Dusty

Check out this fleabay auction - the most dustiest loft-found-synth ever! The seller didn't even bother to dust the whole synth down - just enough to read the name. That'l do. Actually, its a very rare synth - I've never seen one before. I guess its a kit from the E&MM mag back in the day

God's Seck

O-M-Effing-G! I just bought Martin Hannett's actual Seck 18 channel mixer on ebay! This tiny little early 80s console was actually owned by Martin Hannett! He had it in his home studio! WHAT??? OMG!!!

The ebayer was Chris Hewitt who has just made a 4 hour documentary about Hannett. Chris worked with him over the years, and during the process of making the doc discovered a lock-up containing loads of Hannett's personal equipment. Hannett was completely obsessed with high-end playback and recording gear, and this was actually the reason he got into music production in the first place

I think he is my all-time favourite producer because he gets such a cool, edgy and unique sound, especially his early stuff between 1978 - 1985. AND NOW IVE GOT HIS EFFING MIXER! It was only £350 - it was sold as not working as it was missing its power supply, but I managed to find one and plugged it in and - BINGO! it works perfectly (its a bit scratchy and wonky but that makes it even better - IT USED TO BELONG TO MARTIN EFFING HANNETT what do you expect!!!)

Ebay Of The Day

Check this out, Martin Hannett's actual very own International 4600 Synthesiser. It sold pretty quickly...

"Martin Hannett's ( Joy Division producer and many Manchester and Factory bands producer, he played synths on many Factory records) actual International 4600 analog patchable synth . Not much needed to restore as cosmetically it is all there and the keyboard was triggering synth sounds recently, but sold as complete restoration project. comes with Martin Hannett's build and instruction manual from 1977/78/79/80 and copy of his patch notes. A much tattier one of these recently sold non working for around £1000 without it having any Martin Hannett ownership.so its a snip at £1400 with all the Hannett related historyThis one has metal protective edging. If you are in the UK would still ship in foam and a crate or you can collect. Will ship anywhere in the word but would crate it up to ship"
Via Matrixsynth


UPDATE: And now they have listed Hannett's Transcendant synth and Revox tape machine! at £6K its not cheap though

"Working Transcendent analog synth 1978/79(with documentation) used and owned by Martin Hannett ( he owned two of these) Transcendents were actually used on Joy Division, Durutti Column and lots of Factory and Manchester band recordings and Hannett often had one in the control room as well as the band having one in the studio area. This includes his instruction manual and handwritten mods he did to the synth. We know the Transcendent was used as a straight synth sound and also used to feed triggers from sound sources into it on many Hannett recordings. There are several photos of Hannett using Transcendents around 78/79. Also included is one of four of Hannett's Revox mastering machines that he would take one to studios to make copies of his mixes each day and he had them at home too to listen to his studio work on his home hi fi system. This Hannett RevoxB77 powers up but needs attention. these are important Hannett and Joy Division related artefacts and will climb in value as fascination with Martin Hannett continues to grow"

LPlease

I once posted about the amazing 1982 album by Charanjit Singh that proves he invented acid house music in 1982. See here. Well there is a very hopeful seller on ebay with an original LP copy - wanting $4000 for it!

Ebay of the Day

Wow look these original early 70s Buchla modules are up for sale at the mo (note the black davies knobs). Annoyingly they are all in separate auctions, so I photoshopped them all together into one dream package just so I could imagine what it would look like in an ideal world where systems like this stay together in one piece



UPDATE: These all sold through ebay for a total of $31,245 to various folk. Wow

Ebay of the Day

You can buy part of the Hubble Space Telescope from NASA today... (saw this on matrixsynth - even though its not a synth - it looks like it should be a synth)

Ebay Fiesta

Hey - thinking of setting up a cool electronic studio? Just won the lottery / latest album gone platinum? Well here are a few things I have seen on eBay recently that you should buy:

1) You need a modular synth. They are all the rage. How about an original Moog 3P to get started - $36,200



2) You are going to need a large Polysynth. This is one of the best ever made - 1976 Yamaha CS80, $12,900



3) And you need a drum machine. This will be the one then - Linn LM1 from 1982 - $7,800



4) OK, so now you need an effects unit to make them all sound awesome, why not use one of these - EMT stereo valve plate model 140, $3,900



5) All thats left now is a mixing desk, so my recommendation would be one of these - Neve 5300 series vintage 70s console, just $47,000

Acton, Baby!

Me and Big Al drove over to Acton to pick up a Dolby noise reduction unit I bought cheap on eBay. The unit is going to be connected to my Soundcraft 16 track tape machine, and will hopefully impart a certain 70s flavour to the sound, something strangely overlooked by most vintage-heads I think

It was in a really nice studio called Heart of Gold which has the same console as me (Studer 900) - the only other one I've ever seen

The Dolby rack actually came from Sarm West studio, and this means it was used on some amazing albums, I'm guessing everything from Grace Jones to Frankie Goes To Hollywood...

