Any interesting project, suggestions?

[knealebrown]

Hi, my flatmate has this organ its a JVC Victron g-350


And we are moving in a few months, its 99% working but he has no intention of trying to sell it or move it to the new place. Ive been told i can scrap it for parts which im pretty ecstatic about tbh  but more than just getting some cool faders and switches out of it im hoping i can take some of the circuit out of it and re box them into some cool little modules. SOOOOOO a few questions coming and if anybody has any experience or ideas im all ears:

1. How do i safely take this thing apart? its the first mains equipment ive butchered
2. What cool stuff could i do with the guts?

[petemoore]

How do i safely take this thing apart?
   Roll the dice, back damage, cuts, electrocution are 3 obvious hazards.
  its the first mains equipment ive butchered
   Unplugging the mains kills the AC, DC is more persistant.
2. What cool stuff could i do with the guts?
  Sounds like you have almost everything there to make a JVC organ.
   Mostly the stuff outside the amplifier is probably LVoltage, so if you don't tear the amp open...
  Or if you do I'd guess a lot of it is higher voltage compoents which are kinda large...
   A computer monitor has more right' stuff in it for efx building. I pulled out a gateway PCB and stripped of the film capacitors and some nice wire...not much else, provided the needed capacitors, pots, switches and resistors from the organ are likely large, unknown value, not the right kind of switch for bypass etc.
 

[digi2t]

MIDI controller with the footpedals. See Highly Liquid's website for the boards/controllers.

[Mark Hammer]

1) There is a good chance there's a rotating speaker in there.  Check out DougH's thread in the Lounge/OT area about same.

2) A lot of the passive components are likely to end up a lot bigger than you thought they'd be.  So, electrolytics that simply won't fit the board layouts, and 1/2w resistors.  It may be better than that, but be prepared.

3) Those rocker switches by the upper keyboard are perfect for guitars that want/need a 60's Teisco vibe.  VERY hard to find these days, so hang onto them, because you may be able to bail out a friend or sell/trade them to someone.

4) There is a surfeit of cool single board modular analog synth projects around these days, like the ones on MFOS, or the Farm 921 synth project, and a bunch of others whose schematic might have disappeared off the radar (but I still have them on my hard drive).  Those keyboards might provide a very nice synth project.

5) I tore apart a dual-keyboard Farfisa console like that about 23 years ago, and once the keyboards are out, it made a terrific workbench.  Just the right height.  Edges that keep parts from rolling off.  A hole near the back to run power cords down for a scope, mini-amp, or power supply, etc., and the top makes a handy shelf for your meter or anything else you want to park there.

[petemoore]

  Footpedals = deluxe.
   You'd be surprized how handy one of those can be when in good condition.
  Designed to have enough of everything to be a music-band sounding device by itself.
   Pretty cool, maybe just put a preamp input for playing anything else through it, then when keybards are played switch turns it back to 'organ mode'.
  Looks and might work cool as it is, I used to revert immediatly to tearing stuff apart, bro and mom halted my 'ol Wurlizter plans [had tube amp in it, speaker] and once I sat down and played it...cool organ, had footpedals, challenging w/excellent tones, pretty cool.

[deadastronaut]

MIDI controller with the footpedals. See Highly Liquid's website for the boards/controllers.

yes yes yes....my bass player done this, its  excellent , and to jam with too...rip those pedals out now...!!!!!

[knealebrown]

excellent suggestions guys, ill post gut shots once i have the time to rip her open and see whats interesting. 

[Gurner]

My folks  had a business selling eletronic organs in the late 70s/80s ....I used to fix 'em for them - not familiar with that model, but most of them had spring reverbs (and obviously the circuit)...so worth having a dabble with that.

The volume pedals are normally optical & therefore quite smooth/crackle free ....worth hanging onto (even just for the paddle mechanism)

As other have said, midi bass pedals cost a fortune....add a $2 PIC & bingo midi footpedals (won't be velocity sensitive though)