Korg Forums

[korgboy]

I'm so glad I found this forum. I have been a Korg user since the M1 and Wavestation days. I still have a Wavestation, 01/W, Trinity, and I DID have a Triton ProX until a few months ago...

I've always worked on my own gear. I don't use Korg exclusively, I love my E-MU, Roland and Yamaha stuff too. I have always worked on all of it. Back in February I opened up my Triton ProX to re-solder a cold audio jack. That went fine, but I reassembled the keyboard incorrectly, and somehow smoked the 'mainboard.' When I say smoked, I literally smelled smoke.

I took it to an authorized service center. They started by replacing the power supply because it took some kind of a hit. That helped, but still no audio, no LEDs, and the screen lights, but does not respond to touch. Then they replaced something they called a "scan board." No help. Last resort, they replaced 4 of the ICs on the mainboard. Still nothing.

The result, I owe these guys $300 for parts and labor, and I still take home a dead Triton. Oh god, the pain... I feel so much pain...

The shop tells me I need a new mainboard. Korg has quoted me around $700 for one, but I paid $2500 for the keyboard back in 2001, plus the $300 now... I don't know if I can bring myself to replace the mainboard.

Is there a market for parts for the Classic ProX? Any opinions? Should I part it out? Is there such a thing as a cheaper, maybe refurbished mainboard for a Triton? Anybody got a Triton that is physically destroyed but has a good mainboard?

I'm in a world of hurt here, and could use from friendly opinions. I've never damaged any of my gear, not even a scratch, much less have I ever completely killed one. I baby my stuff, never leaves the studio, and I rely on it as an invaluable tool. I'm lost without it. I would love to just go out and grab up a new Extreme to replace it, but money is tight. It was a huge family sacrifice to buy my first Triton!

Oooooohhhhhh... the pain.....

Thanks,

Russ

[Talon4]

Seems like your first problem was the choice of service centers.
You are now looking at $300 + $700 which puts you at $1000, with an uncertainty that it would even fix the problem based on their trouble shooting thus far.
If it was me I would jus t buy another Triton and be done.
I'm not sure where you are located but I see great used Triton deals all the time (USA), couple of examples;

Triton ProX $1399
Triton Extreme 61 $1299
Triton Pro $999
Triton Extreme 88 $1999
Triton Studio 61 $1499
Triton ProX $999

I would definitely do some shopping before I would sink $1000+ into repair.

[Vermeer]

Korgboy,

Man, I feel your pain...In times like these, the best is to try to turn this into an opportunity.

The old Triton -- Put it on EBay or Craig's List, mentionning that it doen't work anymore and see what people are willing to pay for its parts. Low risk, no comitment.

The repair people -- Pay them and move on. They tried to help but it didn't work. If I were you, I wouldn't spend one more cent on this one - it's dead bro. I had a similar adventure with a PC motherboard and just decided to move on.

New gear -- The good news is that second hand Tritons are easy to get on EBay for way less money that you have paid initially (shipping may be problematic). Depending on budget and credit availability, you may simply want to bite the bullet and upgrade to a Studio or Extreme. Notice I didn't mention the OASYS since it's a totally different beast (pricewise too).

Good luck.

Vermeer

[korgboy]

I agree with both of you, and thank you for your responses. That service center basically told me up front that it was a gamble to spend the time and money to try to repair the mainboard. They replaced what they could, and they did make some progress (when they got it, it wasn't even powering up, now it powers up, just doesn't do anything)...

I think I'm going to take your advice and sell the thing for parts one way or the other, also turning this total tragedy into an opportunity of sorts. I really like the Extreme. And to touch on the commend about the Oasys, I have not been super impressed with the Oasys. It's a tremendous instrument, I'm sure. I'm a strong believer in Korg's technology. But when I played the Oasys it felt a whole lot like a Triton with a smarter arpeggiator, and I noticed some of the M, T and Wavestation sounds in it, which is really cool to hear. Granted I didn't spend a ton of time with it, but I'm one with the mindset of using a variety of instruments, not one super instrument. I'm also not big on automation, which the Oasys offers lots of.

Back to the topic: A question I need to ask myself is do I sell the unit as a whole, as a non-working unit, or do I dismantle it and sell individual parts? I was told by this service center that the keybed is worth a lot of money. I'm sure the LCD is worth $100 to somebody... the shell is almost perfect... disk drive... knobs... and the SCSI interface for sure.

Any advice there? Would you sell the whole unit, or part it out? I have looked at completed items on eBay trying to get a feel for the Triton parts market, and I have found that there is absolutely NO Triton parts market. Hmmmm...

Again, many thanks to you both for your replies.

