Lexicon LXP1 & LXP5 issues and troubles--15 years later
Rob Reedijk
of Lexicon LXP1, LXP5 and the MRC. After a few years I "moved up" to more
professional units.
But now that I am back into playing guitar in bands, I have decided to dust
off these units for the guitar rig---because they are actually pretty
good and portable.
So in testing them out, I have run into several issues.
LXP-1. This is just a comment. Both the 1 and the 5 were known for having
scratchy pot problems. And they would make a frightening sound as a result.
I had it on my LXP1. I never bothered to fix it since I read in RAP that
this was more than a dirty pot problem--some said the pots had to be replaced
and others mentioned faulty caps or grounding issues. Well---I actually
took out the deoxit, cleaned them and presto---all good.
LXP-1. Programming question. I use the units with my guitar rig by
controlling them with a Boss MIDI foot contraller. This controller just
sends program changes---very simple. So, the hidden power of the LXP1 and
LXP5 is in that when you control them with the MRC, all this versatility
opens up. Stock, the LXP1 allows you to choose basic programs (Large room,
plate, other reverbs and a couple of other delay based effects like
chorus and delay). There are two parameter knobs that allow you to change
two parameters on each type of effect---usually the decay and the delay.
Connect the MRC and wow! you can change all the other stuff: spin,
diffusion, bass multiplier LPF etc. The LXP1 has 128 user registers
so I am thinking great---I will customize my settings. So I program
10 different patches useful for playing guitar. It all sounds great,
and I am saving them in the user registers. Okay--then I start playing
and I realise---damn! the user registers only seem to save the two front
panel paramters. So I wasted all that time! The main thing is, I would
like to be able to save the effects level since when it comes to
delays and reverbs, that's where a guitarist likes to use different
amounts. So, as far as I can tell, all that programming power from the
MRC, you can only save the programs in the MRC and not in the LXP1.
Can anyone confirm this? Or is there a way to save the more detailed
programing in the LXP1? Obviously, I don't want to bring the MRC to
gigs---though I suppose I could create the programs in the MRC and
trigger them from the pedal board---a bit cumbersome.
LXP5---A definite problem. Firstly, those of you who know the answer
to the above question may know that while the LXP1 probably does not
save other than the two front panel parameter settings in the user
registers, the LXP5 actually does. Why one does and the other doesn't
who knows...
You are also probably wondering why don't I use the LXP5 with my guitar
rig. It is actually way more appropriate since while it also does
reverbs (not as nicely as the LXP1 but useable), it is way more powerful
for other types of effects. It doesn't just do delay based effects,
it also has pitch shifting capability. Plus it also seems to have
more "engines" allowing a few multi-effect capabilities. And of course
it saves all the complex programming in the user registers.
Why am I not using it, well---it has another kind of pot/knob problem.
The settings sometimes appear to jump around. It is as if the
"program", "select", and "adjust" pots are randomly shifting.
These three pots are controllers. Unlike the input, out, and mix knobs
which actually carry signal, these three change the programs. They are
sealed pots (so I can't spray them) and they are detented (no resistor
ladders, here). Has anyone ever had this problem and solved it?
Is it definitely the pots? Or are there some caps that could be affect
it? Years ago I could probably order a new set of pots from Lexicon,
but even if they still have them, they probably charge more than I can
get an LXP5 for on ebay (but then it might have bad pots too).
Can these pots actually be taken apart and cleaned?
My one experience with opening a sealed pot did not go well...
Sorry this is such a long post. But I thought I would throw in a lot
of extra information since I do a lot searching the archives and find
useful things out so maybe some of what I have written will be helpful.
Thanks for your help
Rob R.
Rob Reedijk
> LXP-1. This is just a comment. Both the 1 and the 5 were known for having
> scratchy pot problems. And they would make a frightening sound as a result.
> I had it on my LXP1. I never bothered to fix it since I read in RAP that
> this was more than a dirty pot problem--some said the pots had to be replaced
> and others mentioned faulty caps or grounding issues. Well---I actually
> took out the deoxit, cleaned them and presto---all good.
Oops! While searching google groups I found a post from myself stating
that I had, with success, cleaned the pots on my LXP-1---This was in '97
or so.
> LXP5---A definite problem.
> Why am I not using it, well---it has another kind of pot/knob problem.
> The settings sometimes appear to jump around. It is as if the
> "program", "select", and "adjust" pots are randomly shifting.
> These three pots are controllers. Unlike the input, out, and mix knobs
> which actually carry signal, these three change the programs. They are
> sealed pots (so I can't spray them) and they are detented (no resistor
> ladders, here). Has anyone ever had this problem and solved it?
