Gig from Hell: Crumar Mojo failure edition

[NewImprov]

Thought you guys'd enjoy this story about my show last weekend. I'm playing with a new band, doing hard/alt/kinda proggy rock originals and a few covers. In this band, because there's already 2 guitars, I just play organ. In rehearsal, I play the guitarist/bandleader's 1958 B3/122 (the main reason I joined the band was to get my hands on this B3. Oh yeah, the guys are old friends too). On our gigs, I bring my Crumar Mojo and Take 5, the gig is about 95% organ, and 5% wanky synth solos. Fun band.

 

Had a show last weekend at an outdoor venue. Went out to my rehearsal space a few hours early, ran over the tunes, tweaked a few sounds, then packed for the show. There's an opening band, then we have about a half-hour set change. Set up my stuff and...the Mojo will not power up. Swap power cords, plugins, extension cords, everything, and it's just dead dead dead. I have about 20 miutes to show time, I run back to the rehearsal space, fortunately about a 7 minute drive from the venue. I grab my Hammond XK1-C, which I haven't even plugged in since getting the Mojo 4 years ago. Takes me 5 minutes to find the freaking power adaptor. Make it back to the gig with 4 minutes to showtime. Set up the XK, get sounds and go. Made it through the gig, but this whole thing rattled me, so I didn't play my best. Plus, the XK has a very different curve for reacting to the expression pedal, different leslie switch, etc. People liked the show, and the rest of the band had fun, but I wasn't feeling great.

 

For a few days, I'm freaking out, wondering what keyboards or organs, internal or otherwise, I have to sell to replace the Mojo.

 

it was yesterday before I could check out the Mojo. After popping the top, it took me 5 minutes to diagnose and fix the issue. I'd bought it used, and the previous owner had modded it to move the line-lump power supply inside the chassis, and installed an IEC socket for power. One of the lugs for the power had worked its way off the back of the IEC socket. Plugged it back in, everything works. Heat-shrink the lugs so it won't happen again, and put it all back together.

 

Some days, I feel like I don't get paid enough for this...

[NewImprov]

Just another note, I'm really glad I didn't sell my XK, I'd loaned it to a friend who intended to buy it, then his band fell apart, so it came back to me, and I was just too lazy to try to resell it. Think I'll keep it for now.

[Baldwin Funster]

I had a rehearsal at a guys loft and my midi controller wouldn't work. I got home and it worked. The next week same thing. I checked all the power and power supplies and it was OK.  I still don't know what's up. Shook my confidence in my rig. 

FWIW the guitar players amp wouldn't turn on the previous week. 

[dazzjazz]

54 minutes ago, NewImprov said:

Some days, I feel like I don't get paid enough for this...

 

You most definitely don't get paid enough!

[Delaware Dave]

I always have redundancy for a gig, even when i decide to use one keyboard at a gig i still bring a backup and leave it in the car.  Worse case scenario (organ-wise) is Kurzweil's KB3 and its own leslie.  It can get me through a show, as a matter of fact my last show that is intentionally what i did, KB3 and internal sim; not a single person noticed (other than me).

[pinkfloydcramer]

My Mojo has gone dead on 3 different occasions, the 1st 2 I was able to revive it, not so lucky the last time. At least I was not depending on it for important gigs (took it out once and it did fine). Probably a simple issue.   

[NewImprov]

12 hours ago, Delaware Dave said:

I always have redundancy for a gig, even when i decide to use one keyboard at a gig i still bring a backup and leave it in the car.  Worse case scenario (organ-wise) is Kurzweil's KB3 and its own leslie.  It can get me through a show, as a matter of fact my last show that is intentionally what i did, KB3 and internal sim; not a single person noticed (other than me).

Yeah, my “big” rig for my other bands has built-in redundancy, if one board fails, I have others that could see me through. Generally, it’s been my laptop/Mainstage rig that has had issues on the gig, and I can get by with just Rhodes and Mojo. But this band is more casual, and I wanted a simpler setup and smaller stage footprint. But next time, I’ll throw the XK in the car, it takes up very little space. 

[ImproKeys]

Crazy story! Glad you made it in time - must have felt like a nightmare. 

