Im not sure the original was intended to be rack mounted or played at an angle.
Indeed. Letās hope there is a way to tighten it up somehow. Let us know when youāve hear back from them.
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A question for people having a Syntrx: I find it a little difficult to set oscillators to a precise value because when I change direction when tweaking, there is a little inertia and then I often miss the spot Iām after.
Meaning that, say, I am looking for a higher frequency, and turn to the right. I overshoot a bit, and want to turn left, just a hair. The start of the turn does nothing for a few millimeters, then starts and makes me miss the spot again, often.
Is it normal behaviour that these (otherwise amazing) knobs have that inertia when starting turning them in the other direction?
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Maybe the EMS ones werenāt. Erica sell a rack kit for the Syntrx so you would hope theyād have planned for/tested this.
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I have had two original joysticks on my VCS3 (I traded my short one to a tech who was restoring a customerās Synthi for their longer version, as the short one fit better in their case). Neither of them had had any issues of the sort. If anything, the longer one I have now feels a bit stiff compared to the shorter one I had before (donāt even think about it 
).
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I wouldnāt mind a tiny bit more friction in my Syntrxā joystick. It mostly stays where I leave it when the Syntrx is sitting upright in its guitar stand, but occasionally will droop a bit.
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Iād be interested in seeing what kind of joystick theyāve used. The originals simply turned a couple of standard pots inside.
not rack-mounted. not sure thereās a way to do that even. but you gotta think it was intended to be played at an angle. unless you remove the keyboard (which you can do), it would be kind of awkward to play it flat/fully-opened.
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It is easy to find an identical-looking joystick module on AliExpress and other parts sites, but I wasnāt able to find a view that showed obvious tension screws. Iām also not yet brave enough to open my Syntrx and disassemble the joystick module. (more accurately: Iām brave enough, just too lazy)
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I am definitely NOT brave enough. Iām kinda amazed I even tried to rack-mount it. I felt a little sad taking the wooden sides off 
.
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Looking at the position of the joystick it doesnt appear to be dead centre?
Forget that it looks actually very stiff when he moves it. Almost like a gear stick in a car.
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Just received my Syntrx the other day. Absolutely love it but also notice these two āissuesā. Iāve got mine mounted on a slight angle on a guitar stands but do notice it can sometimes droop. Hopefully thereās a solution to tension it.
I remember the vernier knobs on a VCS3 at my university used to be pretty tedious to get precise pitch values, but that could also have been something to do with its 40 year old unserviced electronics.
Iām not in front of the unit now but a possible solution could be to sacrifice the joystick and use either axis range knobs to fine tune the oscillators. Iāve done this to extend the range of the filter when itās being modulated by the trapezoid. Obviously that doesnāt work so well if the joystick droops. 
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I got this reply from Erica regarding the loose joysticks:
The Joysticks are a bit loose - this slightly varies from unit to unit. Unfortunately, there is no way to tighten it! I hope despite this you still find your SYNTRX useful and have fun with it!
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Got lucky with mine!
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Oh yes, this is essential 
for full stick joy.
I just wish mine didnāt droop when the unitās vertical(ish). Mine holds up for about half the range of motion. I can āsolveā this by rearranging my room and laying the Syntrx flat again.
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to that response in relation to a Ā£2500 machineā¦
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Sadly, yes.
my takeaway is just that they shouldnāt have sold the rack ear option if they couldnāt guarantee that the joysticks would all be useful in that configuration. so itās less about the cost of the machine itself and more about the cost of the rack ears.
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But it looks so niceā¦
(And is otherwise very usable in this configuration. My room could do with a bit more light thoā)
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I use mine almost horizontal but tried to put it vertical and it seems the joystick holds. It has some slight resistance when I touch it and it doesnāt feel too loose.
Iām not writing that to show off but to share that it seems they are not all the same.
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