Also for sale....

In addition to the Elka, I am also selling some of my loop and sample collections. Made by my own fair hand, these are CD's or DVD's crammed full of Electro, Jungle, Hardcore, Ambient and Deep House loops and breaks, all in 16bit/44.1KHz WAV format and also saome in REX format.

See HERE for more details :o)

Coldplay Studio clearout !!

Risking yet another deluge of idiots asking me if *I* still have these itmes for sale, I noticed that Coldplay are having a bit of a spring clean. Items include...

Emu SP1200



Roland SH-101



Pearl Syncussion SY1



Korg PolySix



Roland Jupiter6



LinnDrum LM-2



Oberheim Stretch DX



Korg MonoPoly



eBay Link Here

And just to remind anyone thinking of emailing me asking about these items and whether I still have them for sale or if I can ship to some Aussie backwater hick town, population 5, where the father is also the mother's brother, I WILL hunt you down and rape you !! ;o)

I AM NOT VINCE CLARKE !!!!

Oh how I wish I was !!!!

A little while back, I posted an article about Vince Clarke (Erasure/Depeche Mode/Yazoo/The Assembly) selling off a whole load of gear on eBay.....

Vince Clarke's Studio For Sale

.. and ever since, I have been bombarded with emails from ignorant fools who simply don't read the post, asking if I still have particular items left for sale !!

The first few were amusing, but they subsequently got more annoying and abusive when I told them I wasn't Vince and I wasn't selling these things !!!

So, if you have found this post because your sorry ass Googled some bit of vintage gear that you want, DO NOT SEND ME ANY FUCKING EMAILS AS I AM NOT VINCE CLARKE AND I DO NOT HAVE ANY GEAR FOR SALE !!!!!

And the next person that sends me an abusive email because of this will have their cock cut off and force fed to them on a cocktail stick.

I shit you not.

Vince Clarke's Studio For Sale

EDIT: Would people stop emailing me asking to buy this stuff !!!! Read the post ! This is being sold on eBay by Vince Clarke (or on his behalf, at least). If I owned any of this stuff, I would not be selling it, that's for sure ! LOL ;o)

Now here's an auction I am interested in !!

Apparantly, Vince is moving his studio to the U.S. and he's selling off a load of gear before he goes.

Up for auction are the following...

Gentle Electric Model 101
Ear 822Q
Drawmer DS201 Gate x2
DBX 166A Comp x2
Roland SDE3000A
Eventide H3000-D/SE
Bel Electronics BD-80
Lexicon PCM70
Bel Electronics BA40
Korg Stage Echo
DeltaLab Effectron ADM1024
Orban/Parasound 106CX
Korg Signal Delay
Roland Space Echo
Lexicon Primetime
Peavey Reverb
Ear 823MQ
Drawmer DL221
Roland GS 6
Otari DTR-7
Aiwa XK007 Excelia
Denon DCD 595
Furman Sound RV-1
Astorias Classical Accoustic GTR JM155
Martin&co Steel String Accoustic
Yamaha NS-10 Pair x2
Ear 509mkII Amplifier x2
Ear 549 Amplifier x4
Un-named Studio Control Speakers
SAE P50 Amplifier x2
NAD 3020A Amplifier
Akai S1000
Roland A110 Midi Display
Alesis DATA DISK
Dual 505-2 Turntable
Revox 1/4 inch 2 Track Recorder
David 9000 Speakers
Studer C37 Type828 2 Track Recorder
Studer A80 24 Track Recorder
EMT 140 Plate Reverb
UMI Computers x 8 with drive and memory cards
Optikenetics Solar 250 Light
Speaker Stands 45cm High
AS Filter Bank FB3
EMO RackLight RK1
Sycologic AMI
Sycologic M16x
Sycologic PSP
FriendChip SRC
FriendChip SRC/AT
Ensoniq KMX-16
DAC High Capacity Storage System
Amek Mixing Console
Groove Electronics MC-Lites Midi Box
JBL M553 Crossover
Tascam DA-P1 DAT
Arun Oxley Pin Patch
Otari Radar 24 Track Hrd Drv Recorder Plus SCSCI Drive
Otari RE-8E Controller
Amek Mice Controller
Studer A80 VU Remote Control
Studer AutoLocator
Bantam Jack Patch 6 1U units of 96 inputs
A/DA GTR Flanger
ProCo GTR FX RAT
DaneElectro Tuner
Signex CPM22 MIDI Patch
Symetrix Headphone Amplifier SX204
Fairlight C.M.I
Erasure MIDI/Gate System
Beckmann9020 Oscilloscope
Roland PMA-5 x2
Roland MC-4 Micro Composer x6
Roland CV Interface 0P-8M x5
Roland Digital Cassette Recorder MTR100 x3
Roland SBX-80 Midi Sync Box
Roland MC-300 Micro composer
Roland MC-500 MKII Micro Composer
Behringer Ultra X crossover
BSS DPR522 Gate
AB 215 EQ x2
Behringer ULtra Q Pro
BSS FCS 926 Varicurve x2
BSS FCS 920 Varicurve
Klark Teknik DN514 Auto Gate
Behringer Multicom 4ch Compresser x2
Behringer Composer Pro 2ch Compresser x2
Roland SDE 3000 x2
Yamaha SPX90 x2
Yamaha R1000 Reverb
DBX 120-DS
BSS Soundweb 9088i Signal Processer
BSS FCS 920 Varicurve
Yamaha SPX90MkII
Behringer Virtualizer Pro
BSS DPR502 Midi Noise Gate
DBX 500 SubHarmonizer
DBX 160 2ch Compresser VU Meter Version
AB 215LT EQ
Yamaha PM180 Rack Mixer
Behringer Tube Ultra Q x3
AB 231 EQ
Roland Dimension SDD-320
Citronic V-4.5 Conquest 2ch Amplifier
White Parametric EQ x2
Crest Century 24ch Mixing Console
Crest 32ch Mxing Console
Duke Box

