Service Centres
Here are some contacts for parts and service in North America and Europe. The .vcf files are downloadable vCard contact info files.
North America
Canada
Backline Musician Services (Vancouver, British Columbia)
Paul Tillotson [21030218] had his Chroma serviced here in 2003. Paul writes, "I would recommend Backline. Richard there seems very capable and familiar with the Chroma and other antique synths." [February 2010]
Atelier de Musique Analogix (Montréal, QC)
Evgueni K writes, "We are a new workshop in Montreal, opened few months ago and we repair all types of analog keyboards, synths etc." [November 2012]
United States
CAE Sound (San Mateo, California)
Christopher Now writes that he "was recently at CAE in San Mateo and they had a couple Chromas in for sevice. My old boss, Peter Miller is still fixing them himself and his Chroma Service diploma is still hanging on the wall." [June 1999] Chris Ryan [21030691] had his Chroma serviced at CAE Sound in October 1999, and they did a wonderful job refinishing the wood, which had been damaged by the common problem of deteriorating foam in the case.
Borish Electronics (Chicago, Illinois)
David Hardy writes, "We are a Chicago Ilinois company specializing in repair of amplifiers, synthesizers, keyboards, DJ Gear, and general electronics for audio applications." [January 2015]
Analog Synthesizer Service (San Francisco Bay Area, California)
Recommended by Uro [21030401], who writes, "Take it to Greg M: you may have the fortune that mine will be there for comparison, entrails also on display. Greg fell in love with my Chroma after I took it to him the first time—and this is for a big guy who breathes Sequential IC's!" [November 2005]
American Music Service Center (Seattle, Washington)
Steve Wilson writes, "Been in business since 1973. We service guitars, amplifiers, and effects pedals in addition to vintage and modern synthesizers." [April 2011]
ProSound Inc. (San Diego, California)
Michael Krewitsky writes, "My company Professional Sound and Music is a thirty year old Service Center and dealership. We were (and are) a Fender Repair Station dating from the time of the original distribution of the Chromas. We have schematics and can still repair Chromas within reason. We have repaired scores of them over the years, but not many lately." [February 2009]
Mike Metz, Thesis Audio Service (Wichita, Kansas)
Edward Chen [21030674] writes, "My Chroma started showing all the symptoms of a bad PSU and he was able to troubleshoot and correct it without me having to ship the whole unit to him. Had it back within 2 weeks time and it's been running like new ever since." [October 2006]
Analogics (Geneva, Ohio)
Wes Taggart writes, "I work on both the Chroma and the Polaris." [February 2006]
David White, Analog Keys
Belmont Mass. (617) 868-1819. Thanks to Bruce Sklar [21030660] for this information. [March 2011]
James Reynolds (Elmira, New York)
607.732.9629. Karta writes, "I have a repair engineer here in Elmira that does my repairs that normally I use ... he is the Authorized Kurzweil Repair person in this area." [July 2003]
Three Wave Music (Hawthorne, New Jersey)
Sam Masuko writes, "We repair the Rhodes Chroma and Polaris. Also, repair most of vintage keyboards." [March 2010]
The Good Guys Audio Repair (St. Paul, Minnesota)
Richard Willoughby [21030155] writes, "One of the techs told me that they just recently serviced a Chroma last month." [December 2006] Tim Siefkes [21030850] had his Chroma repaired here. He writes, "They've been in business over twenty years, and one of their staff has 'certified' Chroma training with a diploma on the wall to show for it." [March 1999]
Kevin Siegenthaler [21030603]
Stephan Vladimir Bugaj [21030860] writes, "He is the only one in the Bay Area other than CAE in San Mateo who would take [my Chroma]. He seems knowledgable about the system, is himself a Chroma owner, and has mentioned other Chromas he has repaired. But he's a generalist. He is independent and his shop is a residential garage." [September 2012]
Europe
United Kingdom
Roy Paynter
Paul Hackett-Evans [21010094] writes, "Roy Paynter is one of the original Chroma trained engineers, and he has a Chroma which he uses as a testbed for repair units, swapping voiceboards and components, etc. to test and calibrate them. He can take individual sections of a Chroma and service them for you if you need. (Like the power supply from my Chroma, much cheaper than shipping the whole instrument to him.) Roy has sets of leads to connect parts of his testbed Chroma to corresponding parts of repair Chromas to make this easier and more accurate. He does an excellent job. Roy works as a keyboard engineer for a major UK distributor of high-tech musical equipment for 3 days a week, during which time he stays away from home. The rest of the week he works from his own well-equipped workshop near Peterborough, England, where he services Chromas and all manner of other instruments. He only uses his email, <r.paynter@btinternet.com>, to contact component suppliers and keep in touch with his private clients." [February 2001]
Ben Rossborough, Cyberwave Ems
"I am now offering repair services for them as I have become something of a specialist! In Hay-on Wye, about an hour from Cardiff." [April 2008]
Austria
Virtual Music
See Rhodes Chroma Zone. Alexander Guelfenburg writes, "Virtual Music has more than 25 years of experience in repairing synthesizers like Rhodes Chroma, PPG, Fairlight, etc. I have a Rhodes Chroms testing system and owners with a fauly voice card can send us the broken voice cards to be repaired - no need to ship the whole Chroma. Virtual Music offers worldwide service, we care about shipment, customs papers and - of course - the repair service. Quite convenient also for international people." [February 2015]
Germany
Studio Repair Nikolaus Riehm
D-61191 Rosbach v. d. Höhe (near Frankfurt).
Niko writes, "I'm an experienced synth technician and I'm able to offer well-grounded service for this great piece of gear." [June 2015]
Touched By Sound GmbH
Sigmundstraße 110, 90431 Nürnberg. <info@touched-by-sound.com>
Ernst Eimer [21010299] writes, "I haven't needed a technician for my Chroma so far. But I know that the previous owner of my synth had it repaired once. He sent it to TBS in Nuremberg." [February 2001]
Xtended
Mirko Lüthge [21010245+] writes, "My chroma expander [16330046] had been repaired by the company Xtended, Oranienstr. 6, Berlin. It repairs all kinds of analog synths." [July 2002]
Italy
Casale Bauer/LEMI
Mario Faelli writes that he has found a few service resources in Italy. "I found the Casale Bauer [e-mail service@casalebauer.com] near Bologna city, that was the Italian seller/repair. I get to that company and contact Mr. Reatti, who is the MASTER in repairing Chroma, and Polaris synthesizer. I also contacted the LEMI company in Turin (Torino city), they are the best in Italy on repairing vintage Synthesizer!" [January 2001]
Holland
Service Connection
Miriam Bolten writes "I am a proud owner of a Chroma and Chroma Expander ... I picked up the Chroma Expander a few months ago in Germany. It was working but I wanted a new power supply and a fan in it because otherwise I get problems in the future ... I got the new power supplies from Service Connection ... they installed the supply in my Chromas and also a fan." [April 2001]
