This summer I found online cult synthisizer Korg M1 that was being offered very cheap on Croatian classified ads website. I asked a nice and friendly human being why he’s been selling it, is the chip burned out or something?

This human being nicely told me that the buttons are broken and some people tried to repair it but it would cost tones of money. I simply couldn’t resist after getting this information and decided to grab the synth and ask for a help my peers in Radiona to navigate me through the process of remaking and restoration. Electronic guys and peers Goran Mahovlić and Zvonimir Domazet helped with practically everything.

When we opened the sythesizer it turner out that it’s in a great condition, only the buttons for setting between different modes are literally broken, otherwise everything was workable.

So, Goran has brought his ultrasonic cleaner in the lab and we washed all the keyboards, he also designed in KitCAD new buttons and 3D printed it at small hobby King 3D printer. Meanwhile, Zvonimir was showing me the elements of electronics inside the machine and setting up the synth together with all its blocks. So, the Korg M1 is in perfect condition and workable again. I’m now pretty much hooked up to restoration of broken retro and vintage audio equipment. It’s a great way to learn electronics and to do useful restoration of broken valuable electronic devices. From the bottom to the top you can see how the keyboard was looking at the beginning and how it looks now.

So, we repaired it and I started a nice friendship with the person who sold me the Korg M1, who happen to be an intriguing young person many times beaten up for his sexual orientation. Creativity and tinkering can foster tolerance and compassion too.