Foleytronics LLC is a vintage digital FX, vintage pro audio and vintage synthesizer repair shop based in Cincinnati, OH. We offer custom, component-level repairs, maintenance and restorations for musicians, producers and collectors all over the United States. Our focus is strictly vintage equipment, and for us, “vintage” refers to items made prior to 1990. We DO NOT service guitar amps, hifi systems, pedals, or mixers.
We treat each repair as a custom project because there are literally thousands of possible faults that can occur in these complex devices. This means that each piece of gear needs personal attention to determine what is wrong and, more importantly, why. Our troubleshooting methods aim to find the reason for the defect at a component level — you will not find us shot-gunning a circuit in hopes it fixes the issue. Though replacing all of a certain component can be recommended as a preventative measure, it is not a viable troubleshooting technique. Real troubleshooting takes competency, and that only comes with time and experience.
Why Vintage?
Many people with faulty modern gear approach us for repairs, and nine times out of ten we have to say no. The primary reason is that newer equipment does not come with a service manual, a volume containing schematics, block diagrams and theory of operation, all of which can be the difference between resuscitating your old synthesizer and not. Most vintage equipment did indeed have those materials readily available, and many of these documents can be found online.
Modern electronic components are mounted directly to the surface of the printed circuit board, (called surface mount devices, or SMD) and are incredibly small (tinier than the tip of a pencil in many cases). Though there is nothing inherently wrong with this method or these components, we are simply not set up to rework them (we are not ants with ant-sized soldering stations). Vintage equipment lends itself to repair because the components are larger, easier to handle and are mounted through the printed circuit board (called through-hole devices), a more traditional type of mounting and soldering method.
As a result, a typical modern manufacturer would prefer that the user return the faulty item to the factory, where they will routinely replace an entire circuit board rather than find the defective component. This is cheaper for them and cheaper for you, but not what we do at Foleytronics.
Our ability to repair your equipment lies not only in our experience with that particular make and model, but also in our troubleshooting skills. From a Juno-106 found in a dumpster to a precious Binson-7 Echorec mixer to a Lexicon 224XL with battery damage, we are happily willing to help get your gear back in action.