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Solution! Reduce Crossfader Cut on Vestax VCI-300!!!
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Solution! Reduce Crossfader Cut on Vestax VCI-300!!!

lils0uljah 12:15 PM - 3 February, 2010
After opening up my Vestax VCI-300 to clean the jog wheels. I disassembled my Crossfader off the VCI-300's housing and took a peak. Flipped it over and noticed that there is 2 holes on the end of the actual fader housing. I screwed in 2 small screws on either side and watched the screws go right through just before it hits the electronic board (green/I don't know what its called) therefore stopping the fader from hitting the very end which we all know that the VCI-300 has a few mm "empty" sound lag before sound comes out. These screws on both sides stops the fader from entering that dead space and just stops about 1-1/2mm before the sound comes out - which makes crab scratching so much easier.

It was a mod that I wasn't intentionally trying to do. Originally i was inspecting it and drying to blow out the dust. and randomly screwed 2 screws in to see maybe it can stop the fader and it worked!

Enjoy
kraal 4:14 PM - 3 February, 2010
Quote:
After opening up my Vestax VCI-300 to clean the jog wheels. I disassembled my Crossfader off the VCI-300's housing and took a peak. Flipped it over and noticed that there is 2 holes on the end of the actual fader housing. I screwed in 2 small screws on either side and watched the screws go right through just before it hits the electronic board (green/I don't know what its called) therefore stopping the fader from hitting the very end which we all know that the VCI-300 has a few mm "empty" sound lag before sound comes out. These screws on both sides stops the fader from entering that dead space and just stops about 1-1/2mm before the sound comes out - which makes crab scratching so much easier.

It was a mod that I wasn't intentionally trying to do. Originally i was inspecting it and drying to blow out the dust. and randomly screwed 2 screws in to see maybe it can stop the fader and it worked!

Enjoy


very nice.... best one ever :)
Evin Kepik 8:23 PM - 3 February, 2010
Quote:
The old school trick:
www.serato.com
www.serato.com


So I read that Vestax was supposed to be doing a firmware upgrade. Which it has been a year since...

I'm still working on my crab scratches (on a TTM56s) and I thought, maybe its just me, but I guess not! haha
Dj K.Smith 5:41 AM - 7 February, 2010
Quote:
After opening up my Vestax VCI-300 to clean the jog wheels. I disassembled my Crossfader off the VCI-300's housing and took a peak. Flipped it over and noticed that there is 2 holes on the end of the actual fader housing. I screwed in 2 small screws on either side and watched the screws go right through just before it hits the electronic board (green/I don't know what its called) therefore stopping the fader from hitting the very end which we all know that the VCI-300 has a few mm "empty" sound lag before sound comes out. These screws on both sides stops the fader from entering that dead space and just stops about 1-1/2mm before the sound comes out - which makes crab scratching so much easier.

It was a mod that I wasn't intentionally trying to do. Originally i was inspecting it and drying to blow out the dust. and randomly screwed 2 screws in to see maybe it can stop the fader and it worked!

Enjoy


Make a video...
Dj Kabrini Greens 6:44 PM - 8 February, 2010
Enjoy

Make a video...


or post pics! so that we can admire your work, not steal your idea of course :)
kraal 7:03 PM - 8 February, 2010
i will actually post a video of what i did from reading his post a little later tonight
Dj K.Smith 7:57 PM - 8 February, 2010
Quote:
i will actually post a video of what i did from reading his post a little later tonight


Cool
lofty 10:02 PM - 8 February, 2010
Quote:
i will actually post a video of what i did while watching some porn a little later tonight



Cool
kraal 1:12 AM - 9 February, 2010
video being sent to youtube now will post link when ready
kraal 2:09 AM - 9 February, 2010
and here is the video sorry for not giving probs where they are due but i can not for the life of me pronounce your name

Watchwww.youtube.com
Evin Kepik 3:31 AM - 9 February, 2010
Watched it and looks simple as ever.

thanks kraal for making a vid!
Dj Ace 3:46 AM - 9 February, 2010
Nice vid kraal...hey did you spray paint you vci with random yellow patterns?
kraal 3:48 AM - 9 February, 2010
Quote:
Nice vid kraal...hey did you spray paint you vci with random yellow patterns?

nah screen printed the whole 'faceplate'
kraal 3:49 AM - 9 February, 2010
Quote:
Watched it and looks simple as ever.

thanks kraal for making a vid!

it is simple thanks to ils0uljah for the idea
Dj Ace 3:49 AM - 9 February, 2010
awww ok ic
Dj K.Smith 4:27 AM - 9 February, 2010
Quote:
and here is the video sorry for not giving props where they are due but i can not for the life of me pronounce your name...

