KVR Audio

j_brady · Post by **j_brady** » Tue Jun 08, 2010 5:31 pm

Hi I just bought a Fatar SL 880 keyboard from ebay, the guy said hed turned it on and done no further tests to see if it worked (yeah right).

Well anyway 80% of the time it doesnt even turn on, so its got the power on problem, which Im going to try and fix with the solder solution thats on the internet, but theres on other thing too.
The velocities are all messed up, it only plays really quietly unless i hit the keys very lightly, and then it plays at full velocity. Im hoping this is part of the power on problem and should be able to be fixed by the same solution, but if not, I was wondering if anyone had any idea what else it could be, or if anyones had a similar problem?

Any response would be good, its just a big black and white paperweight right now.

C00kie · Post by **C00kie** » Wed Jun 09, 2010 8:23 am

I doubt the velocity problem is related to the power problem.

j_brady · Post by **j_brady** » Wed Jun 09, 2010 11:42 am

Does anyone know what controls the velocity then? is it on the circuit board? Something physical that could be fixed eg connections or whatever.
Because of the inability to power on at the moment I cant edit the velocity curves, but I know there is a way to do this so thats why I was wondering maybe it was connected. Although I doubt theres an option for a backwards curve which doesnt really work right so its not like its just stuck on one option.

TiUser · Post by **TiUser** » Wed Jun 09, 2010 11:58 am

I think a bit the guy cheated you... he didn't lie but well, you expected a working unit, not just a box with a power switch... did you?

Often there are rubber contacts that wear out and can sometimes be replaced. If this is not possible I guess you are doomed...

C00kie · Post by **C00kie** » Wed Jun 09, 2010 11:59 am

A common design is a pair of switches underneath each key, on different vertical positions. The time difference between those two switches is used to calculate the velocity. Big time difference: key pressed slowly, low velocity. Small time difference: key pressed fast, high velocity.

Usually the Fatar keybeds work with a rubber strip containing the contacts, which might be problematic. More info in these threads:
http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic ... sc&start=4
http://homerecording.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=268410

joewalch · Post by **joewalch** » Thu Jun 17, 2010 12:04 pm

Hi

I have an SL-880 but need a replacement mainboard or at least a chip. I bought mine faulty, the keys work however the board was fried by the wrong power supply. I have fixed a faulty diode but the chip was damaged. From what I can see Fatar didn't put any protection from power surges or incorrect supplied on their boards.

I've spent a lot of time trying to get parts and found out from Fatar's new UK suppliers, Synthax (very helpful) that Fatar have stopped supplying parts for the SL-880 as of 2007.

If you have no luck fixing yours I would be more than happy to buy the mainboard from you? Please let me know if you are interested.

Nochwas · Post by **Nochwas** » Mon Jun 28, 2010 10:13 am

j_brady wrote:Hi I just bought a Fatar SL 880 keyboard from ebay, the guy said hed turned it on and done no further tests to see if it worked (yeah right).

Well anyway 80% of the time it doesnt even turn on, so its got the power on problem, which Im going to try and fix with the solder solution thats on the internet, but theres on other thing too.
The velocities are all messed up, it only plays really quietly unless i hit the keys very lightly, and then it plays at full velocity. Im hoping this is part of the power on problem and should be able to be fixed by the same solution, but if not, I was wondering if anyone had any idea what else it could be, or if anyones had a similar problem?

Any response would be good, its just a big black and white paperweight right now.

You can solve the start-up-problem by pressing power-on really slow. Then it almost always starts up correctly.
What is that "solder-solution" you are talking about; could you give a link to me (couldn't find it on the internet by myself!)...

C00kie · Post by **C00kie** » Mon Jun 28, 2010 11:05 am

Nochwas wrote:What is that "solder-solution" you are talking about; could you give a link to me (couldn't find it on the internet by myself!)...

Probably http://www.kappenburg.net/projects/Fatar_SL880/
It's the first Google result for "Fatar SL 880 power problem"

Nochwas · Post by **Nochwas** » Wed Jun 30, 2010 9:32 am

AUTO-ADMIN: Non-MP3, WAV, OGG, SoundCloud, YouTube, Vimeo, Twitter and Facebook links in this post have been protected automatically. Once the member reaches 5 posts the links will function as normal.

