Good news for Minimoog D owners.

[thealien666]

As most of you are aware, Kevin Lightner has unfortunately stopped offering repair services a while ago due to health problems (I hope he's doing well nonetheless, and miss his always interesting posts here). In doing so, he had also stopped providing the excellent Opto-Key solution to badly damaged keyboard contacts in Minimoog D.

Fortunately, I recently found out that he was able to find someone to take over and continue the Opto-Key project, with updates under development for existing owners like me and new units being built (both with, or without MIDI) and available installation for a fee, as Kevin did before.

I don't want this topic and message to sound like spam, so I'm not going to provide a link to Chris Hewitt's repair web site who took over the business. You can simply go on Kevin's Synthfool site and look under Opto-Key and he provides the link himself, if you're interested in getting your failing Minimoog D keyboard contacts a second life.

I just thought some of you Minimoog D owners out there would be interested to know about this.

[Portamental]

Very interesting.

[tonewheeltom]

Hi all, this is my first post.

Just wanted to put in a good word for Chris Hewitt at This Old Synth. I recently got my model D back from him, and his work is top notch and reasonably priced.

He installed the non-MIDI Opto-Key, did new bushings, caps, power supply, and replaced some components on the oscillator board. All the while he was very communicative via email before, during, and after the work.

I live on the east coast and have used some good techs, but I'll send the rest of my analog synths to him in CA when they need service.

[mrfett]

Just want to post to echo what tonewheeltom said. my Model D was a mess and he brought it back to life, but in addition his follow-thru was second-to-none. There was a glitch with my MIDI in (my card tested fine with some MIDI devices but none of mine worked with it), and despite being on opposite coasts the turnaround time to get a new board was lightning fast. I just can't say enough about this guy, especially having used several other synth techs. Just a first class operation all the way!

I called around to the other techs who are known to do great work on Model Ds and their prices were substantially higher than the cost of a sturdy box, TONS of bubble wrap and FedEx ground (although having done this once now I'd double-box, because when I got it back there were packing nuts leaking out the sides where the box had ripped).

The Opto-Key product is the real deal. I'll be sharing more videos of the possibilities it provides as I continue to use it in new songs.