Watchwww.youtube.com


Good looking out kraal... Imma be (No BEP) doing this tonight so my VCI can cut a little tighter... And dudes name is "little soldier" lilsouljah, lol...
spazz 6:24 AM - 9 February, 2010
Good vid kraal. Nice to see the inside of the VCI-300.
Dj K.Smith 7:22 AM - 9 February, 2010
that sucka was tough to open cause i thought I was gonna break it.. Did the mod and tested it out, not that I'm Steve Dub or Bandoma but I did notice a difference. Kraal, thanks mane...
djchriscruz 11:53 AM - 9 February, 2010
Good shit Kraal! I'm gonna try this tonight
Maskrider 1:35 AM - 10 February, 2010
Thanks for the Video Kraal.
djchriscruz 4:53 AM - 10 February, 2010
So I tried the mod tonight and the right side wouldn't cut off. The left side of the fader cut off fine. I was worried I might have short circuited the board but I took out the screws from the fader and it worked fine. I dont want to keep opening it and inserting the screws and reinstert them just to see if it works. I think I'm just going to do the ghetto looking credit card mod
kraal 6:53 AM - 10 February, 2010
you can actually run the vci-300 with it open... just dont screw the screw in too far..... it is interesting if you look at the design of the vestax digital cross fader it has a screw in that exact spot for adjusting the cut
Evin Kepik 9:45 AM - 10 February, 2010
so i did and it works great! I noticed screwing the two screw inside it tightens the plastic so the crossfader can't reach that fade.

Anyways, while screwing back the crossfader circuit board, i noticed it puts a slight bend on the circuit board if I screw it nice and tight. So i didn't screw it tight and when i was playing with it, the the crossfader board got unscrewed and now I'm going to have to open it up again! -__-
djchriscruz 1:17 PM - 10 February, 2010
Kraal do you think I shouldn't insert the screws too far into the fader? It's weird that it would cut on the left side but not the right side. What do you mean I can run the VCI with it open? It's not like an old pmc 05 pro where I could just take off the top plate and play with it open. You have to remove the bottom to get to the X fader.
kraal 3:11 PM - 10 February, 2010
no i mean to make sure that the cut is right
DeezNotes 5:29 AM - 11 February, 2010
thanks for this. i was hoping for a firmware update to fix it, but it's been way too long overdue.
kraal 6:18 AM - 11 February, 2010
deezNotes i agree on that ...... let me know what you think of the mod. I am liking it even better than the credit card trick
Booyah 8:09 PM - 11 February, 2010
Does anyone have a clue to what size those screws are?
kraal 9:05 PM - 11 February, 2010
#4 machine screws
Evin Kepik 9:30 PM - 11 February, 2010
A good tip to note is make sure the screw head is flat. Or else when u try screw back the crossfader, you'll be putting strain on the circuit board.
KLH 4:56 AM - 12 February, 2010
When I watched your vid, Kraal, I saw this one and just had to share it:

Watchwww.youtube.com

BTW, your vid was great!

-KLH
I1Kirm 9:04 AM - 12 February, 2010
^That's what I call baby scratch. Lol
A future DMC champion, for sure!!
spazz 11:15 AM - 12 February, 2010
It get's no better than that. The kid is a prodigy.
Booyah 12:49 PM - 12 February, 2010
Hey krael I owe you a BIG THANK YOU
Dj K.Smith 3:55 PM - 12 February, 2010
Quote:
^That's what I call baby scratch. Lol
A future DMC champion, for sure!!


"Baby scratch", LOL.... Cool video man...
Booyah 4:20 PM - 12 February, 2010
Quote:
After opening up my Vestax VCI-300 to clean the jog wheels. I disassembled my Crossfader off the VCI-300's housing and took a peak. Flipped it over and noticed that there is 2 holes on the end of the actual fader housing. I screwed in 2 small screws on either side and watched the screws go right through just before it hits the electronic board (green/I don't know what its called) therefore stopping the fader from hitting the very end which we all know that the VCI-300 has a few mm "empty" sound lag before sound comes out. These screws on both sides stops the fader from entering that dead space and just stops about 1-1/2mm before the sound comes out - which makes crab scratching so much easier.

