Rhodes 660 parts

[Palman]

Hi all, I foolishly lent my Rhodes model 660 keyboard to a friend for her daughter to practice for her piano lesons. Of course on its return, a coulpe of notes no longer worked.
Having done a complete stripdown to fix a similar problem when I first aquired it second hand, I took it to bits again, finding all sorts of crumbs and sticky stuff.
While cleaning the keyboard contact board, I must have been venting my fury at this messy child and managed to break the brittle board in two, now I want to cry.
I’ve searched ‘the bay’ with no luck
Does anyone know of a source of replacement parts or an old broken keyboard that could be canibalised?
The part number of the contact board is 22925669-00 Roland.

Thanks in advance

 

[SeaGtGruff]

Oh, wow, I feel for you!

I can’t find a site that has that part available (Full Compass, Syntaur, etc.), but the old eBay listings for it mention that it’s for the Roland RD-800, so as far as looking for old keyboards to cannibalize you might want to include the Roland RD-800 in your search.

 

[Palman]

Hi Michael
I can’t find anything either, yet.
Thanks for that info, I’ll expand the search a bit

 

[SeaGtGruff]

Good luck with your search.

 

[garryk]

PCBs can be repaired. Not knowing yours but I’m guessing it’s double sided. The first step is to obtain a schematic diagram for the PCB and use this to guide you. There will be multiple track breaks and each will need to be rejoined. It’s usually easier to join a track by using fine solid wire rather than trying to use any of the various conductive glues as a bridge repair. Don’t try and solder the solid wires onto the PCB as the heat will cause the tracks to lift off. Use a good quality silver loaded epoxy to bond down a bridging wire onto the PCB track at each side of the track break. Depending on the severity of the breaking of the board in two it may be physically impossible to match the two halves together. In this case as long as you can get the two PCB halves physically close enough together you may be able to bridge the track breaks using a piece of multi-way ribbon cable
Again do not try to solder onto the PCB tracks. Tack the wire down using silver loaded epoxy and hold wiring in place until the epoxy sets hard

 

[Palman]

Hi Garryk, thanks for that, I’ll give it a go.
I don’t play myself and only use it on rare occations when its needed on a PA job so I don’t want to be spending much on it.
It’s just a handy thing to have in the store.
Any idea what it’s worth in working order?

 

[garryk]

I would expect the Rhodes to fetch up to £250 when in full working order. But the damage will render the board unsaleable. I have a Ketron SD1 that I have repaired. It works fine but can never be sold because of the non-standard repair I’ve given it

 

[happyrat1]

Gary

 

[garryk]

This is a good video. They always say a pictures worth a thousand words.

 

[happyrat1]

One caveat about repairing this particular board. Since it is a Keybed Contact Board any repairs on the contact side will have to be made extra carefully so as to not interfere with the switching operation of the silicone membrane switches.

It may end up being an unworkable solution.

Your ideal solution is to locate and purchase a replacement board.

Or do your own artwork and have a replacement board manufactured for you in China.

There are companies overseas that manufacture small quantities of boards for reasonable money for prototyping purposes.

Multilayer and double sided no problem.

Just email them a CAD file and they will ship you back 5 or 10 boards for less than $50.

You could always sell the extras on Ebay and make a profit.

Here's a couple of listings.

https://jlcpcb.com/

https://www.pcbway.com/

http://www.pcbunlimited.com/

https://oshpark.com/

Gary

 

[happyrat1]

Here's a video showing how to scan and copy a good working board so it can be duplicated.

Thanks to modern industrial techniques and computer aided design, this actually looks pretty easy.

Gary

 

[happyrat1]

BTW, here's a crazy idea.

Have you tried contacting Fender to see if they actually have the part?

They've been making Rhodes for a VERY LONG TIME

Gary

 

[Palman]

Here’s the damage

 

[happyrat1]

THAT, is simply NOT repairable.

At least not unless you can live without the key that's in the middle of the break.

Your best shot is to try and replace the board with the technique in the video I posted.

1) Basically pull a working board.

2) Take careful photos of each side.

3) Convert them to BMP

4) Import them to Sprint Layout

5) Duplicate the board to EXACT dimensions.

6) Send the CAD file off to one of the prototype board manufacturers I listed.

***NOTE*** There is some sort of special conductive carbon coating on the switch contacts. You'll have to specify that as part of the process.

If you really want to save the Rhodes, I think this is your only plausible option.

Gary

 

[happyrat1]

These are links to companies that make membrane switches and the compounds they use.

http://csikeyboards.com/membrane-switch-guide/

https://www.appliedinksolutions.com/applications/compounds-for-membrane-switches.html

http://www.creativematerials.com/prototyping/

You can include a silver or carbon ink in your specification for the contacts.

Also the potted surface mount components on your board are diodes. You can always replace those with standard thru hole silicon switching diodes in your design.

And finally, pay close attention to dimensions including board thickness.

You have to design this as closely as possible to the original for it to work properly. Not one hole out of place and not off by a single millimeter.

Gary

 

[happyrat1]

These guys might help you find an original.

https://www.syntaur.com/rhodes_model.html

Before you try anything else, though, I'd advise contacting Roland directly for the part.

Gary

 

[happyrat1]

It may be worthwhile to contact these guys.

https://www.vintagevibe.com/collections/fender-rhodes-electronics

They may be able to sell you a used part from a scrapped unit.

Gary