 

Regarding your chosen topic for the thread: And there goes the next round of „Crumar is so unreliable“. 😉 I’m really sorry for your situation but obviously it isn’t Crumar’s fault but the previous owner’s. 
 

[NewImprov]

22 minutes ago, ImproKeys said:

Crazy story! Glad you made it in time - must have felt like a nightmare. 

 

Regarding your chosen topic for the thread: And there goes the next round of „Crumar is so unreliable“. 😉 I’m really sorry for your situation but obviously it isn’t Crumar’s fault but the previous owner’s. 
 

That’s true, and I wasn’t thinking when I titled the thread. I owe Crumar an apology.

 

btw, Crumar does not recommend the mod that was done on mine, though I gather it’s not uncommon.

[jpgxk3]

Nice save, I sent you a PM...Joe

[J.F.N.]

What a nightmare, really great luck you didn't rid of the other board yet!!

 

Back in my heydays I (with help from a friend) saved a keyboard players night, his Leslie stopped working, rotor problem with the top rotor. I was a guest at this big private party with hundreds of people, and a live band entertaining the entire night. At the time I was lugging a 760 Solid State myself when I was performing, so I went to the stage, introduced myself and asked if they wanted assistance. The player had no clue, I'm a bit of a handyman, you gotta be when playing old junk, but as it was not my gig I had no toolbox or spare stuff with me. Quickly found the problem, a soldering had given up on the rotor motor connector, but of course they had no soldering iron.

 

Went back to the table and explained it to my buddy, who's an electronics geek, and he immediately took up a ballpoint pen, bended the clip upward and asked if I had a lighter, which I had (smoker at the time), then we went to the stage and resoldered the cable with what was left of the solder tin on the wire and the connector, using the pen as handle heating up the clip with the lighter, making an improvised soldering iron. It was not a perfect solder, but it saved the night.

 

I was then invited to jam a couple of songs as well, this is 20+ years ago, don't remember what we played, probably some blues stuff...

 

🤪

[mrk7421]

Correct me if I am wrong but aren't you in the Willamette Valley area of Oregon? Did you know that the national service center for Crumar is McIntosh Audio in Salem? Michael McIntosh works closely with Andrea in Italy to support Crumar both in and out of warranty. Let me know if you need contact info.... I will post if you don't already have it

[NewImprov]

37 minutes ago, mrk7421 said:

Correct me if I am wrong but aren't you in the Willamette Valley area of Oregon? Did you know that the national service center for Crumar is McIntosh Audio in Salem? Michael McIntosh works closely with Andrea in Italy to support Crumar both in and out of warranty. Let me know if you need contact info.... I will post if you don't already have it

I did not know that, that’s great! Definitely increases my confidence in owning the Mojo. Thanks for the info!

[Old No7]

15 hours ago, NewImprov said:

...I just play organ. In rehearsal, I play the guitarist/bandleader's 1958 B3/122 (the main reason I joined the band was to get my hands on this B3)

 

Heck, yeah, I'd join a band for that reason too!

 

Glad you found the problem on the Mojo.

 

Old No7

[JoJoB3]

16 hours ago, NewImprov said:

Thought you guys'd enjoy this story about my show last weekend. I'm playing with a new band, doing hard/alt/kinda proggy rock originals and a few covers. In this band, because there's already 2 guitars, I just play organ. In rehearsal, I play the guitarist/bandleader's 1958 B3/122 (the main reason I joined the band was to get my hands on this B3. Oh yeah, the guys are old friends too). On our gigs, I bring my Crumar Mojo and Take 5, the gig is about 95% organ, and 5% wanky synth solos. Fun band.

 

Had a show last weekend at an outdoor venue. Went out to my rehearsal space a few hours early, ran over the tunes, tweaked a few sounds, then packed for the show. There's an opening band, then we have about a half-hour set change. Set up my stuff and...the Mojo will not power up. Swap power cords, plugins, extension cords, everything, and it's just dead dead dead. I have about 20 miutes to show time, I run back to the rehearsal space, fortunately about a 7 minute drive from the venue. I grab my Hammond XK1-C, which I haven't even plugged in since getting the Mojo 4 years ago. Takes me 5 minutes to find the freaking power adaptor. Make it back to the gig with 4 minutes to showtime. Set up the XK, get sounds and go. Made it through the gig, but this whole thing rattled me, so I didn't play my best. Plus, the XK has a very different curve for reacting to the expression pedal, different leslie switch, etc. People liked the show, and the rest of the band had fun, but I wasn't feeling great.

