Roland SH-5 Patch Archive

Patch Sheet

Introduction  In November 2018 I was lucky enough to win a VEMIA auction. Not a vintage analog synthesizer, as they are too expensive, but a set of original Roland SH-5 Patch Sheets. 231 patches for this amazing synthesizer, written by hand on official Roland patch sheets between 1977 and 1983.

Each patch carefully documented and grouped into 13 categories from BASS to ANIMALS. There is unfortunately no record of who created this amazing archive of sound, but I guess they bought their SH-5 in 1977, a year after it was launched in Spring 1976. They would have paid around £900 new (around £5k today!), which was well beyond my means at the time as a university student.

Patch Sheet

Patch Sheet Detail These are printed in monotone with a light grey header featuring the Roland logo on the right and Sample Sound Synthesis to the left in caps. Must be the first time Roland used the word Sample, and the contemporary 100M and 100 patch sheets do not use this name.

The patch sheets are nicely printed on a traditional Japanese Shirokuan paper size of approximately 189 x 262 mm. They are single sided and contain two patches, using a graphical representation of the SH-5 front panel.

Patch Index

Patch Archive I have written up all the patches into a spreadsheet, and reproduced the complete set of patches on newly created SH-5 Patch Sheets (designed in Adobe Illustrator). This will be available as a digital download book, along with blank SH-5 Patch Sheets.

I have also translated the patches (and tried them out!) on an AMSynths SH05 Modular version of the SH-5, and these patches are also available as a digital download book. This means musicians using either the original SH-5 or the new SH05 can explore and enjoy over 200 sounds from a very creative individual.

SH-5 Schematics

SH-5 Service Manual The patches came with an original Roland service manual, printed on thin almost clear paper. A higher quality than the photocopied version on the Internet (which is a Roland scan), with fold out large pages for the circuit diagrams.

It is exactly the same document from 30 October 1976, with hand written Japanese annotations. This original manual was stapled together but the staples have been removed, and there is no front cover, which would have been like the SH-3A service manual cover.

Boss PH-2 into a Jupiter VCF

Introduction  The Boss PH-2 Phaser pedal contains two valuable Roland IR3109 OTA chips. This post explains how they can be carefully removed and used in the AMSynths AM8109 JP8 VCF or the AM8060 JP6 VCF module. The PH-2 was manufactured for nearly 20 years, from the early 1980’s until at least 2000 by Boss (Roland) and is available second-hand from 20 – 90 GBP depending on condition, try not to pay more than 40 GBP.

Customers following these procedures do so at their own risk and there is no guarantee of success made by AMSynths.

Buy a Boss PH-2 We bought this pedal on eBay in November 2014, it is serial number FN21896 and was produced in March 2000.

Stage 1 – Circuit Board Removal
The first stage is to remove the paxolin PCB from the pedal.

  1. Undo the 4x black posidrive screws in the base of the pedal.
  2. Remove the base plate and clear plastic protector.
  3. Pull the PCB out of the case, it is attached via a grey ribbon cable and 10 wires.
  4. Cut the wires and ribbon cable near the PCB and there you have it – the PCB with two IR3109 chips. Nice!!

Stage 2 – IR3109 Chip Removal

  1. The second stage is to extract the IR3109 chips from the PCB. We prefer to cut the chips out before then carefully desoldering the pins.
  2. Using a coping or fret saw cut around the two chips very carefully, you may want to remove some components by clipping them out with cutters, so that you get straight and safe cut lines.
  3. Now remove each IR3109 attached to the PCB as 2 separate sections.
  4. Mount the small PCB section in a pin vice upside down.
  5. Cut through the back of each PCB very carefully between each set of 4 pins. Make sure you don’t cut down into the IR3109.
  6. Heat the solder pads of the first section and using a pair of fine nose pliers gently ease the PCB section off the 4 pins.
  7. DO NOT OVERHEAT the Pins or IR3109.
  8. Alternatively you can use a de-solder pump and not cut the PCB into sections.

Note: We have found the IR3109 to be a robust chip which is not over sensitive to static or heat. But PLEASE take care! They also seem to last many years (decades in fact), it is rare for us to find one that has failed. Of course it’s worth testing your pedal before you extract the chips, so that you know the chips are working.

Stage 3 – Clean Up the IR3109

  1. Once you have removed each IC from the PCB section….
  2. Using de-solder braid remove excess solder from the front and back of each IC pin.
  3. Straighten up the 16 pins with fine pliers.
  4. Optionally use flux remover to brighten up the pins.
  5. Wash the chip in water if you do this procedure, and allow to dry.
  6. You now have a nice clean IR3109 chip!
  7. We usually put them in IC holders to protect the pins, and to enable them to be quickly fitted to a PCB.

Mistakes do happen!

  1. You may break an IC pin on removing the chip or the pin may break because it is fragile.
  2. Don’t worry, they are easy to repair.
  3. Mount the chip in an IC socket and feed a resistor wire into the top of the socket and align to the damaged pin.
  4. Then carefully solder the wire and pin together.

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