Quite a list and one item of note is the Fairlight although it doesn't appear in the eBay shop yet. Either it has sold or is yet to be listed. I am led to believe that items are added as and when they become available.

Take a look and bid on a piece of history from one of the greatest electronic musicians of all time.

Nothing for ages, then two come along at once !!

It's been all quiet on the Fairlight front recently. Just as well really, as now, more than ever, they are destined to be forever out of my reach.

But within the last few days, two have sprung up. And they share a common link.

Firstly, we have this beauty....[via Matrixsynth]



This is a CMI III Revision 9.34 with the MFX2 functionality (revision 11.39) added. MFX2 is basically a 24 track "Direct To Disk" HD audio recorder/editor. This is probably the ultimate CMI. It also comes with the following libraries, capable of inducing involuntary bladder leakage and uncontrolled ejaculation...

Complete Fairlight library, Prosonus Strings, Brass, Percussion, Sound Genesis strings, plus many libraries collected over the last 20 years dealing with top producers and musicians. These include libraries from: Pet Shop Boys, Trevor Horn, Hans Zimmer, Frankie goes to Hollywood, Art of Noise and many, many others. The complete Fairlight IIX library is also included.

Currently sitting with no bids on eBay Australia, it has a starting price of AUS$12,490 and a Buy It Now of AUS$14,865. That works out at about £5047 & £6808 respectively. Then of course there would be the shipping. It's a fine example and worth every penny.

Secondly, a member of the Fairlight Yahoo list is selling. No pics of this one, but very similar to the afore mentioned CMI. In their own words....

Hi everyone,

I'm selling my Fairlight Series III (rev 9.34), if anyone on this list in interested. I bought it in from NY as a 6.03 machine in 2002 and soon after had it serviced and upgraded to a 9.34 machine courteous of Peter Wielk at Horizontal Productions. It's served me well ever since :)))))

The full spec is as follows:
9.34 Machine
16 Voice
14 Meg RAM (7x 2 Meg Boards)
1x 4GB Internal HD - Full of amazing libraries such as the FULL Series III factory sounds (including Subscription Tapes), IIx libraries, Pet Shop Boys, Hanz Zimmer, Pro Strings, Pro Brass, Pro Percussion, JJ (Art on Noise), plus many more
1x 4GB External HD - Full of rare and excellent libraries, beats, sounds which compliment the 1st HD libraries nicely
Original Monitor
Original Music Keyboard
Original QWERTY / G-Tablet keyboard
Original 60 MB Tape Streamer
Original 8" Disc Drive
Original cables / wires / plugs
Several 60MB Tapes
Couple of 8" discs
Cosmetic condition is about 8.5 / 10
Working condition is 99.99%*
It was sold to me as previously owned by ZZ Top, but I can't confirm this. It's more likely it had been used by them in the studio they recorded in.

