dalpozlead Posted October 20, 2022 Share Posted October 20, 2022 My new setup is ergonomically perfect… a new chair, new controller and a synth drawer with the best cable management I’ve ever done…, but: No perfect space for the Jupiter Xm. I’ve never (and will never) use the mini keys… in fact its existence annoys me, so I’ve been thinking about converting it into a module, removing the keys and thinking about a solution to close it “professionally”. Completely stupid idea? Anything that should stop this thought process before it progresses…? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AUSSIEKEYS Posted October 20, 2022 Share Posted October 20, 2022 59 minutes ago, dalpozlead said: Anything that should stop this thought process before it progresses…? No! i love conversions of keyboards. Following youre thread intently. Please continue........ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProfD Posted October 20, 2022 Share Posted October 20, 2022 58 minutes ago, dalpozlead said: Completely stupid idea? Anything that should stop this thought process before it progresses…? Not a completely stupid idea *if* you plan to keep the hack job forever. OTOH, depending on how the Jupiter Xm is being utilized in term sounds and from a tactile perspective, maybe consider selling and replacing it with Roland JD-08 or Roland Integra.😎 Quote PD "The greatest thing you'll ever learn, is just to love and be loved in return."--E. Ahbez "Nature Boy" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baldwin Funster Posted October 20, 2022 Share Posted October 20, 2022 How about clear resin. Just build a reservoir with tape or something around the keybed and pour in some clear epoxy or whatever. Then you'll have the keys under glass. Then someday in the future somebody will aquire it and go.. WTF? Quote FunMachine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CyberGene Posted October 21, 2022 Share Posted October 21, 2022 Jupiter Xm is a VST in a box which is hard to program and has too few controls to be worth the hassle. IMO. What I like about it is the fact it’s a portable synth that runs on batteries and has decent speakers. You’re basically amputating these three advantages. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ABECK Posted October 21, 2022 Share Posted October 21, 2022 Sell it and get a module. Plenty to choose from. Ultimately a chop job could be more of a headache than it is worth. (and as ProfD said, you should probably plan on keeping it forever at that point.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnotherScott Posted October 21, 2022 Share Posted October 21, 2022 Picking up from ABECK and ProfD's thoughts about possibly replacing it with a module, and CyberGene's thought about it being basically a VST in a box anyway... Assuming you have a computer as part of the setup, I think you can get most if not all the Xm's functionality from Roland Cloud (with, as Gene said, the main advantages of the Xm over the Cloud being the self-contained portability with its keys/batteries/speakers, none of which you'd have anymore anyway). You could even have a separate small tablet computer (i.e. Surface Pro) which could be treated as a dedicated Roland Cloud Sound Module, if there's no computer there or it's tied up with other things or otherwise inconvenient to use for this purpose. Rather than likely de-valuing your Xm, you could probably sell it, use that money to buy a Surface and some "lifetime" Roland keys, and still be financially ahead. Quote Maybe this is the best place for a shameless plug! Our now not-so-new new video at https://youtu.be/3ZRC3b4p4EI is a 40 minute adaptation of T. S. Eliot's "Prufrock" - check it out! And hopefully I'll have something new here this year. ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Konnector Posted October 21, 2022 Share Posted October 21, 2022 It's a pricey little synth to butcher. If it was a cheap MicroKorg or something along those lines then sure - chop it up. It's not though, so I'd say leave it be and sell it for something that fits your needs better. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RABid Posted October 21, 2022 Share Posted October 21, 2022 People who do not own a Jupiter X(m) don't understand how good it sounds, how handy it is to choose other synth models to load in, how easy it is to program and/or load sounds into when connected to the computer, and how nice it is to have 256 voice polyphony. If you cut the keys off you will be missing out on one of the best features, the multi-channel arp. You don't really need full size keys for that, or for the wonderful vocoder. If mini keys are so into your head that you cannot or will not play them, upgrade to the full size Jupiter X, or at least to the Juno X. I'm quite happy with my Jupiter Xm sitting next to my Korg Wavestate. But, I'm also planning to grab a full size Jupiter X some day soon. 1 Quote This post edited for speling. My Sweetwater Gear Exchange Page Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Emm Posted October 21, 2022 Share Posted October 21, 