Requesting advise to midify a Yamaha Electone organ

Hello, friends. I mean those analogical models from 70's having two 61-notes keyboards and a 25-notes pedalboard, such as E-5AR, E-10AR, EX-42, etc. What is the best approach? Is it advisable to get rid of all the old electronic and controls and built-in speaker? Is it possible to keep the drawknobs and buttons in service? A friend of mine has asked me to midify his some damaged old companion. Also there are lot of them in my country, most out of service, without hope for parts or technical service.
Thanks in advance for every tip.
Rafael.

Hello, friends. I mean those analogical models from 70's having two 61-notes keyboards and a 25-notes pedalboard, such as E-5AR, E-10AR, EX-42, etc. What is the best approach? Is it advisable to get rid of all the old electronic and controls and built-in speaker? Is it possible to keep the drawknobs and buttons in service? A friend of mine has asked me to midify his some damaged old companion. Also there are lot of them in my country, most out of service, without hope for parts or technical service.
Thanks in advance for every tip.
Rafael.

Hello Rafael,

There were several discussions, some with photos, on the forum over the years so you might research that as a starting point. The main things I would want to know are; "What are the matricies of the keyboards and pedal board and what MIDI controller best fits that matrix."

viewtopic.php?f=21&t=14947&p=120056&hilit=Electone#p120056


Once that is determined then the rest will follow easily. I am assuming that all the Yamaha electronics are removed and replaced with modern digital MIDI.

Best regards,

Thomas

The "console" shown below was fabricated with two 61 note manuals and a 25 note pedalboard that were removed from a Yamaha HX-1. These were fitted with MIDI encoder boards made by Roman Sowa's Midi-Hardware (see link). The top manual is a Novation Launchkey and the table comes from Ikea.

https://www.midi-hardware.com/index.php ... oduct=MBBS



Earlier Yamaha keyboards are no doubt different from the HX-1, but as long as there is one contact per key to a common bus, the MBBS boards will work.

Joe Hardy

Hello, Thomas. That was a very complete and informative post. I remember I did a search for the topic, but it was before the date of that post. Thanks a lot.

Hello, friends. I mean those analogical models from 70's having two 61-notes keyboards and a 25-notes pedalboard, such as E-5AR, E-10AR, EX-42, etc. What is the best approach? Is it advisable to get rid of all the old electronic and controls and built-in speaker? Is it possible to keep the drawknobs and buttons in service? A friend of mine has asked me to midify his some damaged old companion. Also there are lot of them in my country, most out of service, without hope for parts or technical service.
Thanks in advance for every tip.
Rafael.

Hello Rafael,

There were several discussions, some with photos, on the forum over the years so you might research that as a starting point. The main things I would want to know are; "What are the matricies of the keyboards and pedal board and what MIDI controller best fits that matrix."

viewtopic.php?f=21&t=14947&p=120056&hilit=Electone#p120056


Once that is determined then the rest will follow easily. I am assuming that all the Yamaha electronics are removed and replaced with modern digital MIDI.

Best regards,

Thomas

Joe, your information is gold. Thank you

The "console" shown below was fabricated with two 61 note manuals and a 25 note pedalboard that were removed from a Yamaha HX-1. These were fitted with MIDI encoder boards made by Roman Sowa's Midi-Hardware (see link). The top manual is a Novation Launchkey and the table comes from Ikea.

https://www.midi-hardware.com/index.php ... oduct=MBBS



Earlier Yamaha keyboards are no doubt different from the HX-1, but as long as there is one contact per key to a common bus, the MBBS boards will work.

Joe Hardy