Ebay of the Day

Look at this beautiful mixing console. The ebay seller has put it up in four separate lots - what a stupid idea!

It looks like it is a BBC / Glensound fully discrete Class-A germanium induction EQ equipped broadcast desk from the early 1970s. Wow. More info on my other blog here

Ebay of the Day

This one is just plain weird. £166 - 10 bids!

"You are bidding on an incredibly limited edition remix of John Foxx's "A Falling Star" , remixed by Gazelle Twin
There were only 75 of these pressed and ONLY available to VIP ticket holders at John Foxx's current UK tour.
Moreover this has been SIGNED by JOHN FOXX at the Bristol gig Meet & Greet for VIP Platinum ticket holders.Anyone who has looked at John's website will see that there were only 75 of these remix CD singles pressed.For added proof as to the provenance of this item , i've also uploaded a photo of me with the great man from last week's Bristol thekla gig. Good Luck"

Ebay of the Day

Saw this during a routine ebay synth-search: the original synth. Probably

Ebay of the Day II

This one didn't stay on the bay for long. I first saw it on matrixsynth, and then it mysteriously got pulled with no bids.....

The Yamaha GX1 is supposed to be one of the best synths of all time, even though it was originally sold as part of their home organ range! This one has had three careful owners (John-Paul Jones, Keith Emmerson and Hanz Zimmer) and had a starting price of $25k

From the seller: "Here's your once-in-a-lifetime chance to own one of the most famous keyboards in rock-'n'-roll history: the storied Yamaha GX-1 synthesizer owned by John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin), then Keith Emerson (Emerson, Lake & Palmer/Powell [ELP]), then Hans Zimmer (film composer). Seller acquired it directly from Hans Zimmer in 2003 (authenticated). Yamaha's original retail/list price for the GX-1 was US$60,000.

Provenance: John Paul Jones acquired it circa 1977/78 and used it on Led Zeppelin's album "In Through The Out Door." It was featured on tracks "In The Evening," "All My Love," "Carouselambra" and "I'm Gonna Crawl." On "All My Love," Jones performs a nice string arrangement, and the horn solo demonstrates the GX-1's expressive vibrato capabilities. On the final Led Zeppelin tours, Jones used the GX-1 as his primary keyboard, performing string, organ, clavinet and bass/synth. parts (see photo #3: Jones performing on GX-1 at the Knebworth, UK shows in '79; the last time the original foursome performed together before John Bonham's death). Jones called the GX-1 "a joy," which replaced his repair-prone Mellotron.

Keith Emerson acquired the GX-1 from Jones in the mid-'80s as a spare for Emerson's original GX-1 (used with ELP in the late '70s). Emerson cannibalized some of his original GX-1 for the benefit of this unit. He used this GX-1 most prominently on the "Emerson, Lake & Powell" album & tour in the late '80s, and in the music video of the title track of ELP's "Black Moon" reunion album in the early '90s (see photos #4 & #5; keyboard on top of GX-1 not included). "Emerson, Lake & Powell" tracks featuring this GX-1 include "Touch & Go" and his synth. rendition of Holst's "Mars: Bringer Of War." Emerson sold the GX-1 to renowned film composer Hans Zimmer in the mid-'90s, who sampled various sounds on it (see photo #6: GX-1 in Zimmer's studio; Moog modular not included). The GX-1 was also used for recording sessions by musicians including Erik Norlander on his "Threshold" album. (Note: Keith Emerson's Wikipedia entry is incorrect: his original GX-1 [painted black] was sold to a European collector, and this unit was sold to Zimmer, then to the Seller)

This auction is for the: keyboard/console (including programmable cartridges; see photo #9), separate ultra-rare Programmer Module (see photo #11), and original Anvil-style case (used by Jones, Emerson, Zimmer and the Seller). Sale does NOT include: the GX-1's bench/pedal section, two TX-II speakers, and the programmable cartridges for the Pedal section only (which were not included when Seller acquired it).

It works, but after playing it for a while, it sometimes makes a noise and must be turned off and then turned back on. Being sold "as is." Seller can refer Buyer to several qualified GX-1 technicians. [Minor] tuning/calibrating will probably be required after shipment. Copies of any manuals (User/Technical/Service/etc.), brochures and other GX-1 information Seller has will be included. Has balanced outputs (see labeled photo #12), which may be custom. John Paul Jones had the switches/LED panel added (over the Electone logo area), which may be disconnected (appear to have no effect anymore).

Secure payment method negotiable with Buyer (Seller does not want to incur ANY credit card merchant/electronic payment fees, except possibly for a small negotiable deposit). Balance payable in advance or upon pick-up. Given size/weight, Buyer must arrange for pick-up & transportation (Seller won't ship); for example, Buyer may wish to use a professional music gear freight firm like SoundMoves (unit is presently in the San Francisco Bay Area).

