New Misa Kitara-like

[BJG145]

I've always been fascinated by the Misa Kitara, so when I recently came across one being offered for $150 I decided to check it out. It apparently has a hairline crack sending out some rogue (but not unworkable) messages, and it'll accrue some additional fees as it wings its way across the Atlantic. But since the only others I can currently see for sale are £1500+ on eBay and Reverb, I thought it was worth a punt.

I might have pulled the trigger too soon though, because while Googling stuff about it, I came across news that this long-discontinued instrument is getting a 2019 reboot. There's a post on their Facebook page promising more news soon, and there's a page here offering pre-order. (Seems a bit strange; not sure if there's a particular link between Misa Digital and Front End Audio or something.)

I've also realised why the Tri-Bass is more sought-after than the Kitara, having touch-sensitive keys. I haven't yet seen any Kitara videos that impressed me with their musicality, but I did like this Tri-Bass cover...

https://youtu.be/AMaZ4PewbEc

The pre-order page above, while remaining vague about the spec, suggests that it will be possible to switch between Tri-Bass and Kitara necks.

Hmm...intriguing...

[BJG145]

Oh...latest update is that I've been sent a refund/cancellation with the explanation that the 'persistent touch' that's manifesting in a corner of the screen due to this slight ding makes it impossible to access most of the menu system.



I think it's an obsolete capacitive touchscreen, though I get the impression these can be repaired in some cases...? I've asked him to stash it in a cupboard while I try and figure out if it's repairable...

[BJG145]

Godammit, another Kitara slips away.

This one was actually the superior Tri-bass masquerading as a Kitara. Instead of the £2000/£3000 listings by Russian and Australian chancers, it was started for a very reasonable £100, and stayed at £104 until the last minute.

Unfortunately, persistent questioning revealed that this one was also suffering from touchscreen problems which might very well have been irreparable. I was daydreaming about junking the discontinued display for a Raspberry Pi-driven substitute screen and then haranguing Folderol for guidance on setting it up, but in the end this broken mess sailed away for £360.

I had to vent my frustration by picking up a broken BeatBuddy Instead. As a bottom-feeder in the music-tech bardos of eBay, I'm developing expert knowledge of characteristic failures and their resolution. (And if the patch doesn't work...well, there's still Folderol...)

[BJG145]

...so I picked up this non-working BeatBuddy on eBay, but I couldn't do anything with it. I emailed them asking where I could get it repaired, and they said, send it back to us and we'll ship you a new one. I just had confirmation that it's on the way. I don't imagine they can be expected to do that all the time, but it's pretty impressive customer service from Singular Sound.

[zenguitar]

How’s that for festive spirit

Yo Ho Ho.

Andy

[BJG145]

I see that Misa Digital have now updated their homepage, so maybe the new model first announced in Jan 2018 is gradually inching closer...

[cloudwalker8]

Was wondering if you or the seller got anywhere with figuring out if the screen could be repaired? I have a Kitara that I haven’t used in over a year and turned it on today to find the same persistent touch problems on the screen making the thing near unusable. Not too sure what my options are at this point since there’s no real support out there anymore

[BJG145]

...yeah, no, I've been tempted to buy a secondhand one but I've been put off by the number of people posting on their Facebook page saying their device suddenly went haywire and they can't get it repaired, the screen seems to be discontinued and the company don't seem to reply to these queries. (If it's not physically damaged and it's been in storage, it might be worth trying to dry it out thoroughly with silica gel and warm air.)

Phantom Touches on Surface: Desiccant

My venerable Surface Pro 2 had this problem about a year ago and after doing most of the steps in this checklist without success, I broke down and took a trip to the Microsoft Store. The store happened to be in Jacksonville, Florida (which will be important in a bit).

One of the techs in the store happened to have worked with upper-tier support on this very issue. It turns out that it can be caused by moisture working its way into the touchscreen assembly through minute cracks in the adhesive holding it all together. It can happen anywhere but it most likely to happen in a humid environment. The only reason the local tech knew this is because he had seen so many cases of this problem in Jacksonville, which is located right on the ocean so it’s always humid.

However, this means that you might be able to eliminate the phantom touches by putting your Surface in a large, sealable container with some (4 small ones or 1 large one) silica gel desiccant packs for a day or two. If you don’t happen to have some, you can buy them from Amazon for less than $10.

Even if you don’t live in a particularly humid place, it still might worth a try before performing a restore/reset or exchanging your Surface.

https://www.lovemysurface.net/phantom-t ... n-surface/

[CH7]

I too picked up an old Misa Tri-bass. It turns out it has the same digitizer fault.
I was hoping i could find another similar spec digitizer to the HF804F-V1.3 but so far i've found no clues to a compatible device.

