Farfisa pedal repair

[Walkingstick]

Hi everyone,

New to the forum so please excuse me if my question borders on the mundane. I did read a thread below on the black hole nature of Farfisa upkeep. My question is this: if a technician appraised the Farfisa as being in great condition but the pedals didn't work, would you estimate that is something that falls more likely on the side of the pedals needing repair or the Farfisa needing repair? And if it is strictly pedal repair, would you judge this as a low cost and easy repair or steeped in unforeseen problems? Thanks for bothering to address the black hole nature of this question. This is for a Combo Compact Deluxe.

[Drawbar Dave]

You need to approach a 196's combo organ with an open mind expecting extensive servicing at this stage. Dirty pedal contacts are no indication of the condition of the organ's capacitors, transistors, wiring condition etc. A couple of us here own and have restored Compact Duos that have required many hours of work that would have cost four figures if handed to a tech to repair. You really need to play it and see if it needs work before committing. Typically you would replace 100 electrolytic capacitors as well as any bad transistors to get tuning stability. Both of mine needed this.

[Walkingstick]

Thank you for your reply. I found another Compact Duo with the pedals working(for the most part) and purchased it. However, I'm finding other problems such as one key that is out of tune in several registers, a knee lever that produces no effect, and a few other minor things. Presently, I am cleaning the inside following instructions I found online. If you have any other advice to give me regarding getting the organ back in shape, I would really appreciate it. Any online guides would be much appreciated.

[Jyvoipabo]

Hello,

I serviced a combo farfisa Deluxe !
So, there are a lot of capacitors to replace, but they are not expensive.
Ex: You can buy all 72x1μF capacitor tone generators for < $ 10 a buck. The problem is the wires that break and the wooden frame that is very fragile.
Pay attention to the reverb the cells are also fragile and hard to find.
The pedal is made of bakelite cast frame, a bulb, a shutter, a photo résistor and a 3pin DIN connectors. All need cleaning.
Note : If the bulb is KO or if the pedal is not plugged the volume is max.

And that's not to mention the problem of key's contacts that require several cleaning passes.

JP

[Walkingstick]

Thank you so much for your reply and helpful information. I am in the process of slowly testing my Compact Duo and assembling information to attempt a restoration myself. The capacitor specification you provide is extremely helpful! Thank you. Can you comment: if I am trying to resolve a key that is out of tune in some of the registers, would finding the circuit board pertaining to that key and replacing all the capacitors on that board be a likely fix? Secondly, sorry to sound like a dummy, but what do the 4', 8', 16' designations mean exactly on the organ? The reason I ask---I notice that less notes on the keyboard stay in tune as I venture outside of the 4' designation. I don't understand why, though. Thanks for your attention...

Chris