Exclusive Hardware Development and Premium Mods
I build incredible, unique, and highly valuable upgrades and extensions
for keyboards from iconic brands like KORG, Yamaha, Casio, and Nord.
Beyond custom modifications, my mission is centered on bringing vintage hardware back to life and engineering
utility-driven equipment tailored to solve real-world problems across the modern music industry.
TL;DR: I build gear that solves actual studio problems.
Some Unique Examples
Pimp My KORG
Repair & Pimp
Breathe terminal life back into legendary hardware. From restoring dead vintage voice chips and upgrading noisy internal power supply rails to custom enclosures, tactical paint jobs, and pure mechanical overkill.
MIDI Controller Development
Designing and routing custom logic boards and mapping matrices. Implementing native USB-MIDI compliance and legacy 5-pin DIN routing to transform raw structural hardware into reactive DAW performance hubs.
Custom Firmware Engines
Flashing optimized bare-metal micro-code directly to IC units. Bypassing manufacturing constraints to unlock hidden synthesizer modes, customize velocity response curves, and rewrite clock parameters.
Custom ADC Sensors & Microchips
Integrating high-resolution Analog-to-Digital Converter modules with microchips. Injecting custom ribbon controllers, light sensors, or continuous expression arrays directly into the synth’s internal bus system.
Keyboard Tuning & Extensions
Calibrating keybed action, tuning resistance tolerances, and physically expanding hardware modules. Extending stock capabilities with secondary custom touch plates or macro controllers.
PimpMyKORG is the hardware modification and electronic engineering division inside Gkiokan.NET. Instruments shouldn't be discarded just because components degrade. Whether your gear has worn-out buttons, failing audio jacks, or dim legacy displays, this lab breathes new life into legendary hardware. We treat synthesizers and workstation keyboards not just as equipment, but as legacy machines that deserve to be fully restored, optimized, and pushed past their original factory limitations.
We diagnose, overhaul, and repair core electrical components to bring tired workstations back to absolute factory precision:
- Component Overhauls: Precision replacement of tactile switches, tactile buttons, failing audio input/output jacks, and internal power supply units.
- Display Upgrades: Swapping out old, unreadable, or dying legacy screens with crisp, high-contrast modern display variants.
- Joystick & Pitch Bend Reconstruction: Specialized repair and calibration for drift-heavy or completely broken Pitch Bend Joysticks—a critical component that frequently goes out of order on classic keyboards.
When factory specifications aren't enough, we design and manufacture custom hardware extensions to modify how you interact with your sound architecture:
- Custom MIDI Controllers: Engineering dedicated, task-specific external MIDI hardware controllers designed for precise, dedicated handling of complex external instruments and rack devices.
- Hardware Modding & Extension Boards: Integrating non-native cross-generation features (like custom ribbon controllers or unique pitch bends from alternative manufacturers) straight into your existing hardware layout via custom micro-chips and custom-written firmware.
Have a classic synth that needs an emergency lifeline
or a custom hardware upgrade? Let's talk circuitry.