* The G-Pen cap, which screws on at the end and holds the metal nib in place, has a chip broken off meaning it can't hold or keep the nib. This is a dead easy fix. I have thought about melting the plastic and re-shaping it, but it's something I'm not too clued up on so was waiting for someone to come along and recommend me a better way. Apart from this, it works as it should.

Please mail me off list if you're interested. It will be very upsetting to see her go, so I'm not about to accept any silly offers. I also have photos which I can supply on demand.

Contact Peter at peter.yahoogroups@googlemail.com if you are seriously interested.

Anyway, the common link is that both these machines have been serviced by Peter Wielk at Horizontal Productions. Peter is a former Fairlight employee, so his experience is virtually unparalleled.

Visit the website & check out the Parts and systems page where, amongst other things, he is selling 4GB hard drives with library ! Now, apparantly there is a piece of PC software that can read these Fairlight HD's and convert the samples to .wav. I've been approached to go halves on one but my budget won't allow that right now. However, it must be worth it to try and get some of these legendary sounds !

Well, here are a few more pics of the first CMI for you to have a "Tommy Tank" over !

Prepare for a bizarre Oktoberfest !!!

Picture the scene....

You're sat in a massive marquee, surrounded by strapping German dudes in Lederhosen, and equally strapping German lasses balancing 20 pints of finest German ale on their ample bussoms.

The "Oompah" band in the corner strike up a tune straight out of the heart of the Bavarian hills, when all of a sudden, young Uter, the accordian player, throws down his usual weapon of choice and picks up his newly modified........

KORG PROPHECY !!!!!!!!



WTF ?!?!?!

The usual parping of wind over reeed is replaced by screaming analog models.....SCHMACK MEINE BITCH UP !!!!!!

This bizarre modification is currently selling on eBay in Austria here..

eBay Link

...and the description translates (with a little help from Babel Fish) as....

For Sale: Korg Prophecy in very good condition! The Synth is converted with a button system for Balkan musicians as well as Balkan music. The modification was accomplished by the well-known master Arsenijevic in Kragujevac. Connoisseurs will therefore know how good this is. Bag, as well as power cable included. Much fun guaranteed!

More pictures of this poor little Prophecy that should have never lived...!!











A more strange synth mod I doubt I'll ever see ! Pisses on all those circuit benders efforts !! LOL ;o)

Sequential Circuits Prophet 10 on eBay

Found this lovely example of a Rev.0 Prophet 10 on eBay UK (Link to auction in title)

Not a lot to say about this other than it's a piece of synth pr0n of the highest order and I'm off to get my tissues !! ;o)

Yet more eBay strangeness

This auction caught my eye the other day.

It's billed as a Yamaha CS2x for sale, but the picture quite clearly shows a superior CS6x...



Now, my first thought was to drop the guy a line, just incase he got any hassle, but then I noticed a line in the description...

It has a small piece of plastic missing under one of the keys (see photo) but it has no effect on the key and all keys work perfectly.

And then I saw the second pic...



So it appears that the seller is selling the synth pictured and is billing it as a CS2x !

Now, I kept this quiet until now, when the price exceeded what I could possibly afford, so I thought fuck it, let's spill the beans. Do a search for CS6x's and you'll find they can achieve a considerable sum, as they are a cracking synth to own. Had this guy billed and described this properly, he may have realised a higher price. Who knows ? I'm sure someone else has twigged and could get a bargain :o)

UPDATE: It sold for £221 and the seller realised his mistake with only a couple of hours to go ! Curses. Why am I always stony broke when these things come up on the bay ???

Most expensive Juno 60 ever !!!

Found This auction via the VSE Forums and spat my tea out !!!

£5000 Buy It Now on a Roland Juno 60 !!!!

