19th October 2012
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#1 | | Lives for gear
Joined: Feb 2012 Location: Birmingham
Posts: 1,523
Thread Starter | Pimp your Matrix 6 for a couple of bucks
For this you will need:
- Screwdriver
- Fine Sandpaper
- A metre or so of DC FIX vinyl, in whatever woodgrain colour you want (cheap on ebay, i chose dark walnut)
- A tiny bottle of acrylic paint in a matching colour to the vinyl (take a little piece of the vinyl to a model shop and roughly match it)
I wanted to pimp up my matrix 6 and make it look more vintage/tacky/retro and i didn't want to spend alot of money.
I simply took out the screws at the base of the unit, hinged up the top cover, and then unscrewed the black plastic side panels. I then cut off some pieces of the sticky back vinyl and completely covered the panels in it, you may want to leave a little room for the screw holes so you can actually reattach them to the synth later. A long thin piece of vinyl stretched the entire distance from the back side, over the top and down to the front, and a couple of other pieces covered the sides, have a look at pictures of real wood sides to see which way the grain runs.
To make a nice, smooth join between the top and side pieces, i simply sanded at a 45 degree angle and this smoothed off the edges, or any overlap. It's also good to lightly sand all over the vinyl as this will remove some of the plasticky shine from it and make it look more like real wood.
If you experience any little cuts or holes from the sanding, simply paint over the black parts with your acrylic paint and let it dry. Painting the join between side and top can also smooth/blur it even further and make it look more convincing.
Finally, put the sides back on, careful not to scuff them, switch on your Matrix 6 and notice how it suddenly sounds warmer and phatter 
And now the pics!     
And, you can also do it to a DX11 if you're double-bored! 
Job Done  | 
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19th October 2012
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#2 | | Lives for gear
Joined: Apr 2011
Posts: 873
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Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. Not sure about this.
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19th October 2012
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#3 | | Lives for gear
Joined: Feb 2012 Location: Birmingham
Posts: 1,523
Thread Starter |
It's an 80's synth dressed as a 70's synth | |
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19th October 2012
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#4 | | Lives for gear
Joined: Jun 2007 Location: Texas by way of Pluto  |
Very nice! Looks even more vintage!! Thanks for sharng  | |
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19th October 2012
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#5 | | Lives for gear
Joined: Jun 2010 Location: Stockholm, Sweden
Posts: 916
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Very very nice
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19th October 2012
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#6 | | Lives for gear
Joined: Apr 2012
Posts: 1,536
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I am a fetishist for wood sidepanels.
Lovely job!
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19th October 2012
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#7 | | Lives for gear
Joined: Feb 2012 Location: Birmingham
Posts: 1,523
Thread Starter |
Grainophiliac?
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19th October 2012
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#8 | | Lives for gear
Joined: Apr 2012
Posts: 1,536
| Quote:
Originally Posted by xanderbeanz  Grainophiliac? | exactamundo!
look at my office:
I got 8 walls plastered with Ikea's Billy ! 
Not to mention: ALL my keyboards have wood sides or motifs [ok, admittedly the VL1 has a fake briar panel but, whatever...]
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19th October 2012
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#9 | | Lives for gear
Joined: Feb 2012 Location: Birmingham
Posts: 1,523
Thread Starter |
The vl1 always reminded of a dashboard.
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19th October 2012
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#10 | | Gear maniac
Joined: Jun 2012
Posts: 269
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I bet the DX has more analog warmth now.
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19th October 2012
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#11 | | Lives for gear
Joined: Jan 2012
Posts: 3,751
|  and i thought he is talking about sem filter upgrades or other sound related pimping.. but ok..opposite to bigfoot 909´s this looks decent.
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19th October 2012
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#12 | | Gear addict
Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 387
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that looks really really good. nice work.
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19th October 2012
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#13 | | Gear addict
Joined: Mar 2012
Posts: 316
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Finally, it sorta matches the Matrix-12. (Well, Matrix-12 has all these knobs and screens)
Not too crazy about the DX11 wood sides. There are just some instruments where wood sides look "off" - DX-series except 1 and (did 5 have wood sides?) and Jupiter-6/8 come to mind.
__________________
I'm the vaccine for the Access Virus.
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19th October 2012
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#14 | | Lives for gear
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 667
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This makes me want to rebuild the case on my PolySix with real solid wood.
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19th October 2012
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#15 | | Lives for gear
Joined: Feb 2012 Location: Birmingham
Posts: 1,523
Thread Starter |
It'd probably weigh less if you did, the particle board used on the polysix and m/p is unnecessarily heavy!
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20th October 2012
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#16 | | Lives for gear
Joined: Jan 2012
Posts: 3,751
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i must say..it really helps the matrix 6
not so sure about the dx
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20th October 2012
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#17 | | Lives for gear
Joined: Sep 2011 Location: Sweden
Posts: 532
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Is that vinyl semi-transparent (why else the paint etc)?
Maybe my AX73 would look good with some birch sides... | |
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20th October 2012
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#18 | | Lives for gear
Joined: Feb 2012 Location: Birmingham
Posts: 1,523
Thread Starter |
no it's opaque, I just used the paint as I'd sanded a bit harshly and there a few little black holes, filling them in with paint was easier than starting again it's an odd colour scheme, the 73. I'm not sure what wood would go with it.
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20th October 2012
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#19 | | Lives for gear
Joined: May 2012
Posts: 635
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Well my matrix 6 is my current fave at the minute, and always liked its black and blue racing stripes 80's decor - I even like the flat knobless data entry panel, so I was a bit worried by this, but I have to admit it looks good.
What is the stuff you used exactly - I'm not sure I'll do mine, but I might need something for another project. I'm in the UK, can you get this from B+Q or something?
