and you can easily double your money selling the parts on ebay.

the junos are awesome boards, so if you can get it repaired, you've made quite a deal.

[blakbeltjonez]

unless you knew exactly what to fix, i'd stay away from it. the usual 106 problems like a bad DCO or VCA/VCF chip are easy to fix once you have the part, but for a non-standard issue like the one you are describing it could be a black hole as far as tracking down the problem, and then there's no guarantee you could actually find the part (remember the Juno-106 is 23 years old now). lots of old analog chips and old logic/CPU stuff from back then have been discontinued, not to mention that Roland made a lot of proprietary parts.

[TapeOpHillary]

are you getting the 106 for, like, $100?
i would say that may be worth it, but only if you can find someone to help you repair it. they're not too crazy to find in good working condition, are they?

[pablotf]

Oh, I can get it for $50, unless someone else snags it before I do. I don't think I'll find a synth tech where I live (PR). It's very rare to find cool, "vintage" gear over here, and even rarer to find people who can repair it.

So, if I do get it, it'll be just because I was so happy to find one for sale locally. I do often see working Junos online for decent prices, but shipping charges to PR almost always kill the deal for me, especially with "oversized" items.

[apropos of nothing]

If its just fifty bucks, I would say it would be worthwhile simply as a parts machine.

[Milkmansound]

depends on how many VCA iC's are toasted.

think of it this way - its a 6 voice synth, at about $100 a voice to repair (parts only)

so if its got a dead voice, then its gonna cost $150 or so to repair it

if 2 are out, then its a parts machine which you can take the voices out of, and sell on ebay for $100 apiece tested.

if you go and replace one, another can die on you...

google juno VCA, you will find a lot of info (assuming this is the problem)

shit, for $50 I would just use it in mono mode!

[brontosaurus]

Its a gamble but I would buy it if I were you. probly wont cost more than 200 to repair and even then your still getting a good price for it.