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GEM WX2 restoration

Any keyboard/synth not covered by a dedicated section.

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Jokeyman123 United States of America
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Joined: Sat Nov 02, 2013 2:42 pm
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Where Are You Located?: Milford, pa

GEM WX2 restoration

Unread post by Jokeyman123 »

Having kept my 76-key Equinox for quite a few years-not sorry I did still a mind-blowing kit-I recently bit for a WX2-which if it sounds anything like my old S3 turbo-and the sound set looks very similar-will make an interesting addition. Problem is, I never saved anything about this one from the old GEMClub although I still have a huge database of files from there for the S2/3, Equinox, WK and SK series.

I need to find a floppy drive for it, and cannot find any OS disks on the new GEMClub for the WX2 nr a service manual although there are quite a few for the other GEM keys if you need any of those. There is another surprise on that GEMClub too-they have duplicated the original turbokit upgrade board, as well as the 8MB flash ROM chip which is common to many of the GEM series and which I had tried in vain to get way back.

Pricey for 8MB, and I'm not convinced it's worth that much, but it's there and this allows the Equinox for example to install the better acoustic piano samples-as is used in the 88-key Pro version. Also speeds up the GEMs as some of the OS is shared with that flash ROM as are other samples not saved in the user SIMM's which are volatile. This 8MB is non-volatile-it will save your samples n power off.

So if anyone can steer me towards more tech info about the WX2, let me know right here. it seems similar to the WK2, but I do not think these use the same operating system and floppy disk, I could be wrong. And I can look at my Equinox floppy drive and get the same replacement if I know these used the same floppy drive but without a service manual, I can't be sure. Thanks.

Adding to this-I found a website with some pics of the internals-it apparently uses an older Epson 1300 1.44" HD drive, which was easy to source. Will post my results when i progress. I don't care for the USB drives-the transfer speed is as slow as the floppy drive-only allows for one floppy image at a time, not such a great improvement IMO.
Jokeyman123 United States of America
Member
Member
Posts: 121
Joined: Sat Nov 02, 2013 2:42 pm
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Where Are You Located?: Milford, pa

Re: GEM WX2 restoration

Unread post by Jokeyman123 »

Taking my cue from Parametric regarding plastic repair-using some 1/2" pvc tubing material, a small backsaw, a dremel and some PVC cement-I was able to successfully restructure several broken plastic anchors that keep this clamshell design together-the PVC cement ended up holding very well-and was actually less messy than epoxy-and bonds the plastic parts together, like a true plastic "weld". After discovering the backup NIMH battery was gone-will be re-soldering a new one as soon as I have it. Then have to disassemble the top panel IC board that makes up the control buttons, as 2 rows of LED backlights that light the push-buttons are dead and I cannot detect any damaged/broken traces or solder connections on the underside. quite a project but this is one of the easiest workstations with a true 16-track sequencer I've owned. and allows for editing everything, DSP's, sounds, performances and of course 16-track recordings. Very nice little board.
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