Have you sold your Hardware synths and regretted it

[djanthonyw]

I regret not having more hardware to sell.

[PatchAdamz]

But the Wood, the wood....

No longer in working order, but still have it...

...and now also in software, which IS in working order

SWEEEET

[MIDICH1]

Moog Opus 3

ESQ1

Casio VZ-1

2 Oberheim 1000s

[damoog]

I recently purchased a prophet 08,moog phatty and a bass station 2 So I'm currently happy on the hardwarer front BUT synths that I've owned over 20 years and regretted selling are

Original bass station
Korg prophecy
Yamaha motif (first one)
Roland jp8080( defo regret selling her)
Yamaha sy55(kinda shitty really but had some nice pads)
Novation ks4

I basically sold all these when vst software really got growing in the early 2000's...it's not like a massive regret as 'in the box' is much more practical but a wish I had at least kept them in storage

[C-note]

That's really a good question.

One thing I miss about the hardware synths was the hardware.

The D-50 STILL sounds unique and not much can compare for that exact sound.

But the Wood, the wood....

Agreed - I forgot my D-50, actually miss the Juno 106 and D-50

[Tronam]

Yes. I made the mistake of selling my Nord Lead 2X and regret it constantly. I have never before or since been as consistently productive at programming my own sounds and really miss that punchy, squidgy clarity. It might also be the only time I've ever intuitively understood a synthesizer so well that I could start imagining sounds in my head and immediately be able to recreate them, instinctively.

[ghettosynth]

Moog Opus 3

ESQ1

Casio VZ-1

2 Oberheim 1000s

Except for the Moog, those are among the cheapest analogs on the planet. I've turned down ESQs for < $100.

[Tronam]

It just occurred to me that this thread roared into existence 10 years ago. That's a serious resurrection.

[PatchAdamz]

One drawback to hardware synths was the fact that the oscillators could "drift".
They would loose their tune and have to be serviced.

Well, this happened to my Memory Moog (speaking of nice wood).
Since I couldn't find anyone who knew how to fix this issue I called Moog in New York.

I explained the issue and the tech (possibly Bob) said, "do you have some time...?"

I said I did and he preceded to have me open up the Memory Moog.

For the next couple hours he preceded to teach me how to tune the oscillators, one by one.

"Give a man an oscillator and you feed him for a day; teach a man to tune an oscillator and you tune him for a lifetime..."

[BBFG#]

The auto tune on my memory moog worked great, but you did have to let it warm up a minute before you pushed the button. Nice thing was it didn't drift, even under stage lights. The machine I remember falling out of tune under lights was the Prophet 600, which made it pretty much junk.

[PatchAdamz]

The auto tune on my memory moog worked great, but you did have to let it warm up a minute before you pushed the button. Nice thing was it didn't drift, even under stage lights. The machine I remember falling out of tune under lights was the Prophet 600, which made it pretty much junk.

Apparently there was an issue with some of Memory Moogs that simply pushing the auto tune button would not resolve.

It was necessary to remove DIP sockets and header pins to correct this issue which was experienced by many users.

The Memory Moog had 18 oscillators so it was some work to tune them.

The Memory Moog Plus had several firmware and design upgrades so it was not as problematic.

All good experience in the long run.

[BBFG#]

The auto tune on my memory moog worked great, but you did have to let it warm up a minute before you pushed the button. Nice thing was it didn't drift, even under stage lights. The machine I remember falling out of tune under lights was the Prophet 600, which made it pretty much junk.

Apparently there was an issue with some of Memory Moogs that simply pushing the auto tune button would not resolve.

It was necessary to remove DIP sockets and header pins to correct this issue which was experienced by many users.

The Memory Moog had 18 oscillators so it was some work to tune them.

The Memory Moog Plus had several firmware and design upgrades so it was not as problematic.

All good experience in the long run.

I remember they had to recall the first two or three hundred too and remove all the original solder and redo it with the right solder.
I would never want to go back there just to own one again, but I have admit, it's one of those synths that a picture brings back all the good experiences with it.

[Synthbuilder]

I go through phases of buying and selling. I don't have much space to put any musical gear so once it gets filled I then get all in a flap and have to sell a bunch.

So pretty much over the 35 years I've been doing this lark I've had a lot of stuff pass through my hands. The only things I really regret selling are my Oberheim Two Voice and a little Roland SH-1.

I saw my second ever synth, an RS-09 bought in 1984, come up on Ebay the other week. I know it's mine because I put a small switch on the back and there it was - the very same switch and in the same position. The seller was asking 300GBP. My wife said I should buy it, but even though the GAS was strong, I didn't feel the need to buy it again.

Tony

[crimsonwarlock]

But the Wood, the wood....

No longer in working order, but still have it...

...and now also in software, which IS in working order

SWEEEET

Unfortunately without wood, but this one is polyphonic (the original was monophonic).

[Gonga]

I sold a bunch of hardware synths and other keyboards over the years, beginning around 1982. No regrets. All of them were constantly breaking down, especially the Oberheim FVS-1. I was never satisfied with the sound of my Moog Voyager Rackmount either. The hardware controls on synths, and controllers for that matter, continue to be primitive, dark ages things and nothing much has changed in 40 years.

The only synths I've kept are two rack-mount units that cannot (yet) be found in a quality vst: Roland JV-2080 and Yamaha TX-802 FM synth. My two remaining synths, an Alesis QS-8 and Korg Triton Extreme 76, are now used for controller purposes only, except occasionally when I feel like just sitting down and playing something other than my piano. Oh yeah, and I still have my Roland SH-1000, but I modded that into a portable controller in 1980.

Synths have for too long focused strictly on sound hardware, and not on controller hardware. Yes, there are a few esoteric companies that have produced whacky, expensive controllers, but nobody is trying to give the players what they really need - flexible, customizable modularity at a reasonable price. And controllers are similarly inflexible: not customizable. When the day arrives that a company produces flexible, modular controllers the way guitar companies do (you can order all sorts of custom set-ups), you will see a Renaissance in hardware of all kinds among players, the programmers will no longer occupy front and center in music as they do today, and I will consider buying a new synth. Synths have the potential to be the most flexible and varied of all instruments in terms of controls - and yet are severely limited by our collective imagination and thoughtless acceptance of what is rather than what could or should be.

Instead, almost the entire market is focused now on the wheel - the original controller - and nothing else is even available for these synths. That's just stupid. Almost all the hardware that comes out today is insulting to me as a player. Now companies are producing new versions of great-sounding old analog gear - complete with old crappy controller hardware.

I could be wrong. Maybe there will never be a mass market for fine synth controllers. Maybe the era of synth players controlling their synths with great subtlety and nuance - creating breathtaking improvisations and melodies that make us wonder how it's possible - is permanently behind us, replaced with programmers who can't really play very well at all. But I don't think so.