C00kie wrote:
Nochwas wrote:What is that "solder-solution" you are talking about; could you give a link to me (couldn't find it on the internet by myself!)...
Probably http://www.kappenburg.net/projects/Fatar_SL880/ (http://www.kappenburg.net/projects/Fatar_SL880/)
It's the first Google result for "Fatar SL 880 power problem"

Yes, that solves the problem. I'm beginning to develop an inferiority-complex. How does it come that I couldn't find the link on the net by myself?

Anyway - thanks for posting it here!!

pethu · Post by **pethu** » Sun Jul 04, 2010 6:08 pm

Here's the source I used when replacing my SL-880 key contacts a year and a half ago. Still marked as "in stock".

http://www.midi-store.com/Fatar-keyboar ... c-360.html

I can't say the key velocity problems you describe sound typical for worn-out contacts, but possibly some genius has already messed with them and managed to put a new (or old) set in the wrong way around. See this thread in another forum for lots of interesting pictures and info:

http://homerecording.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=268410

(You must be registered and logged in to see the piccies.)

PS: To change the rubbery bits, fortunately you do NOT have to disassemble the entire keybed.

pethu · Post by **pethu** » Sun Jul 04, 2010 6:24 pm

OK, I re-read bits of that forum thread I linked to above, and it says:

"The rubber contacts need to be put on correctly, for if they are turned around, the notes will play at full loudness all the time."

If this is correct, then this isn't your problem either, it seems.

DrFlySuperfunk · Post by **DrFlySuperfunk** » Sat Dec 11, 2010 10:07 pm

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j_brady wrote:The velocities are all messed up, it only plays really quietly unless i hit the keys very lightly, and then it plays at full velocity. Im hoping this is part of the power on problem and should be able to be fixed by the same solution, but if not, I was wondering if anyone had any idea what else it could be, or if anyones had a similar problem?.

I seem to have the power problem, too -- not too bad, yet, but I also had this velocity issue.
Here's a fix that worked for me.

First, the manual might be helpful:
http://www (http://www) [dot] retrevo [dot] com/support/Studiologic-SL-880-Music-Keyboards-manual/id/20630dj394/t/2/

Second, I thought I could just set a new velocity shape curve to fix it, but that didn't work. What did work, though, was reseting to factory settings which is done by holding down all three UP-DOWN-ENTER buttons for a few seconds while powering-on. I did that, and moments later I had a correct velocity curve! Soft was low-vol and hard high-vol, yeah!

Hope this helps.

Meffy · Post by **Meffy** » Sat Dec 11, 2010 10:45 pm

Hello and welcome to KVR. I've obfuscated your URL slightly because I have never seen a more persistent source of SPAM in any of my email accounts than the company you listed. Nothing personal but I wouldn't touch their site with a ten-parsec length of fiber optic cable. Others may take their own counsel.

[edit] Checked the email account and sure enough, it was infested with yet more spam from that domain.

daz.diamond · Post by **daz.diamond** » Wed Dec 15, 2010 11:11 am

DrFlySuperfunk wrote:First, the manual might be helpful:
http://www [dot] retrevo [dot] com/support/Studiologic-SL-880-Music-Keyboards-manual/id/20630dj394/t/2/

Second, I thought I could just set a new velocity shape curve to fix it, but that didn't work. What did work, though, was reseting to factory settings which is done by holding down all three UP-DOWN-ENTER buttons for a few seconds while powering-on. I did that, and moments later I had a correct velocity curve! Soft was low-vol and hard high-vol, yeah!

+1 ...

jgfsav · Post by **jgfsav** » Wed Nov 26, 2014 10:36 am

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Help! I have a Studiologic SL-880 that won't power up, wanted to try the solder/bridging solution but the suggested link in this thread no longer works.

http://www.kappenburg.net/projects/Fatar_SL880/ (http://www.kappenburg.net/projects/Fatar_SL880/)

Does anyone have information on how to do the bridging solder solution for power problems on the SL-880?

sl 880 problems help?