Welcome to
Crasno Electronics

• 6/22/2024 — Updates to Audio Vacuum Tube Manufacturers article and to homepage.
• 6/17/2024 — New article: Reel-to-Reel Audio Tape Manufacturers. Minor updates to Repairs and Contact pages, and to Lowrey LS and FL articles.
• 2/20/2024 — Updates to Audio Vacuum Tube Manufacturers, Vintage Tubular Capacitors, and Who Provides Service Info? articles, and to the Articles page itself.
• 1/27/2024 — Job quota system implemented, with associated updates to Repairs page.
• 1/09/2024 — New Document Scan: Scully 284B manual.
  Click to show all updates

  1/04/2024 — Hiatus notice posted. Updates to Repairs page and homepage.

  11/20/2023 — New Document Scans: Korg Trident MkII service manual (the complete version) and factory patches.

  11/1/2023 — Work resumes. New Document Scans: Electrohome E1 owner's manual and Lowrey LSO schematics. Additions to Vintage Tubular Capacitors.

  8/8/2023 — New Document Scan: Lowrey LSO owner's manual. Additions and alterations to Who Provides Service Info? Minor changes to Repairs page.

  7/29/2023 — Hiatus notice posted. Minor corrections to Lowrey LS article (mostly regarding the "Heritage" series), and additions and alterations to Who Provides Service Info? and Vintage Tubular Capacitors.

  2/21/2023 — Minor additions to Modern Audio Companies: Who Provides Service Info?, and API 550A schematic added to Document Scans.

  2/21/2023 — New general article: Modern Audio Companies: Who Provides Service Info?

  1/7/2023 — Work will resume on Monday, January 9th. Rate increased to $70 / hour, otherwise things will be practically the same.

  12/26/2022 — New Document Scans: Analab 1100, Baldwin 45, Hammond S series reverb installation, Nagra SN, Philco Q15ST/Q15STX/etc., and Wurlitzer Side Man 5000. Proper scan of CDK TP-15 schematic. Addendum to Hammond S-6 article referring to reverb installation guide.

  11/25/2022 — Updates to Audio Vacuum Tube Manufacturers and Vintage Tubular Capacitors articles.

  11/1/2022 — Hiatus announcement. New Document Scans: Ampeg Jet J-12T partial schematic; CDK TP-15 schematic; Lowrey AR, DS, and TLO-1 user's manuals; Lowrey DS schematics. Revisions and additions to Vintage Tubular Capacitors article. New info about early Lowrey organs in Lowrey LS article, and minor relevant changes to Lowrey FL article.

  1/10/2022 — Work resumes.

  12/11/2021 — New Document Scans: Ampeg ET-1-B, Coronado E1526, and Holmes K15C / K15E schematics.

  11/19/2021 — New Document Scans: Berlant BRX-P preamp and Canadian Armed Forces TS-505(E)/U schematics.

  10/31/2021 — Rate increase to $60 / hour, and additions to Vintage Tubular Capacitors article.

  8/17/2021 — New Document Scan: Lowrey DSA schematics. Slight revisions to several articles: Hammond S-6 (more Zuliana Guaracha videos), Lowrey LS (clarifications of SS-25/SSO-25/FLO/CHO series), and Lowrey FL(FLO info, corrections to vibrato mod details).

  8/2/2021 — New Document Scan: The Electronic Musical Instrument Manual, 3rd Edition by Alan Douglas (1957). Updates to several articles: Audio Vacuum Tube Manufacturers (new factory LINLAI), Hammond S-6 (adding Zuliana Guaracha videos), and Lowrey V-100 (significant revisions).

  6/25/2021 — New Document Scans: Lowrey SS-25 and SSO-25 service manuals. Several additions to Vintage Tubular Capacitors list.

  3/10/2021 — Updates to Vintage Tubular Capacitors article.

  3/9/2021 — Updates to Audio Vacuum Tube Manufacturers article.

  2/27/2021 — Minor revisions to Repairs page.

  12/24/2020 — New Document Scans: 1st and 2nd editions of Richard Dorf's Electronic Musical Instruments (1954 and '58).