It was a mod that I wasn't intentionally trying to do. Originally i was inspecting it and drying to blow out the dust. and randomly screwed 2 screws in to see maybe it can stop the fader and it worked!

Enjoy


Actually I owe lils0uljah a BIG Thank YOU and KRAAL a Thank you for the video
Dj K.Smith 4:27 PM - 12 February, 2010
No doubt, thanks for the original post lilsouljah...
kraal 5:41 PM - 12 February, 2010
right i just made a video of the process...... it wasnt my idea
Dj Ace 6:19 PM - 13 February, 2010
My son prefers technics...LOL

s65.photobucket.com
lils0uljah 12:31 PM - 22 February, 2010
Hey guys, holy crap, I didn't realize how many responses I got. I just sold my VCI-300 + the crossfader mod (to impress a buyer with the NEW scratching capabilities, which helped me get my resale value up to $800. Got it for $1090 Aud in Sydney, Australia originally)

I was a little upset about selling my VCI-300 after this mod, because I've complained about the crossfader cut for so long, hoping for a fix, and just after I fix it, I sold it 2 days later :(

Anyway, shoutout to 'Kraal' for making the video, as I have no camera to film for the tutorial.

Happy scratching everyone!

P.S. 'lil s0uljah' isn't my dj name. Just a name that was given to me when I was younger, and I just stuck with it...
kraal 1:20 PM - 22 February, 2010
too bad you sold it... you are a legend for this mod :)
lils0uljah 1:27 PM - 22 February, 2010
Thanks Kraal :)

Nice skin on the VCI-300. Maybe you should give us a tutorial on how to design and apply one :)
kraal 1:37 PM - 22 February, 2010
i plan on it .... my next design i will film the whole process
lils0uljah 10:23 PM - 22 February, 2010
Awesome..

How do we make this a 'Sticky'?
Kevin Kelly 8:23 AM - 23 February, 2010
Quote:
i plan on it .... my next design i will film the whole process


Kraal...PLEASE...PLEASE show me how I can do this with my 300....the scratches on my black finish are driving me crazy! I wish we could be some time of sticker things for the 300!
Kevin Kelly 8:24 AM - 23 February, 2010
Oops....I meant to say "buy some type of sticker"
I1Kirm 9:25 AM - 23 February, 2010
I bet you wrote your comment on an iPhone
Booyah 12:16 PM - 23 February, 2010
Quote:
Quote:
i plan on it .... my next design i will film the whole process


Kraal...PLEASE...PLEASE show me how I can do this with my 300....the scratches on my black finish are driving me crazy! I wish we could be some time of sticker things for the 300!



www.styleflip.com for the sticker thing lol
kraal 2:45 PM - 23 February, 2010
Quote:
Quote:
i plan on it .... my next design i will film the whole process


Kraal...PLEASE...PLEASE show me how I can do this with my 300....the scratches on my black finish are driving me crazy! I wish we could be some time of sticker things for the 300!

well i can tell you right now the way i do it is a little bit of work ? but i enjoy doing art process ... if you can order from
www.djs-face.com
iiexist 7:15 PM - 25 February, 2010
great video kraal.

be sure to note that you remove the correct screws on the back. at first i was almost ripping apart my jogwheel chips. after the 1st go round of modding, my right channel would respond.. but everything is cool now.

the side screws also didnt work for modding my fader.. maybe i screwed them in too tight... i ended up using 2 screws from the back.

scratch away!
iiexist 7:16 PM - 25 February, 2010
(why cant we edit post...)

i meant to say my right channel WOULDNT respond..
djtekno 10:10 PM - 25 February, 2010
When you guys did the screw mod for the crossfader, did you notice that the height of the crossfader was shorter? like the fader cap rubs against the unit. I tried looking for screws or something that would help, but I've had to no luck. Any ideas guys?
Booyah 1:01 PM - 1 March, 2010
Quote:
When you guys did the screw mod for the crossfader, did you notice that the height of the crossfader was shorter? like the fader cap rubs against the unit. I tried looking for screws or something that would help, but I've had to no luck. Any ideas guys?


so i did and it works great! I noticed screwing the two screw inside it tightens the plastic so the crossfader can't reach that fade.