 

For a few days, I'm freaking out, wondering what keyboards or organs, internal or otherwise, I have to sell to replace the Mojo.

 

it was yesterday before I could check out the Mojo. After popping the top, it took me 5 minutes to diagnose and fix the issue. I'd bought it used, and the previous owner had modded it to move the line-lump power supply inside the chassis, and installed an IEC socket for power. One of the lugs for the power had worked its way off the back of the IEC socket. Plugged it back in, everything works. Heat-shrink the lugs so it won't happen again, and put it all back together.

 

Some days, I feel like I don't get paid enough for this...

 

Lame it happened but this can happen across the board with any instrument.  In this case this one was a walk in the park.  If this caused that much pain
DO NOT get a vintage rhodes, wurly, B3/3-series Hammond, Clav, etc....nor clones of!  I don't know any instrument that doesn't require care and maintenance come to think of it.

The thing is though, the vintage can live as long as you want them to where todays surface mount digitals will put up a fight showing you why it's lifespan is usually finite.

[mrk7421]

Well....knowing most of the players who have owned Mojo's and toneweel Hammond's between Portland and Eugene I can just about GUESS who might have owned and modded this Mojo. Is it a dual manual....and was it previously used at jam nights in the Albany/ Corvallis area? I guess I shouldn't make this public perhaps but it's possible I  have played this instrument.....no ?  Once again.....I know Andrea personally.....I met him and Guido at NAMM quite a few years ago and helped them with some sales and service connections and I assure you that they and McIntosh Audio go to great lengths to keep the Crumar instruments ticking. It sounds like this might be an older Mojo dual manual ? Regardless....Michael is one tech who will go to great lengths to keep it going..

[AnotherScott]

In case you're not 7 minutes from a source for another keyboard... for emergency backup just to get through the gig... you might be able to have VB3m on your smartphone ready to plug into your Take 5.

[HammondDave]

My MOJO backup is a 16lb Launchkey 88 and B3x on my ipad.
 

Always in my car. 
 

Never had to use it. 

[NewImprov]

21 hours ago, JoJoB3 said:

 

Lame it happened but this can happen across the board with any instrument.  In this case this one was a walk in the park.  If this caused that much pain
DO NOT get a vintage rhodes, wurly, B3/3-series Hammond, Clav, etc....nor clones of!  I don't know any instrument that doesn't require care and maintenance come to think of it.

The thing is though, the vintage can live as long as you want them to where todays surface mount digitals will put up a fight showing you why it's lifespan is usually finite.

So true! And the thing with digital, is that when it fails, it generally fails completely. I’ve limped through gigs where a couple notes died on my Rhodes, but it’s never been completely DOA. 

[NewImprov]

6 hours ago, mrk7421 said:

Well....knowing most of the players who have owned Mojo's and toneweel Hammond's between Portland and Eugene I can just about GUESS who might have owned and modded this Mojo. Is it a dual manual....and was it previously used at jam nights in the Albany/ Corvallis area? I guess I shouldn't make this public perhaps but it's possible I  have played this instrument.....no ?  Once again.....I know Andrea personally.....I met him and Guido at NAMM quite a few years ago and helped them with some sales and service connections and I assure you that they and McIntosh Audio go to great lengths to keep the Crumar instruments ticking. It sounds like this might be an older Mojo dual manual ? Regardless....Michael is one tech who will go to great lengths to keep it going..

Yup, mine is definitely the Mojo in question, the former owner is a friend. I’m going to give McIntosh a call to see if undoing the power supply mod is a good idea. The IEC socket doesn’t quite fit snug, and wiggles just a bit every time you plug or unplug. Over time, this could have led to the lug working loose. I recrimped the clip, and then hit it with heat shrink, so it should hold, but I’ll see what he thinks. 
 