2022 2 hours ago, RABid said: People who do not own a Jupiter X(m) don't understand how good it sounds, how handy it is to choose other synth models to load in, how easy it is to program and/or load sounds into when connected to the computer, and how nice it is to have 256 voice polyphony. If you cut the keys off you will be missing out on one of the best features, the multi-channel arp. You don't really need full size keys for that, or for the wonderful vocoder. If mini keys are so into your head that you cannot or will not play them, upgrade to the full size Jupiter X, or at least to the Juno X. I'm quite happy with my Jupiter Xm sitting next to my Korg Wavestate. But, I'm also planning to grab a full size Jupiter X some day soon. The complaints I've read hold little water. The thing is most of Roland in a box, which is a potent asset. The GUI could have used a few tweaks, like adding color to the all-white buttons when editing, but we've all used far worse. Plug a decent controller into it that has zoning means and it becomes a DEVO pipe organ. C'mon, it even offers several RD pianos on top of the synth overload. I know its always subjective and that's fine, but the Xm is like an entire planet unto itself. I'm happy to live within Logic now, but you don't know how big a deal it is for ME to say I could make this my main voice if I was still into hardware. Quote "Let there be dancing in the streets, drinking in the saloons and necking in the parlors! Play, Don!" ~ Groucho Marx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dalpozlead Posted January 4 Author Share Posted January 4 point of no return 😁 Next step: adapt to mount in a rack 6 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Emm Posted January 5 Share Posted January 5 Nice work! Now that its chopped, its a family heirloom, resale value on Reverb be damned! In my view, Roland could sell a healthy number of "X-m/r"s in this form. Roland offers a free editor for it, so you can program it to the hilt and then have it play self-contained. That feels like a big win for a live rig. Trolls deride some instruments as a "VST in a box," but this is what it looks like when done right. 1 Quote "Let there be dancing in the streets, drinking in the saloons and necking in the parlors! Play, Don!" ~ Groucho Marx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Finale Posted January 5 Share Posted January 5 On 10/20/2022 at 4:43 PM, dalpozlead said: Anything that should stop this thought process before it progresses…? I'm very late to the party, but I think it is a little cutie. I enjoy modifying keyboards too and to answer your original question, I always start by asking myself if it's OK I might never sell the unit in the future, then if fine before doing anything I make sure what I want to do is actually possible and then define the main steps and possible material I will need, etc. Of course, mods don't come with instruction manuals so there are always additional steps or problems that come along, but I think it is always interesting and fun challenges. Congrats ! P. S. : Hope this will be added to the new Repairs and Mods section, it's always interesting to see what others work on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AUSSIEKEYS Posted January 5 Share Posted January 5 13 hours ago, dalpozlead said: point of no return 😁 Next step: adapt to mount in a rack This is brilliant. Love to know more Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dalpozlead Posted January 5 Author Share Posted January 5 Thanks for the positive feedback, this was a medium difficulty job, plenty of space and not that much cables to handle. The keybed is packed nicely so after removing 2 internal screws its loose. The "messy" job was to cut the plastic..., in this case having the right tool was key. A small rotary saw (and a vacuum cleaner attached) helped to reduce the mess, avoiding the plastic particles to be inside. I'm still deciding if this will be a single rack of if I'll add another Roland gear (JV-1080, JD-08 and JD-990) into a super Roland Monster Rack. Unfortunatelly the Jupiter Xm is wider than the rack standard measure, so I'm not completely certain. More pictures to come when ready. Tks! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AUSSIEKEYS Posted January 6 Share Posted January 6 It looks like a quality desktop module From photos it could definitely pass as factory made. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Husker Posted January 8 Share Posted January 8 On 1/4/2024 at 8:24 PM, David Emm said: In my view, Roland could sell a healthy number of "X-m/r"s in this form. I'd buy one in a microsecond. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dalpozlead Posted January 15 Author Share Posted January 15 Adding some wood work. 2 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nursers Posted January 15 Share Posted January 15 Seriously this is amazing and I too would buy one in a heartbeat. Great work! 1 Quote The Keyboard Chronicles Podcast Check out your fellow forumites in an Apple Music playlist Check out your fellow forumites in a Spotify playlist My Music: Stainless Fields Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dalpozlead Posted January 15 Author Share Posted January 15 13 minutes ago, Dr Nursers said: Seriously this is amazing and I too would buy one in a heartbeat. Great work! tks!, this was a fun project. