Sony SLV757VC FF button doesn't work?
 

Hello everyone. The "FF-FAST FORWARD" key of my Sony slv 757 vtr works "in reverse": when I press it the tape doesn't go fast-forward but goes fast-rewind (basically it "repeats" the "rewind" key). The problem occurs only by acting directly on the keyboard; from the remote control the FF works regularly. I looked at the 757 service manual but I couldn't find the exploded view of the "control switch block" to make sure that this block mounts microswitches under the surface keys. Please, can someone confirm that under these surface keys there are microswitches (I would change the non-functional one) or should the whole block be changed (which is no longer found)? Thank you all.

No microswitches. Probably a bad contact of the flat cable that connects the keyboard to the main board of the VCR.

Those Sony 757 deck internals look a lot like Panasonic AG-1970/80 type units!

12voltvids has serviced this model before. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWuk6wOpazc

This is essentially an ancient mid-grade VHS VCR. It's honestly not worth the effort to fix, and just use another VCR for FF and preview if needed.

When you open up decks this old, and start tinkering, it can break worse. That's happened to me too many times, on decks newer than this, and I know what I'm doing on those units. So beware.

In this case I thought there was a microswitch to change under the FF key but, having removed the front panel, I saw that the board on which the keyboard is mounted is closed by a metal plate held in the plastic chassis by a series of joints . To avoid the risk of breaking this thin plastic covering, I reassembled everything and, good news, the button started working again. It's very true what you say about the "dangerousness" of touching these old machines (I bought this 757 in August 1990) but, personally, I try to preserve their good functioning as much as possible.