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20th October 2012
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#20 | | Lives for gear
Joined: Feb 2012 Location: Birmingham
Posts: 1,523
Thread Starter |
Got it on eBay, it's called dcfix and its under a fiver per metre, comes in all sorts of block colours, patterns, and woodgrains | |
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20th October 2012
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#21 | | Lives for gear
Joined: Jan 2011 Location: Marz
Posts: 799
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Wait so it still sounds like a Matrix 6??
And it still functions like a Matrix 6??
Lipstick on a pig.
__________________ SYNTH: Moog Little Phatty/DSI Mopho/DSI Tetra/DSI Evolver/Sequential Circuits MultiTrak/Korg MS2000B RACK: MR816CSX/Presonus Eureka/PRE73+EQ73/Valley People Dynamite/Ashly CL52E & PQX571/DBX 166A/VLA PRO PEDALS: Moogerfooger MF102 RingModulator, Way Huge Aqua Puss MKII, Way Huge Green Rhino MKII, EHX Big Muff
http://soundcloud.com/godsons | |
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21st October 2012
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#22 | | Lives for gear
Joined: Feb 2012 Location: Birmingham
Posts: 1,523
Thread Starter |
Ahaha I think it's a good synth with a crippled AI, sounds quite similar in tone to the JX3P and Evolver you have The sync and FM is nuts, and the modulation options let me make crazy sid-like stuff. That said, I don't want anymore complex synths, so the next synth I get will focus entirely on tone, a rich basic tone but more limited modulation, that'll really go nicely with the Matrix, DXs and my VA's, something like a JP4 for example.
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21st October 2012
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#23 | | Lives for gear
Joined: Apr 2012
Posts: 1,536
| Quote:
Originally Posted by FilmNMusicman a Matrix 6?? a pig. | Right.
A 6 voices analogue synthesizers with curtis filters for <400 bucks. velocity and aftertouch keyboard, and matrix modulation.
"A pig". Right. Sure.
You are right, Sir.
You are obviously very knowledgeable.
Please give more free and precious advice on synthesizers.
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21st October 2012
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#24 | | Lives for gear
Joined: Jan 2011 Location: Marz
Posts: 799
| Quote:
Originally Posted by ozy Right.
A 6 voices analogue synthesizers with curtis filters for <400 bucks. velocity and aftertouch keyboard, and matrix modulation.
"A pig". Right. Sure.
You are right, Sir.
You are obviously very knowledgeable.
Please give more free and precious advice on synthesizers. | Well instead of advice I'll give you a definition...
Opinion-a : a view, judgment, or appraisal formed in the mind about a particular matter.
What I gave was a personal "OPINION" on a synth that I have experience with. I do NOT like the sound of the DCO's, and I HATE the interface, there are others who agree with my "OPINION"
You are also right "SIR" I am actually very knowledgeable, at least that's one thing you got right
Stop hating on users and start actually using these forums the way it was intended...for Facts and Opinions. I'd go to Websters to give you a proper definition of SARCASM, but I can see you've already mastered that. KUDOS
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21st October 2012
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#25 | | Lives for gear
Joined: Feb 2012 Location: Birmingham
Posts: 1,523
Thread Starter |
I understood your opinion, the UI IS terrible! But I'm very used to using software editors and vst's so it wasn't a problem for me, and DCO's give a very 80's sound that reminds me of my childhood and happy times it also does crazy stuff well.
Ozy is just Ozy, a brash, outspoken colourful character here on EMI&EMP, he doesn't mean any harm | |
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22nd October 2012
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#26 | | Lives for gear
Joined: Jan 2011 Location: Marz
Posts: 799
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Xanderbeanz I do really like the wood sides on the DX11....That looks killer!
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22nd October 2012
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#27 | | Lives for gear
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 3,351
| Quote:
Originally Posted by audioconsult and i thought he is talking about sem filter upgrades or other sound related pimpin | for "a couple of bucks" ?!? that's kinda unlikely.
when he siad "pimp" i knew it has to do with cosmetics.. nice looks anyway, i always dig wood sidepanels on analogs.
otoh if there was a way to add a sexxy knobby panel to Matrix6 then we be talking.. 
__________________  music for film, tvseries & theatre
 live psyhedelic ambient
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22nd October 2012
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#28 | | Lives for gear
Joined: Jan 2012
Posts: 3,751
| Quote:
Originally Posted by clusterchord otoh if there was a way to add a sexxy knobby panel to Matrix6 then we be talking.. | that would i call pimping, 2 wood spoilers are not enough
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22nd October 2012
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#29 | | Lives for gear
Joined: Feb 2011 Location: BC Canada
Posts: 2,415
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i thinkl the pseudo wood mod is great. And it's optional. So,, now you know it's doable.
The matrix six in general is an interesting subject... I'm hearing a lot of opinions, and all of that has to be tempered by what it really is, and what it costs. Now....forget that last comment about "what it costs" and please ignore it. It's actually irrelevant, but i had to mention it before someone decides to introduce it into the argument.
The Matix 6 and the 6R offer an insane modulation matrix and huge possibilities. Are these synths inherently lush or immediatley sonically gratifying? hell no. Absolutely not. When I think of the Matrix6 I think "Siberia".....However, determined people will take a shot of Vodka and then roll up their sleeves and get into that machine and end up extracitng some beautiful sounds. Yes....not easy...and that excludes the lazy bastards.
the real payoff is that when you manage to extract a nice sound from a not so friendly synth.....it's usually something quite exceptional.
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22nd October 2012
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#30 | | Gear addict
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 421
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Nicely said, Teknobeam. Very true.
I like this mod, too.
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