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Woodward Posted January 16 Share Posted January 16 Dont want to criticise anyone's efforts, and I loved the way this was going as a module, just think the woodwork lets it down a bit. Im a furniture designer by trade so probably being a bit picky, but that's if I were doing this for myself. Takes nothing away from the work done on this so well done. 1 Quote Korg Grandstage 73, Mac Mini M1, Logic Pro X (Pigments, Korg Legacy Collection, Wavestate LE, Sylenth), iPad Pro 12.9 M2 (6th gen), Scarlett 2i2, Presonus Eris E3.5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dalpozlead Posted January 16 Author Share Posted January 16 4 hours ago, Paul Woodward said: Dont want to criticise anyone's efforts, and I loved the way this was going as a module, just think the woodwork lets it down a bit. Im a furniture designer by trade so probably being a bit picky, but that's if I were doing this for myself. Takes nothing away from the work done on this so well done. Thanks for the comment Paul. I wonder if you found someting specific about the construction (I did with practically no experience with wood... home made :-), or with the design itself? I'd really love to hear ideas. tks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zeronyne Posted January 16 Share Posted January 16 Nice work! And I wouldn't be so quick to relegate this conversion to the "it will never have resale value" bin. I've seen Microfreaks and Minilogues with amputated keyboards sell very quickly on Reverb. 2 Quote "For instance" is not proof. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CEB Posted January 16 Share Posted January 16 I would personally place a higher price on this than I would the original. Quote "It doesn't have to be difficult to be cool" - Mitch Towne "A great musician can bring tears to your eyes!!! So can a auto Mechanic." - Stokes Hunt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Woodward Posted January 16 Share Posted January 16 3 hours ago, dalpozlead said: Thanks for the comment Paul. I wonder if you found someting specific about the construction (I did with practically no experience with wood... home made :-), or with the design itself? I'd really love to hear ideas. tks! Again, it’s a labour of love and you are happy with it. I would have matched the end cheek to the shape of the metal case (it protrudes) and formed that front lip into the casing a bit cleaner. Works for you, and that is what matters. Quote Korg Grandstage 73, Mac Mini M1, Logic Pro X (Pigments, Korg Legacy Collection, Wavestate LE, Sylenth), iPad Pro 12.9 M2 (6th gen), Scarlett 2i2, Presonus Eris E3.5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dalpozlead Posted January 16 Author Share Posted January 16 25 minutes ago, Paul Woodward said: Again, it’s a labour of love and you are happy with it. I would have matched the end cheek to the shape of the metal case (it protrudes) and formed that front lip into the casing a bit cleaner. Works for you, and that is what matters. got it! sure, one of my plan (so far a dream...,) is to have a dedicated space, and machinery so I can dedicate to those kind of detailing on wood and metal. tks buddy! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Threadslayer Posted January 16 Share Posted January 16 57 minutes ago, Paul Woodward said: I would have matched the end cheek to the shape of the metal case (it protrudes) and formed that front lip into the casing a bit cleaner. Doesn't look any rougher than this... And they sold pretty well Quote Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect. -Mark Twain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dalpozlead Posted January 16 Author Share Posted January 16 if the Xm was closer to a rack dimension I'd have done a "monster roland rack" with the Xm, JD-08, JV-1080 and JD-990... but as it is larger the idea died young. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Analogaddict Posted January 16 Share Posted January 16 2 hours ago, dalpozlead said: if the Xm was closer to a rack dimension I'd have done a "monster roland rack" with the Xm, JD-08, JV-1080 and JD-990... but as it is larger the idea died young. How far off is it? If you cut the sides really close to the sliders, is it still a no-go for 19”..? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dalpozlead Posted January 16 Author Share Posted January 16 15 minutes ago, Analogaddict said: How far off is it? If you cut the sides really close to the sliders, is it still a no-go for 19”..? unfortunately the PCBs are almost reaching each side (sorry, I should have taken pictures), so no way to reduce the width... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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