Your gear that has lasted the longest

So there is a lot of gear hype that goes around on these threads and we are all guilty of talking stuff up in the honeymoon phase, only to offload it in a few months.

It would be interesting to see what gear has the longest staying power.

So the question is, what piece(s) of gear have you owned for years (not months) and still absolutely love or love even more?

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Machinedrum for me. Got it for xmas 2002. Still find it inspiring, still learn new tricks.

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MD and mnm deepest machines by far.
For me itā€™s a Rhodes piano. Will never sell it, classical sound and ā€œInterfaceā€ :slight_smile:

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Yeah, MnM is my second oldest (2005), and I maybe love it even a teeny tiny tad touch bit more than the MD

Yamaha PSS-560 - acquired around 1988-89 (an xmas gift), itā€™s still functioning perfectly. Iā€™ve used it for a few shows and several recordings. Some of the DN demos remind me of its sounds (fizzy distortion, and the ā€˜steppingā€™ of certain parameters)

TC Electronic Fireworx.

I bought 2 when they came out, in 97 or 98 and I still have one.

In fact iā€™ve Just bought another one in mint condition.

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Always wanted one of those. Got any examples of it featured prominently in a track? Hard to find demos of it

To be honest, I donā€™t.
But I read your reply in my WTB topic and was thinking of recording some examples.
Iā€™m off to bed, but iā€™ll pm you tomorrow at some point.

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My longest lasting piece of hardware, in terms of sheer use, personal interest and its staying power in the the middle of my gear spaghetti is the Octatrack: the ultimate sketch machine, discovery looper, quasi portastudio and easy instant reason to avoid uberuseful DAWs and mice. OP-1 has also gets more use than most other machines.

Had an affair with the fireworx for at least a year; much to commend it.

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Due to moving around a lot over the years Iā€™ve sold off, lost and given away most gear. My current studio has a few pieces I will take with me when I move on - my guitars and octatrack 2 for sure.

Waldorf Micro Q, was still working after 10 years, i miss him.
As guitars seem to count in this thread, its a Chevy electric guitar, which had one repair done last year. (26 years old.)

I go through a lot of gear, but when something makes the cut, I am loathe to let it go. Iā€™ve had my modular synth for 17 years now, though itā€™s a bit bigger than when I got it (but not by that much!). Iā€™ve been using Kyma since 2002. Iā€™ve had an Ensoniq Mirage in one form or another for decades. Iā€™ve had some incarnation of a Kawai K5000 for nearly twenty years. My Ibanez Roadstar II was bought new in 1986. Iā€™ve had my VCS3 for 14 years, I think. Minimoog for 13 or 14 years. Ditto for my PPG Wave 2.2. Iā€™ve had some manner of Octatrack for 2 1/2 years and donā€™t plan on getting rid of it, as long as there is an Octatrack to be had. Iā€™ve owned a Haken Continuum for 3 years and it is most definitely here to stay. Iā€™ve owned some manner of Korg Wavestation since 1993. Iā€™ve owned a Univox SR-55 since 1993 as well. Oh, Lexicon MPX-1 since new over two decades ago. Eventide H910 for 11 years. Chandler Limited TG2 for 14 years, Urei LA3A for nearly as long. I am sure there are plenty of others items around the studio that has lasted many years, but these are the ones that come immediately to mind.

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I also have moved around a lot, and a lot of that time a motorbike was my only form of transport (so I was forced to sell gear).

I have had a few Sp404ā€™s, and currently have anotherā€¦ thatā€™s a keeper.

Op1 I will keep.

Thing I really miss from my previous gear funnily enough is an Akai S612. I listen back to stuff I recorded with that and it just evokes a feeling. It was so Lofi and glitchy with the start end sliders. And no way to save samples so it was always some off the cuff sample that went into it. Lovely box.

Others I do miss are my EPS16+ and my ASR-X. Both had a wonderfull sound

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AK, which I count as my A4 (which was traded up for the AK a year ago).
Have had it for three years now which is just two years short of my record ā€œhold onā€ of the MPC2000XL back between 99 and 04.

I know the synth architecture like the back of my hand now. Itā€™s so immediate for me, yet still incredibly deep.

I consider trading it for an A4 MKII so that I can get back to some sofa time with it, but I do love the three octaves and joystick. Really hoping that the next Overbridge update improves things for the MK1 USB 1.1 OB devices, as I am having to keep my Mac Pro in Mavericks due to the OB GUI not responding in El Capitan (the 8 core Mac Pro 3,1ā€™s terminal OS), which is keeping me from jumping onto Live 10.
If things donā€™t improve there, the AK may indeed shape shift into an A4 MKII.

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Not been working with hardware for that long in the grand scheme, but the A4 has been a workhorse since I acquired close to release. Apart from getting me into Elektron land it has had itā€™s uses as a general synth, FX box, filter bank, drum machine, sync box and CV tool.

Iā€™ve never been 100% with its sound character, not to say I think it sounds bad or anything, but itā€™s often filled in gaps Iā€™ve needed, sound or utility. That is worth a lot in terms of studio space and time.

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MD MKI since 2001, Iā€™ll report back on some recent acquisitions in 17 years or so. :wink:

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Iā€™d love a nice proper Rhodes but Iā€™m not much of an actual pianist, VSTs cover the ground for me at a moment but great example. One day Iā€™ll be able to play all the funky smooth stuff I love sampling

Alpha Juno 1 since 1990. Stil brilliant.

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Mines boring but itā€™s the Sony PCM 50. I canā€™t get really get rid of it, itā€™s too useful! Itā€™s a field recorder made for films I think. Sometimes I use the line in to slightly clip limit entire mixes. The detail and imaging on the built in mics is bang on. Itā€™s metal and built to hold up. Sometimes I send audio to a Bluetooth speaker spinning on the end of a string and then mic it. Sometimes i move it slowly through the air inches in front of a speaker blaring a sequence to get a really quality raw phasing effect. Or it can record one shots for sampling. I just had this super flat clean sound so I gush about it! Anyway ok Iā€™m done.

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Brilliant instrument. My first polysynth in 1987 or so. I bought it after seeing Edward Ka-Spel of The Legendary Pink Dots opening for Skinny Puppy. Just Edward, alone, barefoot, onstage, with a borrowed Alpha Juno. And it was awesome.

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