  12/23/2020 — New Document Scan: Robert Eby's Electronic Organs (1953). Revisions and additions to Lowrey "Festival" FL article (especially re pedalboard acquisition).

  11/11/2020 — Significant revisions and additions to Lowrey "Holiday" LS article. One new Document Scan (Orla Sonatina schematics). Considerable revisions to homepage, and a few on Repairs page.

  11/5/2020 — Several new Document Scans, and minor revisions to Fluke 1952B article (adding link to manual).

  10/21/2020 — Updates to Repairs page and homepage.

  9/8/2020 — Info added to Products page, massive revisions to Vintage Tubular Capacitors and Kawai KMA-37 articles, minor revisions to Apple Macintosh IIci article.

  7/25/2020 — New equipment article: Lowrey "Festival" FL. Small updates to Lowrey "Holiday" LS page.

  6/6/2020 — New Document Scan: Richard H. Dorf's Electronic Musical Instruments, 3rd Edition (1968). Updates to Vintage Tubular Capacitors article.

  5/19/2020 — Updates to Lowrey "Holiday" LS and Vintage Tubular Capacitors articles.

  5/15/2020 — Addendum to Peavey DPM3 SE article, explaining attempted repairs of 3 mainboards, and final opinions on the DPM series.

  4/19/2020 — New equipment article: Lowrey "Holiday" LS

  4/10/2020 — Updates to DOD Chorus 690 article.

  3/30/2020 — New Document Scan: Conn Classic 800-810-820-821 service manual.

  3/15/2020 — Updates to Vintage Tubular Capacitors and Audio Vacuum Tube Manufacturers articles.

  2/12/2020 — New Document Scan: Lowrey Heritage Deluxe DSL & DSO service manual. Updates to Vintage Tubular Capacitors article.

  1/31/2020 — New Document Scan: H. Emerson Anderson's Electronic Organ Handbook (1960).

  1/10/2020 — Two new Document Scans (Conn Caprice 430 service manual, and Alan Douglas' Simple Electronic Musical Instruments for the Constructor), and small revisions to Hammond S-6 article.

  12/23/2019 — New general articles: Vintage Tubular Capacitors: Paper or Polymer? and Document Scans (including scans of S.K. Lewer's Electronic Musical Instruments, various Lowrey tube organ schematics, and others). Updates to Repairs page (new $40/hr. rate, some changes to types of devices repaired and not repaired).

  11/27/2019 — New equipment article: Hammond S-6, and updates to Repairs page.

  9/22/2019 — New info on Products page, and further refinements to Repairs page.

  9/20/2019 — Updates to Repairs page and homepage.

  6/29/2019 — New general article: Audio Vacuum Tube Manufacturers

  6/26/2019 — Addendum to Peavey DPM3 SE article, explaining the repair of another unit.

  6/3/2019 — Updates to homepage.

  5/25/2019 — New equipment article: Rhodes Chroma 2103

  5/10/2019 — Added warranty information to Repairs page.

  1/30/2019 — Updates to Lowrey V-100 article: keyswitch insides, and info on possible 8749 ROM dumping.

  1/21/2019 — Updates to Kawai KMA-37 article: bigger thumbnails, added TMS3615-NS datasheet and output waveforms.

  1/6/2019 — New equipment article: Lowrey Micro Genie V-100

  12/31/2018 — Added a safety warning to the Articles page, and added three new equipment articles: Beckman 6148A, Fluke 1952B, and Hewlett Packard 5245M. Updated DOD Chorus 690 article.

  10/19/2018 — New equipment article: Tascam 38

  10/17/2018 — New equipment articles: Apple Macintosh IIci and Kawai KMA-37

  10/16/2018 — Addendum to Peavey DPM3 SE article, linking to info about Peavey and the DSP56000 chips, and adding notes on more repairs.

  10/14/2018 — Updates to Repairs (minimum labor charge and item release policy), small modifications to DOD Chorus 690 article, and added a favicon.

