Repair or replace the insides - Kees Enkelaar

Hi there,

I bought a Kees Enkelaar theremin 2nd hand some years back. It stopped working after 6 months but by that stage Kees was no longer in business. I sent it to a few music electronics wizs in Brisbane, Australia, but none could get it working. They were not sure why. I'd love to have a theremin again so I need to work out if I get repaired (not sure where to send it, or if it's worth it), replace the insides (what kit should I buy) or get rid of it. Help! It's been sitting under my bed for years and it's time...for some theremin action again :)

Thanks in advance!

Hey Rock,

I am so biased these days I could not give you the advice you want to hear. But I did find an old TW Post from one of our forefathers that might shed some light.

Read This

Good Luck

Christopher

Edit: Do not take Fred too serious, he called everybody's modern design rubbish except Moog. Today I kind of agree with him but hope to help everyone improve.

Well if you were closer I'd look at it for you. Most dead Theremins are from static electricity

coming in through the antenna. On this design there are some FETs at the input. One of

those is most likely blown. Have your repair guy replace Q1 Q2 Q3 (2N5484) in this drawing and it might

fire right up;

This is a basic Theremin but can be improved with the MK2 Mods. I have a PDF of these but do not know

how to post it. Search for "Jaycar mods_1to5 by UPAD.pdf" for the upgrades...

"Most dead Theremins are from static electricity coming in through the antenna."  - Fat Bob

Yes, a dirty little secret of most solid state Theremin circuits.  I would think the vast majority (perhaps all) of even professional designs left the lab without any ESD testing whatsoever.

dew my logical friend,

The first thing to check is if the oscillators are oscillating.

Christopher

Thanks Chris, Fat Bob and Dew,

Read Fred's blog and I totally get what he's saying. Part of me is interested in improving my electrical chops (minimal!) so this is all really helpful. As soon as I can work out how to upload a photo - I'll show you the guts of the unit. I think I know what the Q1-Q3's look like but wanna make reeeeeaaaal sure. 

RM. 

Hello. I have a Moog theremin that no longer works but perhaps its parts would be useful to someone. When I contacted the company for repair, this is what they said: " it is likely that one of the inductors or diodes will need to be replaced on the main circuit board of the Etherwave."

If this has any interest to anyone for its parts, let me know.

I live in USA.