Roland HS-60

Roland HS-60 - Manufactured in 1984 and marketed in Japan as the "Juno 106S." The Juno 106 is reasonably famous, having found favour with several well-known house music acts, among others. The humbler HS-60 (or "SynthPlus 60" as the nameplate proudly proclaims in swirly writing) has the same control-layout and basic functionality. The main difference is the addition of stereo speakers and an amplifier to drive them.

This hefty 10kg/22lb+ beast was rescued in May 2012 from a thrift store. It was a little battered and filthy, and has a few functionality issues, but is overall in sound condition. Sound-wise it reminds me of the Alpha Juno-1, the next model Roland produced in the Juno range. But unlike the Alpha, the HS-60 has a self-oscillating filter, which makes it capable of producing sounds the Alpha can only dream of. Manual controls for every parameter is also a bonus.

As well as the issues outlined below, the Decay slider in the ADSR envelope is at about 50% functionality (it was at 1% before my first attempt at cleaning). For now it works well enough to put up with.

Maintenance Pics

This slider has since been straightened. The cap is still missing though, so, if you're out there LFO Delay slider cap ... please come home!

The state of the pitch-bend panel before cleaning. I'm not sure what that gunk was. It looked like some kind of mineral deposit or mould.

Post-cleaning. The VCF slider was also straightened.

Thankfully this gunk was only in the end of the synth and the rest of the innards were fairly clean. Note that the base is made of plywood!

The inside of the end-cheek prior to cleaning.

End cheeks, cleaned. A damp cloth soaked in warm water & dish-liquid took care of the metal. The plastic was dunked separately. Came up a treat.

A peek into the innards. The voice and memory boards are sandwiched underneath the keyboard assembly.

This jack, which connects to the output board, was loose when I opened the front-panel. It doesn't want to stay seated because the wires in there rub against one of the amplifier heatsinks. Thanks to this the left-hand speaker cuts out sometimes and the left output jack is defunct. I'm consulting a tech and will update as and when.

Sound clips:

Coming soon!

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