> Is it definitely the pots? Or are there some caps that could be affect
> it? Years ago I could probably order a new set of pots from Lexicon,
Hey check this out (well only if you care about this problem...):
http://groups.google.ca/group/rec.music.makers.synth/browse_frm/thread/fa732aeb15ae8fca/0b4aacc0d0539a4b?lnk=st&q=lexicon+LXP+problem&rnum=54&hl=en#0b4aacc0d0539a4b
Now that's interesting. If that works, I can live with that. I found
another post where a studio simply removed the pots and programmed
only from an MRC.
Rob R.
Mogens V.
> Like many others here, my first effects units were made up of a system
> of Lexicon LXP1, LXP5 and the MRC. After a few years I "moved up" to more
> professional units.
>
> But now that I am back into playing guitar in bands, I have decided to dust
> off these units for the guitar rig---because they are actually pretty
> good and portable.
>
> So in testing them out, I have run into several issues.
>
> LXP-1. This is just a comment. Both the 1 and the 5 were known for having
> scratchy pot problems. And they would make a frightening sound as a result.
> I had it on my LXP1. I never bothered to fix it since I read in RAP that
> this was more than a dirty pot problem--some said the pots had to be replaced
> and others mentioned faulty caps or grounding issues. Well---I actually
> took out the deoxit, cleaned them and presto---all good.
Why not just go fix those pot problems? -though I've heard the rotary
encoder tends to go bad too (the jumping in parameter lists et al..),
for which I can't comment a fix.
> LXP-1. Programming question...
Dunno if it may solve your issues, but try have a look at the Beringer
FCB1010, which does five PC and two CC commands per key per preset, or a
Ground Control (pricey).
I was thinking about shopping a used LXP-5 for my guitar rig, but
decided against it having heard about the pot/encoder problems, plus my
LXP-15 takes about 1-2 secs for changing presets via midi, so I guess
the LXP-5 won't be fast enough either.
Since you have have an LXP-5, I'd like to know the time it actually
needs to do a preset change. Never met anyone who'd bother tell me..
--
Kind regards,
Mogens V.
Mogens V.
But if use it for guitar, as you indicated you may, having to use the
MRC all the time may not be very practical on stage...
Rob Reedijk
> Rob Reedijk wrote:
>> Like many others here, my first effects units were made up of a system
>> of Lexicon LXP1, LXP5 and the MRC. After a few years I "moved up" to more
>> professional units.
>>
>> But now that I am back into playing guitar in bands, I have decided to dust
>> off these units for the guitar rig---because they are actually pretty
>> good and portable.
>>
>> So in testing them out, I have run into several issues.
>>
>> LXP-1. This is just a comment. Both the 1 and the 5 were known for having
>> scratchy pot problems. And they would make a frightening sound as a result.
>> I had it on my LXP1. I never bothered to fix it since I read in RAP that
>> this was more than a dirty pot problem--some said the pots had to be replaced
>> and others mentioned faulty caps or grounding issues. Well---I actually
>> took out the deoxit, cleaned them and presto---all good.
> Why not just go fix those pot problems? -though I've heard the rotary
> encoder tends to go bad too (the jumping in parameter lists et al..),
> for which I can't comment a fix.
>> LXP-1. Programming question...
> Dunno if it may solve your issues, but try have a look at the Beringer
> FCB1010, which does five PC and two CC commands per key per preset, or a
> Ground Control (pricey).
I will look into the Behringer product---I have avoided their stuff since
I got burned on a composer compressor...But looking at it, what makes it
really tempting is the switching jacks. There are two and each actually
runs TRS meaning you can run 4 different switches which is actually great.
Ahh the Behringer temptation---"Luke, I'm your father, come to the dark
side....."
> I was thinking about shopping a used LXP-5 for my guitar rig, but
> decided against it having heard about the pot/encoder problems, plus my
> LXP-15 takes about 1-2 secs for changing presets via midi, so I guess
> the LXP-5 won't be fast enough either.
> Since you have have an LXP-5, I'd like to know the time it actually
> needs to do a preset change. Never met anyone who'd bother tell me..
Look at that link in my other post for the workaround---basically you
find positions on the rotary encoders that don't "missfire" and are
stable. I haven't tested it out, but if that works it's fine for
using with a guitar running off a midi controller. Also, someone
emailed me the instructions for cleaning the encoders (thank you!).
It's a bit messy and if they are still available from Lexicon---I
found old posts stating they were only $4 each, I would rather do
that!
As for the slow loading on the LXP-15---I know. I have one and it is
incredibly slow. Apparently the Version 2 was a bit faster. Anyway,
No such problem on the LXP-1 and LXP-5. They are quite fast. If you
do go this route, often LXP-5s are packaged with an LXP-1 and an MRC.
You might find the MRC very useful for programming the units and then
run them with a controller at the gigs. Make sure you get the MRC with
version 4. You have an LXP-15 which V4 is set up for. (V3 has the
PCM70.) Also--very important---V4 has two way communication. You load
in the program in the LXP5 into the MRC, edit it, and then dump it back
in.
Rob R.