The only other way to fix this might be to use an arduino to intercept the rouge data coming out of the digitizer, filter the 'noise' and pass on the 'cleaned' data to the Misa mother board. Its all done over Ic2, but you would need the IC2 specs for this digitizer, or create a program to read the data, and then make your best guess at the protocols.

I can't believe the folks in china aren't making a compatible digitizer, eg same underlying chip set, or ic2 protocols. That said, its possible the inventor of the tri-bass sourced this digitizer as the cheapest stock he could find , for good reasons.

There are working tri-bass out there, so i'm wondering if they have the same digitizers installed.

The search continues. Anyone?

[BJG145]

No idea, but I'd be interested to see any pictures of the internals/electronics. I was wondering about the possibility of fitting a new touchscreen and a new DIY Arduino brain to interpret the controls. I'd like to know what the wiring from the buttons looks like, and the circuit that handles it; shouldn't be too difficult to sort those out if it's accessible. As for the touchscreen, maybe it's possible to borrow some ideas from Matt Bellamy.

https://www.premierguitar.com/articles/ ... our-guitar

https://amptonelab.com/products/xy-midipad/

[BJG145]

Still no sign of the new Tri-Bass, in the meantime I'm wondering whether to make one of these.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPKxNTt-8A4

[Drew Stephenson]

it's the kind of thing all commercial studios should have to be used once on every album.

[Martin Walker]

David Bowie would have used one - after all, he popularised the Stylophone in his day;)

Martin

[BJG145]

...another day, another Misa Tri-Bass slips away...

I thought my patience and diligence had finally paid off when I found one on Facebook in Luxembourg for £90 today. I'm on it, YES, I will take this please, because the only other one on offer is on the other side of the planet for $2K.

Wait eagerly for the reply...which is that it's just succumbed to the dreaded screen fault and someone is looking at it. (They won't get anywhere.)

So I've come to the conclusion that there are only two types of Tri-Bass. Those with a faulty screen, and those that don't have a faulty screen yet but will do very soon.

Meanwhile I noticed this highly professional marketing consultant has let on more about the forthcoming Misa Spectra than Misa ever did, courtesy of some advertising blurb, though it's not much. At least it's further evidence that something else might emerge one day.

David Bowie would have used one - after all, he popularised the Stylophone in his day

(Best not to dwell on those. Though he did strike a similar pose with an Omnichord, which is still socially acceptable.)

[BJG145]

A year has now passed....

...and I just sold my Continuumini. It's a nice thing, and I'll be sorry to see it go but...I'd located a working Tri-Bass in the US for $500, and it's a bucket-list item for me. Sacrifices must be made.

I immediately wrote to say I'll take it. I'm waiting to settle postage etc., but the Misa dream hovered a little closer today...

[BJG145]

...I'm hoping my Christmas present to myself might come early. This is currently at Santa's distribution centre in Pittsburgh...

[BJG145]

Today I finally got my hands on my much-travelled Tri-Bass, and it's a beaut.







No opportunity to test yet, will have to either source its non-standard charger or change the plug. And after today's mini-mauling it'll be a while before I can play it anyway. Still, something to look forward to...

[Drew Stephenson]

That's an interesting looking device.
Hope the hand heals up quickly - not just so we can have a demo, but, well, while you're at it...

[Martin Walker]

Wow, that looks fascinating - just don't get any blood on it BJG145!

Martin

[BJG145]

The Misa has been in storage up until now, but I picked it up today to see if I could do anything with it. I heard back from its inventor about the charger spec (and slightly unusual barrel connector) and put something together, and the machine has been on life-support for a couple of hours now.



I was excited by the red light when I first hooked it up, but my hopes that this would be an easy fix are starting to fade. Turning it on now results in a quick screen flash, but no more. I'll give it a few more hours of juice and see. Fingers crossed.

[BJG145]

...now, that's exciting...

I've got this knackered old Cibox monitor I use as a second display, but I find I have to switch it off and on repeatedly to get it to stay on. I Googled it once and found an explanation about how it indicates failing capacitors, which gradually charge, or something. I should chuck it out and get another but I'm a cheapskate (in ways).

The screen flashes on the Misa reminded me of that, and I wondered whether, if I just kept turning it off and on again enough times, it might stay on. Success!



I still don't know if it works yet. I was so pleased with myself I had to break off to update this post.

*edit*

Wow, it's actually working. Sweet.

[Drew Stephenson]

I think we need a video of it in action!

[Martin Walker]

I think we need a video of it in action!

Indeed we do!

Martin

[BJG145]

Would be happy to oblige, but this thing isn't quite out of the woods yet. This morning I tried the same multiple on/off trick to try and boot it up but wasn't getting anywhere. So I took the lid off the controls and found that a couple of wires had come loose in the process because the on/off dial was loose and turning in the socket.



Gonna have to take this to a local electronics repair place.