#KIMBALL ORGAN SWINGER 400 FOR FREE#
#KIMBALL ORGAN SWINGER 400 HOW TO#
#KIMBALL ORGAN SWINGER 400 FREE#

You’ll see that the back of every rocker switch involves many contact tabs, wires, and springs.Ĭleaning rocker switches in the Elka Panther 300 The solution to this is simple once you take apart the organ to the point that you can access the back or underside of the switches. Sometimes you’ll hear a ton of crackly, crunchy noise when you change the position of a switch, or sometimes, it’ll be so dirty that it will seem to not work at all-you’ll turn a sound setting on and hear no change. The first problem you’re likely to encounter on a vintage combo organ is dirty rocker switches. Your organ can handle it.Īlso, don’t forget to make sure the organ is unplugged while you’re working on it! Dirty Switches

#KIMBALL ORGAN SWINGER 400 FREE#

Feel free to go ahead and vacuum it out as much as you can with a vacuum cleaner’s brush extension. Vacuum: Once you open up the top of the organ, you’ll probably find that it’s very dirty inside. I suggest trying to follow along with it as much as you can as you work on your organ, even if you don’t yet understand most of it.

#KIMBALL ORGAN SWINGER 400 FOR FREE#

Schematics: You can most likely find the service manual or schematic for your organ for free online. Flathead and Philips-head screwdrivers, average size (#2). Hand tools: Small pliers with wire cutter or, preferably, small pliers and separate diagonal cutting pliers.

But be aware-these signals can be much hotter than line level, so if you’re using a homemade signal tracer with no resistance like this, keep your amp turned down very low. You can use it to 'listen in' on your audio signal path in any piece of electronic gear. You can buy one or make one by taking a ¼' mono cable, cutting one end off, and then soldering one alligator clip to the shield (ground) and one to the 'hot' wire. When removing components from vintage organs’ rather crude circuit boards, you can also often simply pull a component out with pliers while heating its solder with your regular soldering iron.Īudio Signal Tracer: When working on organs specifically, I probably use this more than my multimeter and almost never need to use my oscilloscope. It might be worth getting both (they’re both inexpensive) and seeing which you prefer. 'Solder sucker' hand pumps can suck up more solder more quickly, but can be messy. A lead/tin 60/40 blend with a rosin core and a moderate gauge (.062') works well.ĭesoldering tool: I use a powered vacuum desoldering station in my workshop, but before I shelled out the cash for that, I was pretty happily using desoldering wick for all my desoldering. Solder: It is necessary to use lead-based solder when working on vintage electronics. You can get pretty good one for as little as $40–$50. Soldering Iron: A decent, temperature-controlled soldering station makes a huge difference. Here are the basics.Ĭontact cleaner: Get a product labeled 'electrical contact cleaner' or 'electronic contact cleaner' that does not contain added lubricant.ĭeOxit D100: This 'contact conditioner' is expensive and leaves an oily residue, so I use it sparingly, but for those occasions when contact cleaner alone doesn’t quite cut it, it’s a big help.

Tools And Suppliesīecause organs are so simple, you don’t need many fancy tools or supplies to work on them.

#KIMBALL ORGAN SWINGER 400 HOW TO#

Once you learn how to handle these issues, you’ll be ready for many of the problems that can crop up in a currently working organ and be on your way to being able to restore a non-working organ to its former glory. This makes combo organs a great place to start if you’re interested in learning more about the 'guts' of electronic instruments or getting into restoring vintage gear.

In fact, probably around two-thirds of the combo organ problems I fix at my repair shop Bell Tone Synth Works fall into a few main categories, and they are things that anyone who knows how to solder could fix at home. You tend to find that most suffer from the same types of problems. Though the majority of vintage organs that exist today have their share of issues, as some of the first fully electronic instruments ever made, they are also some of the simplest. The warm sounds of 1960s electronic 'combo' organs from makers like Vox, Farfisa, Ace Tone, Yamaha, Elka, and more have been heard in popular music for more than 50 years.

Kimball organ swinger 400