-Russ
_________________
Triton Rebuild Blog:
http://tritonproject.russnixon.com

[Talon4]

Well the risk of parting out a unit will always be that you can sell someone a non-functioning part.
Either because you couldn't power the unit correctly to know or because of something that happens in removal.
Just something to consider.

There are lots of good deals out there on either an Extreme or the Studio so start looking now and make the move one way or the other on selling the broken unit.

[korgboy]

I've worried about that too - selling a part without knowing for sure if it works. I don't have a good way of testing most of it. I know the power supply is good because it's brand new, as is the "Scan Board". Honestly I'm leaning toward selling the whole unit for simplicity, and it would be far less work.

I'm going to the shop today to pick up the dead one, and I'm stopping by Guitar Center on the way home to verify pricing. I was told a couple of months ago that they'd sell me a Triton Extreme 88 (new of course) for around $2499. That doesn't seem bad.

Thanks,

Russ
_________________
Triton Rebuild Blog:
http://tritonproject.russnixon.com

[Vermeer]

[korgboy]

I think I am going to part it out at this point. Initially I was thinking of selling it as a whole unit because it might be easier, and like you said, it's unusual to part out a synth. But I doubt I'd be able to recover very much doing it that way. I think I will be parting it out.

Sooo... you may be seeing Triton pieces for sale in the Buy & Sell section of this forum in the very near future. I've almost got enough cash scraped together to get a Triton Extreme 88 to replace it with, so perhaps I'm starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Thanks for all the support,

Russ
_________________
Triton Rebuild Blog:
http://tritonproject.russnixon.com

[Phunky]

Put it this way... Perhaps it's a blessings in disguise.


_________________
Blessings,
|P|h|U|n|K|y|

"Ask yourself always: How can this be done better?"

[korgboy]

Guys,

I opened this thread about a year ago after finding out I had killed my Triton. For those who happen to have any interest, I now have a plan (a year later!).

First, I did go ahead and get a Triton Extreme 76. It's sweet, it's a Triton... I got a great price and I'm happy with it. But for some reason, I never sold all of the pieces of my old ProX. I dismantled the keyboard with every intention of selling the parts, but I never did it.

So -- the other day, I picked up a working Triton Classic (61) on Craigslist for $400. It's got a small keybed problem, a couple of keys aren't working. But I remember learning last year that the logic board for all three Classic Triton models was the same - just a flash parameter to tell it which keybed it had onboard.

The plan is to harvest the working motherboard from this Triton 61 and re-building my ProX from the ground up (it's in about 100 pieces).

I just posted a new thread requesting helping finding a service manual for the ProX Classic, and if anybody out there can help me with that, I'd sure appreciate it. The plan is to reassemble the ProX with the motherboard from this 61 I just got, then having the shop verify everything before I turn it on!

Thanks to you all.

Russ
_________________
Triton Rebuild Blog:
http://tritonproject.russnixon.com

[wex-alpha]

It would be nice if you could keep us posted with your progress... maybe even a few pictures along the way

[michelkeijzers]

Sounds very interesting ... guess there are not many people building up their own keyboard.
Not that I have the intention to take apart my Triton, however I had to open my N264 a few times for cleaning activities (under the keybed).

[korgboy]

I have worked on lots of other Korg keyboards with no trouble, but the Triton is a bit messier than some others. Part of it, in my opinion based on limited experience, is that the Triton is comprised of just a few boards that are connected together with a lot of wires and ribbon cables. My older keyboards were comprised of several boards that were interconnected, but it seemed like they had fewer cables, perhaps.

Also noteworthy information, for anybody considering taking a Triton apart - the buttons, I think, are Korg's little joke on anybody that doesn't have about 6 hands. Those of you who have been inside a Triton know what I'm talking about.

As for the idea of pictures along the way, this is a great idea and I will definitely post pictures as I progress. I haven't even started yet, even though I now have everything I need, including the service manual, thanks to another forum member!

Thanks,

Russ
_________________
Triton Rebuild Blog:
http://tritonproject.russnixon.com

[korgboy]

Friends,

I have finally gotten a start on my Triton rebuild. I took some video tonight and plan on posting it on a web site, where I will share my progress with you. I'll also share some still photos, but most of it will likely be video, which will help me document my progress more thoroughly than still pictures alone.

The URL is http://tritonproject.russnixon.com. not much there yet, but I will publish media there as I progress with the project. There is some video, and some images to check out if you like.

It will be a rare look at what it is like to build a Triton ProX from the ground up, more or less. Please bear in mind that I am a musician, not a photographer or video guy, so the video will be crude and unedited (and dreadfully in WMV format because I don't have better software).

Thanks for the support, and I hope I come out of this alive.

Take care,

Russ
_________________
Triton Rebuild Blog:
http://tritonproject.russnixon.com

[wex-alpha]

Thank you for your effort.