desperately seeking roland fc100 service notes

[pinkjimiphoton]

hi guys, bought one of these on ebay...the listing said they had no idea if it was any good, as it used the old rmc connection...i need this for my gp8 so i can add it back to my rack.

i know the connection on the gp8 is good, as i used to use it with one of these.

but when i plug it in, i'm only getting the first footswitch to light, and nothing else...dead in the water.

i checked the voltage readings coming in, at the 7805 regulator, i'm getting nothing. no idea why even that single led is lighting!!

so i need the service notes, if anyone has them and would be kind enough to hook me up.

thanks!!

[pinkjimiphoton]

done fingered it out.

 

it needed a real good cleaning, and a shot of pot cleaner in each switch and back in business 100%!

fwiw, ALL them roland style footswitches (other than boss pedals) are the same. a little contact cleaner goes a long way when they stop working.

[Carlos]

Hi,

I've got the service notes on paper in case you still need them.
I always thought that a decent tremolo effect is missing on the Roland GP8. So my friend modded my FC100 to modulate the GP8 by continuous MIDI CC messages.
If you're interested:
http://www.elleven.de/en/news.html

Kind regards

Carlos

[pinkjimiphoton]

hi carlos,
would LOVE to see the service notes just for my own collection if there's any way you can scan them,

and your friend armin did some cool mods!! i'd love to do that, wish there were more in-depth instructions.

thanks for the reply!
peace

jimi

[Carlos]

Hi Jimi,

I haven't got a scanner at home (this is NOT a lame excuse), but I try to photocopy it to A4 and scan at the weekend.
The mod is very easy hardware-wise, Armin's programming was crucial, though.

Send him a mail for the programm code

Kind regards

Carlos

[pinkjimiphoton]

thanks so much carlos!!

i really appreciate it!!

no worries, no hurries bro...
peace!

[synchromesh]

Hi Carlos,

I'm looking to do some mods to my FC-100 also, so if you do scan the service notes I'd love to have a copy. My email address is john@synchromesh.com.

Cheers,

John :^P

[pinkjimiphoton]

hi john, never got the service notes on the beast.

in my case , all the switches needed to be repetitively cleaned, but now works 100%

on the net is info about hacking it into a basic midi controller (rmc is really close apparently) but i never saw the reason to bother.

[synchromesh]

Thanks for that. I've seen the "MIDI mod", which seems to boil down to making a custom cable with an "RRC" connector on one end and MIDI & power connectors on the other. Which is what I'll be doing to try and connect it to my SE-70 effects box.

I was hoping for the schematics so I could see what the "Signal out" and "EV-5" jacks are for without having to open it up and trace the PCB... ;)

[pinkjimiphoton]

be careful tho, cuz some of the mods appear to negate themselves IIRC....you won't be able to get any real time control of the se70 other than program change and cc 7 for volume.
wish i could be more help!

please post back if YOU find anything useful!

peace!

[synchromesh]

Program change is about all I'm expecting from it at the moment... I'm only using it because I happen to have one that I got with a GM-70 I bought.

In my non-existent spare time I'd like to rip the PCB out and stick an Arduino and a Bluetooth serial module in there (and perhaps a small LCD display), then I could program it from my iPad and teach it a few more tricks.

[drjoness2001]

If you are looking for the FC-100 Service Notes - Schematics, visit the Vintage Roland Guitar Synthesizer Resource:

http://www.joness.com/gr300/FC-100.htm

There is a link on the page to the FC-100 service notes, plus links to the service notes for the rare Roland RMC-1, which can convert Roland RRC format to MIDI.

Cheers, Wayne

[synchromesh]

Fantastic, thanks Wayne! And a big generalised "thank you" for your marvellous website, it's been a great resource over the years (speaking as a GR-300 owner). And thanks again for shipping your IMG-2010 to me in New Zealand!

Cheers,

John :^P

[Processaurus]

Welcome, Wayne! 

Wayne's created the definitive web page for vintage Roland synth guitars.  I've been visiting it for years, and have used the collection of service notes many times to mod and keep my GR700's alive.