Bona fide Buyers may Contact Seller with questions using eBay's Message feature. Seller will post relevant Q&A. SERIOUS BUYERS WITH ESTABLISHED, EXCELLENT EBAY FEEDBACK ONLY. (Unless you have the money to buy this item, then please don't inquire!)

Comprehensive information is available on the Web about the Yamaha GX-1, its features & technical specifications, etc. For example, Google "Yamaha GX-1 OR GX1" or "John Paul Jones GX-1 OR GX1"

Here's some miscellaneous information:
- only about 27-30 GX-1's were ever manufactured and/or sold (unit's Serial Number is 0076)
- the most powerful polyphonic synthesizer in history at the time
- 3 keyboards (2 standard manuals; 1 solo manual); volume pedal; retractable knee vibrato controller
- unheard of levels of touch control (touch/velocity-sensitive, polyphonic aftertouch, etc.)
- approx. outer dimensions of keyboard console 63"(L) x 31"(W) x 46"(H)
- top area (where other keyboards can be placed) is about 60"(L) x 10"(W)
- weight in Anvil-style road case is about/over 1,000 pounds
- was the basis for Yamaha's popular CS-80/etc. synthesizers

Bid now! Seize this opportunity to acquire a piece of music history!"

Ebay of the Day

Check out this beautiful vintage phaser that just sold on the bay. It fetched a surprising £698. This is the legendary phaser used on all your favorite kraut-rock records

Here's what the seller said: "This is one of the most famous effects units that were produced in the 70´s. The Compact Phasing "A" was made in Berlin by Gerhardt Schulte, and this thing was heavily used by Krautrock bands and electronic musicians not only in Germany: Kraftwerk, Tangerine Dream, Oskar  Sala,  Jon Lord, Rubycon, J.M. Jarre, Pink Floyd...

It´s possible to use it in a very subtle way, but it´s more interesting when you play with knobs to get more deep, dramatic and esoteric tones

This is the rare white version which i bought some years ago from the first owner. The thing is in very good condition and comes with the original footswitch. You need the switch to get the Leslie-like brake sounds as you can start and stop the LFO with it"

Random Tones

I just got a lovely Ibanez AD150 analog delay unit on the bay, its a studio version of the AD80 which I rave on about all the time. So to test it I set up an 8 step sequence on the Doepfer modular, and triggered the notes with a slow random source and layered 3 passes up, via the Ibanez. So the music below is self-generating really

UPDATE: I made a little film to accompany my music, its based on a synesthesic clip from a film I was watching last night. I filmed it on the phone and then messed around with it a bit

Maximoog

The real predecessor to the Minimoog was of course the Moog Modular, and in a way the Studio System 15 which has just about the same feature set. And here is one on eBay today. The seller is asking $35000 for it, which would buy you ten vintage Minimoogs, or one hundred vintage Moog Prodigy synths.

UPDATE: I just checked and the modular does sound better and is much more flexible and is probably 100 times better than a Prodigy

UPDATE 2:  July 2011, price drop: now $25k...

Want 3

Its such a shame I got all my lottery numbers wrong this week, because on ebay today is a mixing desk that I would like in my studio. You might have seen my other blog which is all about recording consoles and from that you can gather that I am fairly obsessed with these things, and the Neve 8078 is regarded by many to be the best ever made. Apparently this one has been in the same studio since it was first commissioned in 1977

Want 1

I saw this over on matrixsynth a few days ago, its a very interesting synthesiser made in the mid 70s. Its being sold as not working, and is really cheap at the moment, but the seller is in CA USA and won't ship to the UK. These pictures are from the auction, and the video is from vintagesynthexplorer, where you can read some (rather sketchy) info about it

Addiction

I just missed this one on ebay. These are very interesting looking synths, and I have only ever seen one come up before about 10 years ago. This one was in NJ USA so would have been a complicated buy from here in the UK as the seller wanted to keep it in the US, but it went very cheap - £450. This video was made by the seller I believe, who is called fsiz. It came with an Apple IIe computer and the editing software. Damn!

Modular Mixing

I have put a post up on my other blog (which focusses exclusively on mixing consoles, so be careful) about a really amazing vintage (1965) solid state mixer made by Langevin for the producer Kearney Barton. The mixer sold on ebay yesterday for a very reasonable £6K. What is interesting about this console (apart from the fact that it sounds amazing) is that it is a modular patchable devise and I have never seen that before. It would make a fantastic addition to a modular synthesiser based studio like mine. Here is a PDF that the seller put together:

Kearneys Mixer


Check out this wonked-out funk track by Misterholmes and the Brotherhood, recorded on this console by Kearney Barton in the mid seventies. What a great sound, yes?