He's had 6 "offers" but I'm bamboozled by his stupidly high BIN price. I can only imagine that he's either a) not the brightest star in the sky when it comes to synths or b) set it high on purpose to encourage the best offer. Surely he should have put a more sensible price up so as not to come across as a fruit loop !! If he felt it was worth £500 (for arguments sake) then stick a Buy It Now price of £600 on it. At least people would know what he's expecting to be offered.

Strange person !

Lovely Yamaha SK-50D on eBay

Found Via This auction.

Fine example of a rare SK-50D. Yamaha had a real knack of glueing together monosynths, polysynths and organs into one device (GX-1 anyone ?)

I'd say that at a Buy it Now price of £529, someone will get a bargain :o)

I've said it before & I'll say it again, why do these sell for so much !!??

Pulled from this auction.



In this post, I questioned why what is essentially a toy version of a DX can command so much demand and prices loftier than that of it's full size brother, the DX27.

In the comments of that post, it was pointed out to me that a combination of cuteness and the fact that some people covet it because if it's effectiveness in the Talkbox genre meant that these things are well sought after.





This link is interesting too.

But £155 and still 2 days to go ?!?!?! And it's broken too !!!

The seller lives about 30 miles from me. I might just pay a visit and see if I can make a little on the side !!! LOL

Update: Final selling price of £160 ! If only all toys made that much !! ;o)

Peculiar Synclavier auction(s) on eBay

Taken from the following auctions...

1, 2, 3 & 4

Found the following items for sale on eBay this morning. All of these are being sold by the same bloke. Basically, he has split his Synclavier II into the keyboard, the CPU, the monitor and QWERTY keyboard and the cables and connectors. Very peculiar and most inconvenient for someone who wants to buy the whole system. Imagine winning the keyboard and CPU, but not the cables !!

Anyway, some nice piccies....











There are also some nice YouTube vids there.

Autographed Fairlight keyboard up for auction....

From This auction...picked up via the Fairlight Mailing List.

A little while ago, some bright spark (Peter Gabriel) came up with the idea of getting a Fairlight keyboard signed by some of the famous artists who had used them. The event was staged to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Fairlight CMI and the resulting keyboard went on exhibition. Now it is being auctioned in aid of Witness, the human rights organisation that encourages people to video injustices against humanity as proof of the wrong doing and hopefully to bring an end to the suffering.

Signatures include Bono, Mark Knopfler, Kate Bush, Stevie Wonder, Thomas Dolby, Todd Rundgren, Sir George Martin, Steve Winwood, Barry Gibb, Brian Wilson, Herbie Hancock, Annie Lennox, Peter Gabriel, Elvis Costello, David Bowie & Peter Vogel, one half of the duo that invented the Fairlight itself (The other being Kim Ryrie). Peter Vogel even recorded his own contribution, along with that of the other Fairlight developers (Ryrie and Michael Carlos) in a video available Here. Peter's blog can also be seen Here.

The soundtrack to the video is some classic Fairlight cheese :o)

For some strange reason, the auction page features that cheesy 1985 Grammy performance by Stevie Wonder, Thomas Dolby, Howard Jones & Herbie Hancock where they blatantly lip sync and mime in front of a load of gear pr0n...



There are many more Fairlight clips on YouTube that would have been more appropriate (such as the ones in the post above this !!)

Anyway, I doubt many of us will be able to afford the asking price for this but let's hope it goes for a huge amount of money and then let's hope it goes on public display somewhere. They can charge to see it and raise even more money for the charity.

Spot The Difference

Ok, this one baffles me.

Here is an auction on eBay for a Yamaha DX100...



This currently (26/11/06 08:57) sits at £91 with the reserve still not met and has seen 7 bids and still has over 5 days to go.

Now, the puzzling thing is that the Yamaha DX27 is identical in every way except it has a full size 61 not keyboard and comes in a heavy and sturdy metal case. Internally these synths are identical. If you open one up, the PCB's all carry the DX27/DX100 logo. The DX100 has a 49 note mini keyboard, is able to be battery powered and has a couple of guitar strap lugs. I'm not sure about the size of the jacks at the rear.

So, why do DX27's always sell for a lot less ??

Here's and example on eBay of a DX27, currently sitting at 99p with no bids and just a little longer left to go....



Am I alone in thinking that there is something amiss here ?

