Hammond transformer inside D6

[DAtkinson]

Hi all

1st post, working on a D6 which I picked up a decade ago.

Trying to figure out what is going on inside. Looks like somebody has done some hobbyist work, and there is a Hammond transformer wired into the power supply.

I've attached a pic, can anybody tell me what is going on in here?

Thanks,

David

[Jenzz]

Hi .-)

Looks like someone 'implanted' a mains powered supply. The 4 diodes in the middle form a bridge rectifier...

Any transformer nearby the pickups will introduce hum, so maybe you should return to the original, battery powered config...

Jenzz

[pianotuner steveo]

Those 2 wires with the electrical tape look like a short that's about to happen. If you don't restore it back to the way it was, at the very least, use shrink tubing in place of the electrical tape. It will be much safer.  If you don't have any shrink tubing, temporarily add more electrical tape to make it safer.

[DAtkinson]

Thank you both.

I'll be restoring it to the original configuration, with 9V battery jack and a DC jack at the back. (I've heard its best to run it off 9V though, instead of a power adapter.)

While I have this thread going, I'm also looking at upgrading the preamp with a rebuild kit, either the one at Vintage Vibe or at clavinet.com, anybody have experiences with those, or can compare them to each other? Does anybody know if those kits will take you part of the way in the de-noising battle? (As opposed to / in addition to getting a shielding box for the preamp.)

Thanks,

[Jenzz]

Hi .-)

The clavinet.com preamp is akind of 'clone' of the original design (using the Beyer / Pikatron transformer and inductors for the filter) while the VV use their own preamp design, which is more of a 3-band EQ + AutoWah. Both of them sound fine and have a low noise floor, but they sound different.

Jenzz

[DAtkinson]

Thanks Jenzz. I was actually referring to the component kits that they each sell for around $20USD.
https://www.vintagevibe.com/collections/clavinet-electronics/products/clavinet-preamp-rebuild-kit
https://store.clavinet.com/Clavinet-D6-Preamp-Upgrade-Kit-_p_22.html

The clavinet.com may well be the component version of their ultra preamp, but that can't be the case with the VV kit, as their vibanet preamp is totally different.