I definitely noticed the XK1-C didn’t sound nearly as good as the Mojo on the gig. 

[NewImprov]

On 6/26/2024 at 6:27 AM, jpgxk3 said:

Nice save, I sent you a PM...Joe

Yeah, got your message. That was before I figured out and solved the issue, and was looking at the possibility of needing to replace the Mojo. The MAG looks and sounds amazing, but I’m now hoping to get a few more years out of the Mojo. 

[mrk7421]

McIntosh Audio is 503 931 7577.....meeting with Michael should be time well spent. He is up in West Salem. So this is the one I know about....I suppose I know the original owner. Anyway Michael will take care of of you and he is not one of those overpriced hourly labor sharks.His first concern is to get you going....

[ProfD]

On 6/25/2024 at 10:36 PM, Baldwin Funster said:

I had a rehearsal at a guys loft and my midi controller wouldn't work. I got home and it worked. The next week same thing. I checked all the power and power supplies and it was OK.  I still don't know what's up. Shook my confidence in my rig. 

FWIW the guitar players amp wouldn't turn on the previous week. 

Reads like there is a bad outlet in the loft.  May want to have an electrician check it out.😎

[bill bosco]

On 6/25/2024 at 11:26 PM, pinkfloydcramer said:

My Mojo has gone dead on 3 different occasions, the 1st 2 I was able to revive it, not so lucky the last time. At least I was not depending on it for important gigs (took it out once and it did fine). Probably a simple issue.   

that's why i gave up on my Mojo , a first or second gen . couldn't get any input from crumar support so i mothballed it for a couple of years ( couldn't sell it in good faith ) till i retired . that's where i had enough time time convert the whole thing to an hx-3 organ , drawbars and all . needless to say , this works for me just fine  . play on it every weekend at my church . like a rock 

[Baldwin Funster]

2 hours ago, ProfD said:

Reads like there is a bad outlet in the loft.  May want to have an electrician check it out.😎

I didn't like the guy and I won't be at that loft anymore. And incidentally I don't like lofts. Or basements. Yeah I know I'm now way OT.

[ProfD]

7 minutes ago, Baldwin Funster said:

I didn't like the guy and I won't be at that loft anymore. And incidentally I don't like lofts. Or basements. Yeah I know I'm now way OT.

Understood. 

 

 

Hopefully, you won't get a call for band rehearsal at this location.🤣😎

[Delaware Dave]

6 hours ago, NewImprov said:

I definitely noticed the XK1-C didn’t sound nearly as good as the Mojo on the gig. 

Agree ....

[Outkaster]

I got rid of two mojo's.  Bad build quality. The SK Pro sounds so  much better anyway.

[pinkfloydcramer]

On 6/27/2024 at 4:20 PM, bill bosco said:

that's why i gave up on my Mojo , a first or second gen . couldn't get any input from crumar support so i mothballed it for a couple of years ( couldn't sell it in good faith ) till i retired . that's where i had enough time time convert the whole thing to an hx-3 organ , drawbars and all . needless to say , this works for me just fine  . play on it every weekend at my church . like a rock 

Kudos for doing this, but probably not a good idea for a non-techie such as myself. My best bet is to ship my Mojo off to the service center listed here, only after that could I sell it in good conscience. Not quite ready to give up on resuscitating it myself, just yet. I enjoyed playing it- the V/C, overdrive and Leslie (in stereo) effect together made it my favorite self-contained organ rig for playing and recording at home. 

 

I had better luck with getting a response from Crumar, they were willing at the time to walk me through the troubleshooting.  

[mrk7421]

I have both the Mojo module and the Viscount module and both have been dependable for me. My biggest frustration is in trying to tame some of these Leslie sim issues. The HX3 sim and the Mojo sim drive me nuts because there is so much I don't understand about mic distance ...cabinet simulation and the like. Of all the Sims I find the Viscount most useful with the exception of overdrive. I am severely tempted to use a Leslie with the Mojo or HX3. It wouldn't be too hard to get a 45 size cabinet going....I just haven't gotten around to it