Vintage is overrated. Lesson learned(rant)

[dj ike]

I recently bought Korg 707 keyboard, vintage FM synth, I plugged it in and the keyboard didn't work. I was able to get it to work via midi with a controller.

I took a peak inside and noticed a pcb board under the keybed was grey/burnt looking along one side.

I contact Korg, and several parts suppliers,and parts are no longer available, so I'm all beat up about it.

From now on, I no longer want to buy vintage instruments, they aren't worth the headache, especially if you are a composer/working musician.

Sure you may be looking for "that" sound. Which no other synth can duplicate exactly, but "that" sound was 25 years ago, the people who got "that" sound were just making music with whatever resources they had.

I say stop looking for "that" sound, and start making the "next new" sound.

We have plenty of gear, sound palettes, options that musicians would've killed for 25 years ago.

That being said, I have a Yamaha FB01 FM synth also, and want to load up the 96 user patches with 3rd party patches, but don't know how. Do I need an Atari emulator? How can I dump these patches into it?

[pandashake]

I think the real problem is you purchased a Korg 707. You could have stopped after that. Those things are/were the worst pieces of plastic ever. Don't give up on the vintage thing, just be careful with what you buy.

[living sounds]

Don't extrapolate from a single experience to a general statement. It's flawed logic - in general as well as in this case.

[soulata]

It's plenty different for me. Had a Waldorf Pulse and sold it just to buy it again, because I kinda miss it...

[himalaya]

The first question that springs to mind is, did you buy the keyboard without checking it first or getting assurance from the seller that it's working 100% ?

I think you are largly correct in saying that vintage synths can be a headache to maintain, but that goes with any vintage item, be it a synth, a guitar, or furniture from the Loch Ness castle.

There is a reason why people still lust after 'that' sound, whatever it means to those who lust after it. Some vintage synths have a classic status for its unique sound that is extremely difficult to get in any other way, be it a modern hardware workstation keyboard or a software one. Whether it matters to us is only for each one of us to answer.

There is also the question of people owning vintage gear as it's been part of music history. I know from experience that it is a nice feeling playing an old mono synth that has been used on classic records.

The next question you have to ask yourself, perhaps old keyboards can be labeled as 'vintage', but are they 'classic' ? Have they got that something worth the trouble ? In your case, the Korg 707 looks lovely, but it's hardly a classic. For that 'classic' FM I'd opt for a DX7 instead. DX7II more precisely.

I say stop looking for "that" sound, and start making the "next new" sound.

I think todays music has brought us the old and new in equal measures. There's plenty of cool new sounds and sound design techniques used in contemporary music, especially electronic music, (since it would be unfair to expect some glitched-out, and twisted 3D sounds in a country song. ) And there lots of cool vintage sounds used in songs too. I love both equally.

Myself, I want to use the sound that tickles the part in my brain that goes "yeah!" and smokes a cigar. So, if it is some 25 year old lead sound based on a single sawtooth waveform made on a MiniMoog or an ultra contemporary additive one, mixed with acoustic modelling and desintegrated in granular effects done in software, I'm happy !

[invitia]

The Korg 707 was crap already when it was released.

[thecontrolcentre]

I recently bought Korg 707 keyboard, vintage FM synth

Why?

It isn't necessarily useful for any professional work but if you want a lo-fi cheesy digital sound from a toy-like synthesizer then give the 707 a try!

If you want a "vintage" synth, then buy a decent one ... how much was the 707?

[mauseoleum]

[danbroad]

Vintage is overrated. There, I said it too.

Not crap - there's a whole ton of vintage gear I'd love to own, such as the venerable Minimoog. There's a whole ton of vintage gear I've owned and loved, too. I'm not saying it's not great, but it's definitely overrated. Forums like these and VSE etc whip folks into such a frenzy that it seems we just gotta have it. Same with real analog. It's great, but it's overrated, and for just the same reasons.

A great many people buy a Little Phatty or a Tetra because the world seems to run on transistors and discrete components. Forums full of experts dictate the analog/vintage superiority. And so you by one.. and, well, frankly you're underwhelmed. So you persist for a while, and you just can't shake the feeling that it's just not moving you like the forums said it would.

Overzealous 'marketing' by unpaid third parties. That's how business would coin it; they're right. Doesn't matter whether it's old or new, analo or digital, hard or soft. What matters is how it whets your very own whistle, not someone else's, and certainly someone you've never met who maintains it's the best thing since sliced bread.

[thecontrolcentre]

Try before you buy ... or STFU.

[sellmestory]

I agree that this "hunt for vintage sound" is a bit out of hand.
But there are ways to get a good feeling and a warm sound out of plugin synths.I have been running all my software synths through a decent DDA desk,and it surely helps when its eq'ed and summed totally analog.
The main thing here is that is sounds good to me,and thats all I need.

[dj ike]

I have a bad habit of cruising CL and Ebay for deals on hardware, I've had like 100 pieces of gear come and go from my studio, fiddling with cables, making repairs, soldering joints, cleaning stuff up, and NOT playing/making music.

I bought the 707 because I like the FB01, and it has the same chip with slightly better editing. I like to talkbox, so it's also good for that.

From now on, I only want to deal with new gear with USB ports, easy editing, parts available, low maintenence, plenty of memory.

I bought Ableton years ago, and FM7, and have a bunch of freeware, Minimogue, Iblit, Proteus vx, Bass Station, V-Station(free with my controller), etc. I was jamming on these VSTs, and was like wtf?? Why am I messing with all this dusty old equipment?

BTW, the guy who sold me the 707 agreed to take it back and refund my money, but I learned a valuable lesson from all this.

No more GASing for vintage gear for me!

[JimmiG]

I was considering a Juno 106 but then read about dead voice chips and such so decided against it. I don't think I have the skills to fix such a thing, even if I could find a replacement chip. I always seem to break stuff when taking it apart Plus its chorus effect is available as a free plug-in that sounds very nearly the same. A true vintage analog synth I might have considered, but I'd rather take a Minimoog Voyager or even LP over an original mini, complete with scratchy pots and the risk of parts failing, smoke and violent explosions

[Cordelia]

Vintage is so last year.

We are searching for that new sound

We are looking for the new sound

We are looking all around and round

For that new sound

[galwaypark]

From my experience, after having owned my share of vintage and modern hardware synthesizers, it's all about the interface and complete and fast hands-on experience.

It's what makes them so fun and immediate to use and interact with, as opposed to software, IMHO. The sound - well I think it's really just hyped beyond reason, in a way that makes people expect otherwordly aural magic where in fact there is none.

Yes, if we're speaking vintage analog, the differences are there - tightness, roundness, fullness - however you choose to hear / call it, but in my experience they're not enough to justify all that hype (especially if the hardware sound comes in a two-knob, two-button interface - in that case, I'd choose software any day of the week.)

But well laid, knobby boards simply guide me into writing music and making sounds in a way that software doesn't.