My E Standard went down, again, but I know what's wrong this time.

Well, my E standard held out just long enough for me to do one of my theremin lessons on youtube, and was kind enough to wait till I was done recording, and then clicked off.

Now, it just makes a power pop when switched on.

Amos at Moog Music thinks it's a diode. D-1. He gave me the diode part number 1N4148, and hopefully, I can get one at Radio Shack. Fortunately, it's off by it's self, in the lower left corner of the board near the volume coils, and L-7. Still it means disconnecting the antennae, and front panel connectors, flipping the board over, and desoldering the old diode, and soldering in the new one, re-installing the board, re-connecting everything, and re-tuning.

Heck, I couldn't evin get a Junior Theremin to work. and now, I'm lookin' at messin' around with a 400 dollar theremin's board. My biggest fear is overheating the board, or discharging the IC, or bridging a couple of traces.

Guess I'd better use the antistatic strap for this job.

...And I'm legally blind to boot. I must be out of my mind!

Anyone have any advice, or experience working with the E-standard board?

At least, those who have the same problem might be able to use this info to fix theirs.

All it can do is, "not work". Right?

i have replaced a lot of parts on boards.
may i suggest one of these
http://www.brewstersbatteries.co.uk/catalog/images/soldersucker.gif

instead of braided wire.

have fun.
and dont grab the soldering gun by the pointy end.

I knew I was forgetting something. Thanks for the link. I need one of those little suckers.

Thomas, how's your vision up close?

As long as you can see what you are doing you will be alright. You have the wisdom to be cautious which should keep you from messing anythign up.

My vision is not so good either so I have to stick my face real close to whatever I am soldering, especially when it is small stuff.

I always make sure I have really good ventilation and light.

I have a fan on one side of me and a good worklight on the other.

Thomas,

At the end of your teaching videos you give thanks to Peter Pringle, Carolyna Eyck, Lydia Kavina, and Pamelia Kurstin.

Did all these people collaborate with you to create your videos?

Diggy, my vision is so bad, that I have to use a 6 X reading telescope, or a Jordi closed crcuit 32 X head worn video system when working high detail items. Up to now, my experience has been simply pulling jumpers on PC main boards as an A+ tech, but soldering's a totally alien environment for me. Thanks for the suggestions on the fan. don't need to breath in lead solder.

Kevin, I thanked them, mainly for their efforts to produce the training materials, books, videos, workshops, ect, which got me where I am now. Peter did actually offer some advice for me directly through e-mail, and indirectly over levnet. Pamelia gave me a free half hour one-on-one workshop containing precious info which was not given in the actual worksshop. Without those resources, I'd probably still be sounding like a cat-fight in a sewer pipe, and it would be years before I got as good as I am now.

you mean that funny smelling smoke is bad for you?

[i]"I thanked them, mainly for their efforts to produce the training materials, books, videos, workshops, ect, which got me where I am now."[/i]

OK. Good that you cleared this up. What appeared as a name-drop to me is your acknowledgement that the teaching materials you purchased have contributed to your progress.

Buddy, True.

Kevin, True.

Hey, Kevin, what happened to your cool avatar?