Wood. Seems incongruous on a piece of sophisticated electronics. I offer a few reasons why: It’s a Japanese thing – the harmony achieved balancing the electronics and metal with the wood; it’s a vestigial thing – from the days when a keyboard meant a piano forte; it’s a manufacturing thing – in 197* plastics were not so hot and a wood case was just easier to not mess up. Being practical I am going to say it’s a combination of the three.

So what about wood anyway? The smoke cleared enough that I was comfortable going outside to do some sort of work after nearly a week of awful smoke from all the fires here in California. I grabbed the wood chunks that go at either end of the keyboard (that I bet the last guy who owned this keyboard called cup holders), some sandpaper and some restore a finish and headed outside.

Dealing with wood for synthesizers has been something I have enjoyed. Usually some sandpaper and care brought to bear on any scuffed up wood thing yields a nice result. That is more or less how this project went down.

It’s all very straight forward, you sand carefully with 150 then 220 – carefully meaning you avoid cutting the edges too much or applying too much pressure and going through the veneer or original finish.