What an incredibly kind offer! I’ll be in touch by PM.
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This is what i’m hoping might be the case with both the Prophet-600 and the SH-1, but not having the skills to do much about it myself, I will have to find a technician who is willing to look at them for me.
from experience the only issues ive had with vintage gear were leaking capacitors on a korg m500. inevitable with age.
i had to shop around for a technician, and saved practically 50% of the repair cost by finding someone that was actually more of a japanese stereo a/v repair guy, rather than a synth tech. personally I’ll leave the synth techs for big ticket items, which I don’t even have.
according to reverb i could still make it out with at least a couple hundred dollars profit, because i got the korg for originally a nice deal. this wouldnt be such a great story otherwise.
if you can buy vintage, put 20% of the purchase price into an investment account and you’ll be golden. you will upset yourself if you at the very least do not let yourself budget for repairs.
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this is exactly what I was saying though… don’t buy a synth that’s been sitting around in someone’s basement for decades, unused but “should work fine…” unless you’re after a project. even stuff I had that was well maintained for decades and then I personally didn’t use for a couple years started to act funny. it’s weird but powering it on and actually using it helps more than not.
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An excellent reason for having a noodle every now and again, and I’m definitely going to work the MC-202 filter sliders some more - just to keep them in fine form, of course.
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Let’s say you have the money, which do you go for:
VINTAGE Oberheim Two Voice vs Two Voice Pro?
The prices are about the same now. Any reason to go vintage over the Pro?
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the SEM stuff is weird in that the re-issues are almost as rare as the originals, so the re-sale values are quite similar. and from the bit of listening I’ve done, the re-issues sound just as good. maybe a bit more stable or with less vintage grit, but pretty damn close. with the added patch-ability of the TVS Pro giving you more options, plus the ability to interface with eurorack (or other 3.5mm semi-modulars), and it’s likely to be more reliable… I’d go with the TVS Pro.
that said, I would urge caution when purchasing the one (and obviously with the vintage one as well!) since I have heard of some issues with them.
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Ughh… my lust for vintage synths is creeping up again… but reason tells me it is foolish to fall in love with, and grow creatively dependent, on 40 year old instruments. I was born at the wrong time 
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Sometimes there is no substitute. I have some old instruments that have been extremely reliable, requiring almost nothing. I have others that have predictable failures. My guess is that 20 years in the future my Yamaha CS-5 will still work just fine. My Virus TI, not so much. Old doesn’t guarantee that it’s unreliable any more than new guarantees reliability. You can have a mixed bag with either approach.
I might want to buy a Lancia 037 Stradale and it will be extremely difficult to find parts and a competent tech to keep it going. At the same time, I’d probably smile every time I get behind the wheel so that is what I have to weigh against.
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I say go for it, the prices are only going one way and you only live once, IME a lot of the custom ICs are pretty reliable, and a lot of the common parts are easily sourced or substituted for modern equivalents.
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It’s a tough decision, but if you’re willing to fork over for maintenance and can deal with the heartache when they don’t work, it can be a nice feeling to make music using historic equipment.
Also, you might be surprised at how many people there are out there who also love the same machines and are willing to advise you and help you keep yours going.
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Anything particular you are looking for?
I never expected the MS20 or mini700s to be reissued, and then whattayaknow!
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Yeah I have a few I’ve been interested in for a long time.
ARP Odyssey (4023 filter)
Oberheim Two Voice
Minimoog Model D
Yamaha CS-10
Yamaha DX7
Roland D-50
ARP Omni
A bunch of others that are way out of my price range like the 2600, and impossible to find like the Synton Syrinx.
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Nice list. I had the original model D and it was a bit wonky, but it added character with its occasional glide. No one could ever get it to behave, and I willingly paid a premium for regular maintenance. I could definitely go for a reissue D one day.
The one that has eluded me forever, always been just out of reach, is the ARP Quadra. I’ve pictured myself on stage with that beautiful thing for a few decades.
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For whatever it’s worth I’ve serviced and repaired a fair number of dx7 keyboards and I wouldn’t worry about their reliability with regards to age beyond what applies to anything electronic (cleaning contacts, maybe power capacitors, backup/ memory battery). They’re pretty solid. The repairs I’ve done have been things like replacing broken keys and buttons on instruments that looked trashed but it’s just part swapping. Since it was one of the best selling synths of all time there’s a million replacement parts out there at good prices.
I got mine (iifd version) at a junk yard. I didn’t even know what it was because it was covered in some kind of sticky black residue like chimney soot (but smelled like cat piss). Thoroughly cleaned the holy hell out of it (inside and out), soldered in a new battery, worked perfectly.
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Dude! You are the Synth Exorcist.
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Hahaha! Thanks.
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My headphone jack sounds like:
Can you help?
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Best DX7 based joke ever.
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“The power of Christ compels you, biatch!”
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