Analoguediehard Workbench
Last Update 06/14/2026
Where my music
gear goes to be calibrated or resurrected!
Welcome to my garage, where I perform development, maintenance,
calibration, and repair of music gear. Follow along for the tour...
In the image on left is my workbench area. My grandfather was a
carpenter who built the solid seven foot wide bench, which I
inherited. I have kept it with me wherever I moved to (way too many
times, finally have a happy retirement home in the southeast). I
mounted extensions to the legs that supports the magnifier and
brackets to hang the fluorescent light fixture. Behind me is a
bright work light that pivots and angles over the device under
examination (DUX). The patients on the bench are a Moog
Voyager and Voyager RME being calibrated; I hang schematics or
component layout sheets from the fluorescent light fixture, just
above the test instruments and at eye level.
Behind the workbench is a six foot high wire frame shelving unit
with wheels, which was a surplus item that I got from work. It is an
industrial quality NSF Certified shelving unit with very strong
shelves, not the consumer ones found at Home Depot or Lowes. I
discovered later that it was surplus because the wheels were
disintegrating, fortunately not far from me was an industrial
material handling supplier that stocked the exact replacements. The
shelves support a lot of weight which was perfect to place my
measurement instruments onto, and they can be positioned at
eyesight. Before this setup, my measurement instruments were to the
side of the workbench which wasn't optimal because I had to look
away from the DUX to watch the instruments and risk slipping the
probe on a component, or worse damaging the component. The other
shelves are for storage of project and spare parts, and for totes to
store magazines and files. And the whole assembly can be wheeled
right behind my workbench. These make efficient use of space in my
garage.
Moving to the image on the right is a closeup of my measurement
instruments. From left to right:
- Sencore LC102 Capacitor/Inductor Analyzer. There has
never been a better tool for these components. It analyzes
capacitors for ESR, dielectric absorption, leakage, and value.
Most meters only measure the value which is far from the
complete picture. Found this 100% functional meter for peanuts
at a vintage guitar show.
- Peterson 490 strobe tuner. Hard to beat for accurate
tuning. I learned quickly that guitar tuners are not accurate
enough for tuning electric pianos and synths.
- Tektronix 2430A digital oscilloscope. Two channel
150Mhz bandwidth oscilloscope with digital measurement "apps".
- Tektronix 7904 Measurement System Chassis with these
plugin modules:
- 2x 7A26 Vertical Amplifer dual channel (one
shown) DC to 200Mhz. One half of an analog oscilloscope. With
both modules I have a 'scope with four inputs.
- 7D15 Universal Counter/Timer. This two
channel 225Mhz module performs period, frequency, time
intervals (IE pulse width with hysterisis), time measurement
between both inputs, propagation delays, leading/lagging
delays (phase shifts), frequency ratio, and totalize (event
counter). The result is displayed in the top margin readout of
the scope display. Good tool for jitter issues.
- 7D01 Logic Analyzer 16 channel 100Mhz with DF1
Formatter (not shown).
- 7L5 Spectrum Analyzer 10hz to 5Mhz (not shown)
- 7B92 Dual/Delayed Time Base Horizontal Amplifier
400Mhz. The other half of an analog oscilloscope.
- 7B53A Dual Time Base Horizontal Amplifier 100Mhz. Has
features that the 7B92 does not.
- Fluke 117 DMM. Fluke makes very good handheld DMMs. I
have a cheaper DMM that I only use for non-critical
measurements.
- Circuit Specialists CSI3003X regulated power supply
Dual 0-30VDC 3A fixed 5VDC 3A.
- Tektronix TM515 Measurement System Chassis with these
plugins:
- FG504 Function Generator 40Mhz (not shown)
- FG502 Function Generator 0.1hz to 11Mhz
- DC502 Universal Counter 100Mhz
- SC503 Storage Oscilloscope dual channel DC to 10Mhz.
- DM501A DMM
- Peak DCA75 Discrete Device Tester (not shown)
- ABI ChipMaster Logic IC Tester (not shown)
This collection fills almost all of my needs for music gear work.
One may ask why three oscilloscopes? The TM515 is portable for
remote work (the SG503 can display Lissajous phase shift and
interval patterns of two signals), the 2430A has digital features
the others do not have, and the 7904 chassis is my chameleon for
mixed domain applications. The Tektronix 7904 modular system is a
serious workhorse; by changing out plugins I can convert an analog
oscilloscope into a spectrum analyzer, into a logic analyzer, or any
combination. It is 1970s/1980s technology but these are robust and
accurate (if calibrated) tools.
The 7D01 Logic Analyzer has a powerful feature for debugging
embedded hybrid synths/effects - when I configure the word
recognizer for a specific address on a CPU buss, it can trigger the
time base module which lets me zero in on a single CV out of a
dynamic multiplexed signal chain. This has been a critical tool for
troubleshooting hybrid analog polysynths or anything using a CPU.
Behind me is my toolbox which stands waist high and is on wheels. I
don't have a massive collection of tools so the toolbox isn't very
wide, but I also don't store any measurement instruments like
plugins in there. The toolbox stores non powered hand tools like
screwdrivers, pliers, wrenches, socket sets, hammers, measuring
tapes, etc. Fortunately I landed a good supply of Sears-Craftsmen
hand tools before Sears ruined the Craftsmen brand by selling it to
a chinese organization.
That t-shirt needs some 'splaining... "I got a tractor for my wife,
best trade I ever made". Sadly there's some truth to that. After the
divorce from the miserable marriage, I was paying alimony and that
expense could legally be deducted from my taxable income. When I
moved to a new job, the house I was renting had a huge three acre
lawn to mow and I owned zero lawn maintenance tools. That year I got
a nice refund from my income taxes thanks to the alimony deduction,
which paid for the new John Deere garden tractor. A few years later
I saw that shirt at a store and I had to buy it as it was so true.
Am I gloating? ...Maybe...
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