Now, I'm not motivated by the fact I own a DX27. I don't want to sell it, but I can't understand the allure of a toy version of a synth over it's easier to use big brother. Given, the DX27/100 were hardly the pinnacle of Yamaha's DX range, but it amazes me that the DX100 can command similar prices to a fullblown DX7 !!

My theory is that the DX100 has the "cute" factor and it also appears in many artists gear list, therefore giving it a certain desirability to fanboys and hero worshippers. Most of those artists probably got given a DX100 by mummy or daddy as a Xmas present when they were kids, or they picked one up at a car boot sale, sampled the Solid Bass preset and then tossed it aside.

The DX27/DX100 is a great little 4 Operator FM synth. It's no DX7, but it has a character and can add an edge to a track. And right now, you can get the DX27 very cheap, so it seems ;o)

If you have one of these keyboards, check out the Yamaha 4 Op Factory Patches Archive.
Oh, and while we're here, here's a TV commercial for the DX100 I found at Shepitology....



:o)

Yamaha VL7 for sale - Why is eBay so cruel ?!?!?

Picture taken from this auction.

These don't come up very often, in fact I've seen sales for hens teeth and rocking horse shit more often than these.

Yamaha's VL synths were it's inital foray into physical modelling. The first model was the legendary, and even more rare, VP1....



This was a 16 note polyphonic physical modelling synth with free running oscillators. Only three were made, allegedly, and it was never officially released. The VL's were the commercial versions and the VL1...



....was the daddy. The VL7 was a trimmed back and slightly more affordable version, and the VL-70m was the 1/2U module, that has become increasingly popular with users of wind MIDI controllers. Sadly, none of the commercial models featured the massive 16 note polyphony of the VP1, at best you had a duophonic mode. This isn't a bad thing, but even with Korg's Z1, I don't think that we've had anything that comes close to the VP1's power.

More info via fellow blogger, DVDBORN.

And more details Here.

Sadly, Yamaha left the VL range behind, focusing more on analog modelling and analog emulation in a decade where it was more important to some to recreate 303's and 808's than push new sonic boundaries.

Carbon111, of Synthwire fame, has a VL7. Lucky Bastard !! ;o)

There's something afoot at eBay !

All of a sudden, items that are highly desirable to me are showing up on eBay, and all priced out of my current financial reach !!! :o(

Here is another example !



Taken from this eBay auction.

Technics, better known for their home keyboards and organs as well as good quality Hifi gear, entered the pro synth arena in the 90's with the WSA1 Physical Modelling workstation. Capable of producing some truly awesome sounds, it also featured a 16 track sequencer. A rack version, the WSA1R was also produced. I remember when I was trying to decide on my first home studio acquisitions back in 95/96, Turnkey, on Tottenham Court Rd, London, were offering these out at "reduced to clear" prices in the region of £600-£800 brand new. I was sorely tempted but ended up plumping for a Roland SC88 plus keybaord and software sequencer. Why ? Well, the name Technics just cried out home organ ! And I've never liked keyboard workstations, or more to the point, have never seen them as being a studio centre piece.

So when I actually heard one, I kicked myself. HARD ! These are great synths and now command a good used resale value. Sadly, too good for me right now :o(

P.S. Is it me, or are there a lot of 303's, 808's and 909's showing up on eBay just recently too ? Am I missing something ?!?! LOL ;o)

Simmons SDS9 for sale

Just a shame that it comes with an Alesis D4 module instead of the original Simmons brain. Not that there's anything wrong with the D4, but the original would've been far more interesting :o)

Korg Trident for sale

Ok, this is poper synth pr0n !

A gorgeous Korg Trident, in what seems to be showroom condition. More pics at the auction [LINK IN TITLE]

Curse these people who put stuff on eBay when I can't afford it !!

When I first saw these in the very early 80's I knew straight away that if I owned one I'd become a rich and famous pop star.

I still don't own one and I still say that when I do, I will become a rich and famous pop star.

Right now though, my budget won't allow this, and so, unless someone buys it for me, and then lets me pay them back when I achieve pop stardom, I'll be destined to spend my life as an undiscovered talent.

Take pity on me.....

Prophet 5 on eBay UK

A good example of a classic. Rev 3.2 and a few dodgy keys, but worth a punt for someone with the cash. Sadly that someone isn't me:o(