  09/15/2018 — New equipment article: DOD Chorus 690 – Analog Chorus Pedal

  09/07/2018 — The Crasno website is released in its initial form; have a look around!

  07/26/2017 — "Crasno Electronics" is registered as a sole proprietorship in Alberta.

Crasno Electronics is a sole proprietorship in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, owned and operated by myself, Jesse Acorn. Here is what Crasno has to offer:

• Repair of Electronics

  Especially vintage audio and musical devices, including analog keyboard instruments, vacuum-tube amplifiers, reel-to-reel tape recorders, and so on. See the Repairs page for my rates and policies, and details of what I typically do and do not work on.

• Manufacturing of Electronics

  At the moment, all Crasno devices are designed and built to order. In the the Products section, you can see some of the things I have made, as well as details of my future plans. My aim is to make electronics of outstanding quality, with emphasis on utility, repairability, and beauty, the latter two qualities having been terribly neglected for decades now. I hope to carry on the best features of vintage electronics, while making use of high-quality new parts, and bringing forth designs never imagined in the golden age.

• Sale of Electronics

  I am almost always selling things, such as musical keyboards, test equipment, and electronic components. Current listings can be found on eBay and Kijiji. I usually list smaller and more specialized items on eBay, while larger things with broader appeal are listed on Kijiji. If you see something on eBay that you are interested in, and you are local to Edmonton, contact me to arrange sale and pickup. As well, if you are looking for something that I don't have listed, but that is related to my areas of interest, feel free to inquire.

• Source of Info

  I have written several articles about specific devices, as well as some on general topics. The Articles page is where to find these. As well, I have scanned and uploaded many books and manuals, especially relating to vacuum-tube-era electronic musical instruments. These can be found on the Document Scans page.

To give a brief bio, I have been interested in both electronics and music from a very young age. From three years old, I loved playing with tape recorders and phonographs; my generous and supportive parents provided me with a Lloyds all-in-one stereo, on which I frequently played and dubbed records, with Elvis, CCR, The Beatles, and the Kingston Trio being among my favorite artists. I started playing ukulele in the same year, and by age four, I was recording myself on reel-to-reel tape. Throughout my early years, I built numerous electronic projects for fun (including several crude electro-musical instruments), took apart many things to see how they were built, and collected lots of old audio equipment in varying states of disrepair. I always liked the old stuff best, since old things were physically most interesting; consider, for example, the spinning reels of tape recorders and the hot glowing tubes of amplifiers, which I still consider prime attractors. However, in those early days, if I wanted something repaired, I had to take it to a shop. By the late 2000s, there were very few local technicians willing to work on my "obsolete" things, and those who were willing had high rates, and I was often disappointed by their work.

So, around 2011, I decided to learn how to repair my own equipment. I started mostly with cheap reel-to-reels, then moved on to guitar and hi-fi amps, and eventually became proficient with vintage electronic keyboards, vacuum-tube radios, and many other things. Around the same time, I began learning electronic design. Hoping to expand my knowledge and meet like-minded people, I went into Electrical Engineering at the University of Alberta in 2014, focusing on analog audio- and music-related subjects in the few ways possible. In mid-2017, unsatisfied with the program and its typical careers, I decided to start my own business, splitting my last year's courses into two years in order to have time for my own projects and some jobs. In April 2019, I graduated from the EE program with distinction, finally free to completely focus on said business. As well, though I often don't have as much time for it as desired, I never left music behind; I still play ukulele on occasion, but drumset and keyboards are now my main instruments.

You may ask: "why the name Crasno?" Well, before deciding on a business name, I had already chosen saturated-red as my signature color, and had designed a logo with round first and last letters in mind. At the time, I was learning Russian, and one form of the Russian word for "red" is "красно", or transliterated... "crasno"! There you have it, but that's not quite all. More than a year later, it was pointed out to me that "crasno" is an anagram for "Acorns"! I felt rather foolish for not noticing earlier, but was glad to know of a second—and perhaps even stronger—reason for using the name.

Jesse Acorn—Founder and Proprietor—as seen in November 2020