2 Noisy Studer 169s - Fix it myself or hire someone to fix?

[sad_leg]

Hey guys, first post here, so forgive me if any of these questions are old news, but couldn't find anything recent on the subject and I heard you guys are the experts.

In a stroke of exceptional luck, a family friend of mine who has engineered for many, many years has loaned me quite a lot of valuable vintage gear, which has helped enormously in my production/engineering work. He's entirely handed over his two Studer 169s to me-- both have about half of the channels still distortion-free, but the clear channels are very noisy and it is almost unusable on a proper recording. The actual quality of the pres and EQs are of course still perfect, but through research I hear it would need to be thoroughly looked at and maybe have some parts swapped along with recapping. One of the power supplies has died as well.

I have the time and tools to learn to fix this myself, as I'd prefer to learn to maintain my own kit, especially if they have the benefit of all-discreet components. I just don't know if that's a smart idea, considering it would be my first electronics project! It becomes even MORE complex considering that I'd like to do some modifications to allow for proper outputs, but I hear it is pretty smartly designed for modification.

Anyone have any insight on maintaining these units? I've read everything there is to read about it online, but I find it hard to comprehend much of it. Anything to read or watch that would help me learn to fix this sort of stuff? I wouldn't mind taking it to someone to fix one if it really is biting off more than I can chew, but I assume it's quite pricey, and I haven't been able to find anyone in the LA or Orange County area who is willing to fix/modify it. If only I could afford to ship it both ways to all those European guys who repair Studers.

Thanks for the help! Once they're fixed up, I'll let you all bus your mixes through the full 16 tracks, don't worry B^)

[winky dinglehoffer]

Is it a constant noise? White noise or 60 Hz hum? Sporadic pops? Does it change as you move pots/faders?

Probably the first/easiest thing to do is to clean pots, switches, & connectors. Even just exercising pots and switches can make a big difference, if that's where things are noisy.

[digitaldrummer]

I just did a deep cleaning on a little Mackie mixer (lots of scratchy and intermittent pots). The only reason I mention this is that you can now get the cleaning supplies at most Home Depots. clean it out good, let it dry, then spray the lubricant in the pots (as best as you can) or faders. Let it dry and clean up any residual and voila!

CRC QD contact cleaner - https://www.homedepot.com/p/CRC-QD-11-o ... /202262505

CRC 2-26 lubricant - https://www.homedepot.com/p/CRC-CRCX-2- ... /100398344

[cornsound]

First off, congrats on a pretty sweet sounding score. I have used my 169 for almost 20 years as a front end and it's been fantastic.

Seeing how the channels are discreet/modular, and assuming both are the same model, is it feasible to simply take out the noisy channels from one 169, and swap them with the good channels from the other, so you end up with at least one complete and quiet 169? You can keep the bad channels around for spares, fix them, experiment with them, flip them for parts, etc.

If not, I find it hard to believe that in Socal there isn't anybody around who can work on these....do you have manuals/schematics?

[sad_leg]

Is it a constant noise? White noise or 60 Hz hum? Sporadic pops? Does it change as you move pots/faders?

Probably the first/easiest thing to do is to clean pots, switches, & connectors. Even just exercising pots and switches can make a big difference, if that's where things are noisy.

It's a constant white noise. Just very high noise floor. I've tried doing some recordings through it and it's very very audible, even with a real hot signal. Might be good for me to start with cleaning the pots and switches, but there's not much crackle, surprisingly.

[sad_leg]

I just did a deep cleaning on a little Mackie mixer (lots of scratchy and intermittent pots). The only reason I mention this is that you can now get the cleaning supplies at most Home Depots. clean it out good, let it dry, then spray the lubricant in the pots (as best as you can) or faders. Let it dry and clean up any residual and voila!

CRC QD contact cleaner - https://www.homedepot.com/p/CRC-QD-11-o ... /202262505

CRC 2-26 lubricant - https://www.homedepot.com/p/CRC-CRCX-2- ... /100398344

I'll definitely start here once I get to opening it up. Can only help. It's nice that cleaning agents for this stuff is so available now.

[sad_leg]

First off, congrats on a pretty sweet sounding score. I have used my 169 for almost 20 years as a front end and it's been fantastic.

Seeing how the channels are discreet/modular, and assuming both are the same model, is it feasible to simply take out the noisy channels from one 169, and swap them with the good channels from the other, so you end up with at least one complete and quiet 169? You can keep the bad channels around for spares, fix them, experiment with them, flip them for parts, etc.

If not, I find it hard to believe that in Socal there isn't anybody around who can work on these....do you have manuals/schematics?

Thanks man, I am exceptionally blessed in this case. The generosity of others is something I try to emulate even more when this sort of thing happens, it really has given me a significant leg-up in my work.

I was going to start with that, actually. The main problem is just the fact the noise floor is so high, even on the clear channels-- I've heard that may be the caps? But the extra channels I think would be a good place to learn some repair chops, especially since there are no chips.

The manuals and schematics are luckily online, so I have some guidance with someone to interpret the trickier stuff. I'm sure there is SOMEONE, but I haven't found anyone for sure yet. I finally got in contact with an expert yesterday, they are just technically retired and would really only be doing it for fun, so I can't be sure.