PPG Wave 2.2 / 2.3 Rack Project

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via this auction

"I have a significant amount of time [both mine and others] and money invested in making this work.
I am at my limits of abilities to work on it. I can get a display to run but no sound because of the Proz-mismatch.

The PPG has the latest Virtual Music 8.3 ROMs. I am including a second set of ROMs as well.

I would refer to this below from Alexander from Virtual Music [link removed by eBay]
I am looking for $5000 as is.

When this was shipped, the cards were not removed and wrapped so the damages are listed below.
• 2-3 broken mylar caps [the leads are hairline thin and very fragile]
• 1 broken 27.460mhz Crystal
• LCD cable pins are bent / broken and some will need replacement.

from Peter Forrest / Vemia
Details from the original listing[s]:We don’t know much about this. What we do know is it doesn’t work. It would appear that someone took a PPG Wave 2.3, removed the PCB’s, display, knobs and power supply and re-mounted them in a rack-style case. The front panel has a very professional looking blue and white transfer so whoever did this was quite serious about it. It also comes with the Wave’s original Mod Wheel assembly which can be connected to the internal motherboard. We tested it and this is what we found: It appears to boot up and display what looks like sensible information on the LCD (see photo). It accepts commands from the front panel, such as program or Midi channel changes, or for example pressing the Analog button brings up the current front panel knob-settings in the display and these can be altered in real time. It also appears to have valid data in memory judging by the parameters when the program number is changed. It can also be switched to emulate PPG Wave 2.2 mode. So far, so good. Now the bad news: plugging in a Midi keyboard produces no output, so either the Midi circuitry or the sound-generating section has a problem. Without having another Wave to test it with against, that’s as much as we know. Ideally this would suit a PPG enthusiast who has a working Wave 2.3 and can diagnose this one using an external Wave keyboard and card substitution. **SO SOLD AS IS!!** IEC mains connector with switchable 110/240V supply. Packing at VEMIA 6GBP.

Here’s an interesting one. Possibly the world's only rackmount Wave 2.3. This was sold a few years ago at VEMIA not working, but has now been serviced by James Walker and is fully operational. *Just to confirm: this has MIDI!* The keyboard was never the best thing about the Waves anyway, so this might be ideal for someone who wants the sound without the space. We have no idea who did this in the first place, but it looks extremely well done. The original listing was here - http://www.spheremusic.com/Bargaindtl.asp?Item=8394

This mystery PPG Wave was modified allegedly in Germany. It was purchased as a non working unit a while ago but as yet I haven't found someone conversant enough with PPG's to get it 100% working. In the interim period I bought another Wave, so the project's been on the back burner for some time and is now surplus to requirements. I've recently had synth tech Kent Spong take a look at it, his professional opinion is.... 'It's not an impossible job but it will take an expert in PPG's.' For the record the case isn't 19 inch rack size, being slightly wider at 19.5 inches wide, either way it's definitely more compact than the standard Wave. Last time I looked the unit powered up and the front panel display reacts normally to edit data from the knobs, however it's very intermitant in it's behavior and hasn't made any musical sounds as yet. A potential bargain for someone willing to do some research and hopefully nurse it back to full health, or perhaps a source of rare spare parts."