Howdy! I’ve got some sticky buttons on my Ultra… I’ve had it since 2000, and over the years I’ve noticed the F buttons used to navigate will stick and loop you from page to page, or attempt to load then merge banks you didn’t want… it’s a real hassle!! I’m wondering if anyone knows if these buttons are easy to clean with deoxit? or do I need to look for replacements?? I’ve looked around and haven’t found any vids on cleaning, or changing out buttons on Emu boxes… Surprising!! am I the only one with this hassle!?? can’t be!! haha
It’s still an amazing box!! I used it to tour with Sully Erna’s solo project in 2011 with 2 controllers… and it did a great job! Since then, I’ve upgraded to MainStage and love it!! But I still use the Ultra in my music work at home for the loads of great sounds!
Thanks for reading, and your thoughts!! and Thanks to the folks at Syntaur for hosting this awesome resource!!
That is likely an issue with the tact switches wearing out. Generally, it’s better to replace them rather than try to clean them. I’m not sure which switches this uses, and have been meaning to check into this. I’m pretty sure we have several of these Ultras in our warehouse - but I haven’t had the opportunity to check yet.
Thanks so much Sam!! I’ll keep looking and post any info I find!! I plan to replace the old IDE HD in it with an SD card gizmo that has been working beautifully in an old amiga 3000 I resurrected!! I’ve been watching and reading about replacing old drives on a UK forum called Samplers on Acid… lots of great info there.
Keep up the great work!! Love what you all are doing!
Thanks Sam!! I’m happy to report that I’ve successfully replaced the 20 GB HD in my Ultra with a SCSI2SD converter, and it’s working beautifully! Nice not to worry if the next time I spin up that old drive might be the last!
Also… I did a good cleaning of the buttons and just a smidge of deoxit on them all… and after working with it more than I have for years, most, not all, but most of the stickyness seems to have lessened! I guess it just wanted to get used!