Kawai E550 reverb?

[Guest]

Hi there, I have noticed some regulars here were heavily involved with this model. I hav just bought a 'mostly' working E550 in New Zealand. The reverb doesn't seem to be working and also the percussion sounds (i think). I've had a look at the cirtcuit diagram and the reverb is on PRE-01. Is that referring to one of the boards inside? if so, is the reverb breakdown common? and if so is it easy to fix? with either replacement of components on the board or a simple connection breakdown maybe?



cheers

andy hoy

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ps. the organ sounds fantastic, just the sound i was after. I am planning on micing up the existing speakers to record it for my own music.

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[andyg]

Re: Kawai E550 reverb?



The E550 uses a lot of basic 'bread and butter' electronics, so most things like this should be fixable. PRE-01 does indeed sound like a mixer/pre-amp board. It doesn't generate the reverb itself, of course, that's the job of the spring line reverb tray. Can't recall where we put it on the 550! As it's mechanical, it's quite likely that the problem is here. Check and clean the connections to and from the reverb tray. With the reverb turned full up on the organ, give the tray a clout and see if you hear the reverb clatter. If not, then you're going to need the schematics to fault find. Somewhere, I have them, but I won't say I'll find them as I just haven't a clue where they are in the house, garage or loft. I haven't seen them for years.</P>


Glad you like the E550, it was the first organ they let me work on at the design and voicing stage back in 1978 - 30 years ago! [I suddenly feel old!] The drawbar sounds, strings and some of the preset synth sounds are 'mine'.</P>


Andy</P>

[Guest]

Re: Kawai E550 reverb?



Awesome, thanks. Turns out it is going, I thought it was a longer reverb but its more of nice ambience to the tone, just had to wiggle the slider a bit. A few of the drawbars are a bit scratchy, but i kind of like it like that!</p>

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Do you think I could make the reverb longer by putting in a looser spring, or loosening the one which is in there already?</p>

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[andyg]

Re: Kawai E550 reverb?



There should be a fair amount of reverb when it's cranked right up, but it is only a spring unit. You might be able to use something like an Alesis Microverb to replace the reverb tray, but it think you'd have to do some mods to the circuitry as well.</P>


Andy</P>