Yamaha EM-150

yurtpoh

yurtpoh

New member
just got one of these bad boys for only 20 bucks at an estate auction. i'm not much of an electronics guy, but i just ran it for 20 minutes, plugging my guitar straight into each channel (6 of them), flipping each channel to "INST" (as opposed to LINE, or MIC), and using my DT880 headphones to test it as much as i could. i noticed that only 3 of the channels still run decently, and it's got some background noise. on the three good channels, the clean output started sounding a little distorted (crunchy?) when i started playing a little hard (might just be how analog stuff works). the EQ works perfectly, but i'm not too sure about the dB display. also, the fuses appear perfectly fine.

idk if you can tell, but i'm stoked about this find. there are some that go for hundreds on ebay. what worries me is that it needs some work, and idk how to work on it, though i'm definitely willing to learn if i can. i've downloaded a PDF manual from google, but since i'm not an electric engineer, idk how to fix it ( :facepalm: ). is there anywhere legit that i can take this and get it fixed? or is it possible that fixing it myself could be easier than i currently believe? (i DID manage to build my own PC - lol)

i really want to fix this so it sounds as good as new, but i just don't know where to start at the moment.
 
well i've been using a soundcard with only 1 input on my PC (ASUS Xonar Essence) to record my guitar, and now (after i get it repaired) i can hook up my drum mics and mix in real drums instead of using the drum plugins to emulate it. other than that, i really don't know lol. it's actually the first mixing board i officially own, so i'm still thinking of what all i can use it for. i just knew i couldn't pass it up for only 20 bucks. hopefully the price to refurbish it doesn't cost an arm and a leg.
 
The Yamaha EM series mixers were up and about during the 70s and 80s, and were great workhorses.

Many of them are still in use.

However, if yours needs fixing, there's a good chance that the repairs will cost more than a new mixer.

If you want to use it to pre-mix mikes on a drum kit, you should be able to use its RCA outs to go to your computers line in . . . you will get (and only get) two channels; left and right.

You could do the same with a new mixer which has USB connectivity, and get way better quality sound into your computer. But even this is not the best solution, and will generally still give you only two channels.
 
I have an EM-100 II that I bought for $79 in immaculate condition and couple years ago. Yamaha built stuff right back in those days. I paired it up with a couple of modern Yamaha 15" + horn cabinets (also bought used) that make the most of its measly 50 watts/channel. It makes great vocal monitor system for rehearsals here at home.

 
Got the EM300 and had it seven years or so. I love to use it as a preamp, both for its sound and for convience as plugging in several microphones to pick and choose from or using in combination when overdubbing.
Love what it does for overloading vocals, percussion and guitars ever so slightly. Sounds good for clean DI-bass as well.

Not nessecarily that pricey to fix, depends on the issue and the tech. Mine caught fire once, got it fixed and it's running well.
However I'll warn against running it hot on crappy speakers if using it as a PA desk, that's how mine started burning. Since then affectionally baptised "Mr. Firestarter"...
 
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