BENCH NOTES

Welcome to Bench Notes, Synth When’s monthly synth repair newsletter. We thought it might be nice to share some regular updates about the shop, shout-out friends, and share local events in the industry.

Let us know what you think of our first edition and what you’d like to see more of!

REVIVING THE LIBERATION

Last fall, a customer brought in a Moog Liberation that had seen some real wear-and-tear over its 40-or-so years of service. The “protective” interior foam had degraded to a sticky mess that wreaked havoc on most of the controls. The ribbon controller was intermittent, and its wooden body looked like a well-loved skateboard.

We managed to repair the first two issues without too many hiccups, but the third was beyond our scope. Enter Rich Zahumensky.

If you don’t already know Rich, he runs Ozley Guitars, an electric guitar custom shop here in Toronto that also specializes in refinishing bodies. Being a good friend of ours, it seemed only right to enlist his help to give this Liberation the refresh it deserved, and he really went above and beyond! Hats off to you, Rich!

KICKING OFF QUALITY CONTROL

Last year, we implemented a new Quality Control phase to our standard repair process, and it’s made a huge impact on our work.

If you’ve been working with us for a while, you know we already offer a two month warranty. That’s come in handy over the years; even with a final play-test, minor things like a scratchy pot, an intermittent key, or a sketchy output jack can all be missed. But with a busier shop and more techs, we wanted to make sure we were catching any final issues before instruments went out the door.

Now when a repair has been completed, a different tech is assigned to give it a QC. This includes verifying keys, tuning, I/O, controls, and doing the ever-necessary shake test.

Over the past year, we’ve caught 95% of any remaining issues through our QC. It’s awesome to keep levelling up our processes - and as musicians, we’re glad to know we’re getting instruments back into their owner’s hands at full health.

THE JUNK DRAWER

Some other tidbits from last month worth sharing:

• We celebrated our three year anniversary of moving to the current shop! No party or anything, but still pretty neat.

• January was a big month for the Korg Polysix, with us having worked on a total of (oddly) six.

• We put up some new wall decor from Analog Prints.

• And lastly, our shop dog, London, made “Employee of the Month”! Congrats, London!

LOCAL EVENTS

Synth and synth-adjacent happenings in the GTA.

Monday, February 12 | Toronto Electronic Music Open Mic

On the second Monday of each month, our friends at TEMOM hold an electronic music open mic night at Handlebar. 15 minute sets. All live. All musical styles. This Monday has a full house, so drop by at 8pm and enjoy!

Wednesday, February 14 | Render File

You can often catch our talented tech Sam playing keys at Render File on Wednesdays. This casual event stars a different video game playthrough each week with a live band accompaniment. Check it out at Wenona Craft Beer Lodge every Wednesday at 8pm.

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Got any suggestions for local events we can add here? We’d love to hear about them! Just reach out and let us know.

If you made it this far, thanks so much for reading this first edition of Bench Notes! Feel free to let us know what you think, share it with a friend, or suggest new topics you’re curious about.

—The Team at Synths When