Anyways, while screwing back the crossfader circuit board, i noticed it puts a slight bend on the circuit board if I screw it nice and tight. So i didn't screw it tight and when i was playing with it, the the crossfader board got unscrewed and now I'm going to have to open it up again! -__-

That is what is happening, your height is shorter because your fader has become dettached youll have to open it up and screw it back together, this happened to me during a private party over the weekend, I had to use the up faders because the crossfader fell into the mixer and i couldnt open it up during the party!
lils0uljah 4:45 AM - 16 March, 2010
Reply to Booyah:

Yes it does bend the circuit board a little bit, but either way if done correctly, the crossfader shouldn't screw down fully and the crossfader knob should slide back and forth smoothly and perfectly. The 2 screws has to be exactly even when sticking out and against the back of the faceplate when putting it back together. The first time I did it, the fader height was too short. I played around with it and I got it to nearly original height and the fader cap doesn't rub against the VCI-300 faceplate. Then you will never have problems with the crossfader falling off.

**NOTE** You need to use the right screw. The type that not only fits but has to have the perfect length and it shouldn't have to be forced in when screwing in. Should screw in smoothly...
illkid 4:39 PM - 27 March, 2010
will this mod void the guarantee?
kraal 6:02 PM - 27 March, 2010
probably if they actually know you did it ;)
illkid 9:04 PM - 27 March, 2010
answering my own question here : YES! it will void your guarantee.
confirmed by a vestax support mod here: www.serato.com
krank 7:59 AM - 3 April, 2010
hey did the mod this weekend, worked very well, thought id share that i used the two short domed screw from the back of the vci that are above the rca sockets, these are just the right length and allow you to do them up securely without damage to the pcb, after that i re-used the four washers from the rear of the vci to shim out and hence extended the mounting posts of the fader so that when you replace the screws no bending of the pcb takes place and the fader is as secure as a factory fit.. hope this helps anyone contemplating this mod..

kudos to the mod creator..
kraal 8:52 PM - 1 May, 2010
funny thing is as i was listening to older mixes i like the sound of the scratching on the VCI-300 prior to the mod. so i offically UN-modded my unit :)
aaronottio 5:54 PM - 17 June, 2010
Ok this is sort of unrelated but since you guys are all talking about taking vci's apart and modding them and everything I'm going to ask...I have left the plastic coating on mine for like almost a year and it's peeling to the point that I think I'm just going to peel it off completely. Is there any trick to it? Will i need to remove any screws or just fader knobs? thanks in advance for your help.
kraal 5:58 PM - 17 June, 2010
nope just pull it off it will come off clean
aaronottio 6:00 PM - 17 June, 2010
Thanks kraal. I can always count on you.
kraal 6:09 PM - 17 June, 2010
Quote:
Thanks kraal. I can always count on you.

yeah well i am currently working on some tutorials on just basic vci-300 itch usage.... be on the look out :)
aaronottio 6:21 PM - 17 June, 2010
Word.Well your vid on the crossfader cut was on point so keep it up.
Quote:
Quote:
Thanks kraal. I can always count on you.

yeah well i am currently working on some tutorials on just basic vci-300 itch usage.... be on the look out :)
DJ LIL M 7:35 PM - 14 August, 2010
This was great
rmr1r 9:22 AM - 24 November, 2010
My xfader been actin up so i just applied this fix and lubed the faders with Deoxit. Used 2 of the side screws. Thing cuts like new! Thanks Kraal and other contributors to this thread!
kraal 9:29 AM - 24 November, 2010
yup for scratch dj's this is a great move to make
DJ MCee 6:26 PM - 26 November, 2010
was the problem fixed wtih the mkii? or does this fix need to be applied as well to the mkii?
kraal 6:43 PM - 26 November, 2010
Seems vestal doesn't see it as a problem. The crossfader that comes in the mk2 is the exact same
DJ SHY 2:56 AM - 27 November, 2010
yeah..crossfader is identical...although you can upgrade to the new digital crossfader... and they made it easier to access the crossfader...