Main Encoder Broken

[screentime1010]

Hey everyone,

It happened to me too, the main encoder on my Pyramid seems to have just broken. I was in the middle of trying to name a track and it suddenly stopped clicking and became very difficult to turn. I’ve tried removing the cap and gently pulling/rotating it but it didn’t improve. It seems like some part of the encoder is totally stuck or busted. (I’m not sure how this happened. I’m not using the unit constantly and I keep a Decksaver on it at all times.)

For folks who’ve had to have the encoder replaced, is it worth shipping it to Squarp, or would I be better off finding someone nearby who’s good with a soldering iron? I live in North America.

Also, I’d love to be able to keep working on unfinished material in my DAW while I get this sorted out, but unfortunately it seems like the Pyramid is basically useless without the encoder. I don’t think I can open files on the unit to try to record sequences I’ve made, and although I’ve figured out that I can drag the backup MIDI files onto tracks in my DAW, the way this works in practice seems like it would take an eternity to pull entire tracks off the Pyramid and reassemble them. Does anybody have any suggestions in this department?

Lastly, any suggestions for software sequencers one could use in the meantime? The Pyramid had become my primary way of working with MIDI and I’m not sure if there are any plugins out there that have a similar workflow (I would just buy Ableton but I don’t have the $$$ for it right now). I currently work in Reaper.

Thanks!

[Thibault_Squarp]

Hi @screentime1010 ,

Obviously I’m biased,
but I would suggest going through us. We have out-of-warranty servicing for a fee that mostly covers DHL shipping, and if for an extra, we can change out the enclosure and pads for brand new MKIII ones as well.

But the main reason I’m suggesting it is the following:
Yes, you could go and find someone who’s good with a soldering iron, and we’ll even happily give you the product reference we use for the encoders, so you can purchase it yourself : RE12CF-41-20F-24P

HOWEVER

The disassembly, and assembly of Pyramid are quite delicate (and even tedious sometimes) processes, and you could end up damaging your unit in the process.
For example, having serviced a lot of units, I can tell you that on some batches we unfortunately used screws with a much too tender alloy, and torqued way too tight, so we ended up stripping screws a lot on those ones when serviced.

And if you get through it ok, bear in the original encoders would be soldered in with a lead-free solder with a very high melting point, so you’d need a good iron, a lot of patience, and some care.

TL;DR: It is feasible yourself. But it’s not easy, particularly without the proper tools and experience.