I have the chance to buy a SFX-6, but am hesitate due to maintenance and it’s life. They owner have had it for 15 years and says he haven’t used it that much, but when he tested it this week he discovered that the joystick wasn’t properly attached but said that it can be glued back on.
What are other typical wear issues, what should I look for when inspecting the synth?
Is it better to wait for an SFX-60 mk2?
Cheers!
It would be a long wait.
The screen and if the PSU hums seem to be the main issues, I owned one for 10 years and replaced both.
Also check all encoders, switches and keys.
The joystick was glued on originally I think.
I think I’m letting it go as some of the encoders started to loose their responds too. I contacted support and they said that they’re still spare encoders and buttons but I don’t wanna end up repairing it… too bad 
I read in another post that you sold yours, did you go for the mk2 instead?
the joysticks were always problematic and kind of fragile. I’ve owned a couple of these and replaced the entire joystick assembly once, re-glued the metal top to another, and repaired another (to be fair, my first was a beta unit, so it saw two of these fixes). if this one just has the top coming off, @darenager is right, it’s likely just a re-glue job. the biggest problem was the joystick would wear out and not snap back to center like it should…
the encoders do wear out (same as on any Elektron machine) but are replaceable. you do need some decent skills to replace them though.
waiting to find a 60 mk2 (+ drive or not) is maybe your best bet. as these are at least newer, and have seen less life. they seem to go for similar $ these days too… you lose the joystick, but like I said it’s kind of a fragile (though awesome!) component.
I had both, I actually sold mk2 first.
MK2 is great but the extra features were not as useful (to me) as the keyboard.
If I find a mint condition SFX-6 then I probably go for that as the joystick is powerful performance tool, that’s why I prefered the Analog Keys over Analog Four.
What about the feel of the keys, sturdy?
Maybe you’d be able to use the joystick or x-y pad on a Novation sl mk2 to get similar results if not to cumbersome to program?
Speaking as someone who has recently got on the ‘monomachine housing ladder’, I’d say go for it. You can probably sell the mk1 for more than you buy it for, and there is no guarantee the eventual mk2 you end up with will be perfect.
Well as long as it lives, I don’t want to end up with a broken mk1. At least the mk2:s are repairable. Hopefully there’s more units to be found, if not I’ll shoot myself for not getting this one.
I always thought there was a limit of 1 per household?!
Any ideas?
You can use MIDI Pitch Bend, CC1 (Mod Wheel), and CC2 (Breath Control) to replicate the functions of the joystick (see manual, page 39).
That’s great!! I thought the joystick mapping was exlusive to the SFX-6 