80's nostalgia, restoring a classic synthesizer

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - 80's nostalgia, restoring a classic synthesizer

Posted: 9/3/2004 11:07:40 AM EDT

From the "And now for something completely different" category.

I am currently restoring a classic Oberheim OB-8, analog synthesizer, and it's matching sequencer and drum machine set. This thing sold for about $4500 new. They only made about 3000 of them, so it's considered to be pretty rare. Here is a little article from the Vintage Synth Explorer.

The OB-8 was the last of the OB series and is a very warm and rich sounding eight voice polyphonic synthesizer with a classic Oberheim tone. Each individual voice can be de-tuned for a very thick (or weird) sound! Syncable VCOs and a nice 8-note arpeggiator make the OB-8 a cool analog synth. It was released without MIDI originally, but later models were released with 9-channel MIDI implementation. Dedicated knobs, sliders and a traditional layout making programming a snap and very hands-on. Totally programmable and very powerful analog sounds and style.

Being one of the last in a legendary series, the OB-8 is one of the nicest analogs to come from Oberheim. It has the OB-Xa's switchable 2 or 4-pole VCF filter with ADSR. Tons of LFO modulation controls and effects are possible. Up to 120 patches of memory storage to keep your amazing sounds around. And 24 additional patches are available for Doubled/Layer presets. A full 61-note keyboard with Oberheim's unique pitch/modulation benders only sweetens this synth's deal. It is used by Depeche Mode, Prince (the Artist), The Police, Trent Reznor (NIN), Thompson Twins, Simple Minds, Jimmy Jam, KLF, Van Halen, Stevie Nicks, Styx, Future Sound of London, Space, Paul McCartney, Rush, The Time and many others.

Pretty cool huh?

Posted: 9/3/2004 11:08:06 AM EDT

[#1]

very cool

Posted: 9/3/2004 11:09:42 AM EDT

[#2]

Good luck OB's are a bitch. At least the 8 series doesn't have the shitter plasma display. Since they are owned by Gibson, a guitar company that will exlpain a lot as you attempt to precure parts and examine one lines and schematics.

Posted: 9/3/2004 11:16:53 AM EDT

[#3]

Actually, I already have all the parts necessary to finish it. BTW, Gibson only has the rights to the name. They don't support anything from the original company. I had to do some serious detective work to get the Service manuals/schematics and parts for this project. The Curtis voice chips were the worst part. I found one company that still had some, and they were charging $45.00 a piece for them. I hat to buy 3. It's already worth twice what I paid for it though. Gotta love that.

Posted: 9/3/2004 11:18:46 AM EDT

[#4]

Quoted:
Actually, I already have all the parts necessary to finish it. BTW, Gibson only has the rights to the name. They don't support anything from the original company. I had to do some serious detective work to get the Service manuals/schematics and parts for this project. The Curtis voice chips were the worst part. I found one company that still had some, and they were charging $45.00 a piece for them. I hat to buy 3. It's already worth twice what I paid for it though. Gotta love that.

I used to do a TON of mini Moogs and Taurus pedal repairs. Usually key drift issues. But now the mini is reissued and frankly the digital stuff has rendered the analog gear useless other than a neato collectors item.

Posted: 9/3/2004 11:22:45 AM EDT

[#5]

"digital stuff has rendered the analog gear useless other than a neato collectors item."
Maybe to the general population of musicians, but not to hardcore analog guru's. There is still no substitute for the fat sound of true analog subtractive synthesis. That's why these things are fetching the big bucks on E-bay.

Posted: 9/3/2004 11:26:18 AM EDT

[#6]

I've always thought Oberheim gear was cool.

I'd love to find a working ARP Avatar guitar synth.

Posted: 9/3/2004 11:28:45 AM EDT

[#7]

I've seen a few Avatars on E-bay too.

Posted: 9/3/2004 11:29:50 AM EDT

[#8]

Don't forget the FLOCK OF SEAGULLS haircut!

Posted: 9/3/2004 11:31:13 AM EDT

[#9]

That was just rude.

Posted: 9/3/2004 11:32:48 AM EDT

[#10]

These things are all the rage with college/garage bands - pretty cool indeed.

Dismemberment Plan! That's the last band I saw wailing the shit out of one of these analog synths.

Posted: 9/3/2004 11:33:15 AM EDT

[#11]

Quoted:
"digital stuff has rendered the analog gear useless other than a neato collectors item."
Maybe to the general population of musicians, but not to hardcore analog guru's. There is still no substitute for the fat sound of true analog subtractive synthesis. That's why these things are fetching the big bucks on E-bay.

They fetch big bucks because they ARE collectors items. Your crazy or a die hard to take that stuff on the road. I love it because I sold 6 sets of taurus pedal for 1200 each. If you have ever opened those up there is not 30 dollars in parts. The collectora market is just fine by me. Every now and then I come across gear to repair and sell to them. I just did a simple, simple repair on a old Roland tape vocoder and made 800 bucks for 30 minutes work. I love the die hards and collectors.

I can sample that "Fat" sound and have polyfiny across my keys. There are few, few people who can tell the diffference between a sample and the real thing with dac's as good as they are now.

Posted: 9/3/2004 11:36:29 AM EDT

[#12]

I would never take one of these things on the road.

It's not a liability for me though, since I can fix em.

Posted: 9/3/2004 11:38:52 AM EDT

[#13]

I hear Ted Nugent is really good at fixing those up........
.........with a shotgun

Posted: 9/3/2004 11:44:45 AM EDT

[#14]

Dismemberment Plan! Wow what a name for a band. I wonder how popular they are?

Posted: 9/3/2004 12:21:55 PM EDT

[#15]

Damn, this is a blast from the past.

I miss my Siel 88!!!

The there was the Korg Poly 800!!!! OH YEAH!!!

This crappy Kurzweil K 2500 doesn't do any of them justice...

Posted: 9/3/2004 12:31:49 PM EDT

[#16]

I used to have a Roland GR-500 Guitar Synthesizer. It was a total POS. I sold it in '82 or so. Maybe I should have kept it?

Posted: 9/3/2004 12:37:10 PM EDT

[#17]

Quoted:
I used to have a Roland GR-500 Guitar Synthesizer. It was a total POS. I sold it in '82 or so. Maybe I should have kept it?

You would be surprised. Collectors are foaming at the mouth for cheap shit. The Roland TB-303 is the best, best example. Dipshits are paying $1000 for a cheaply made pocket calcualtor synth that was a complete and utter failure when it came out.

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - 80's nostalgia, restoring a classic synthesizer

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