What would you do? I have offer for P12 for $1600 but wasn't ready yet

[proteus-ix]

Sooo... the Prophet 12 keys has been on my list for a while, in fact it was one of a few last remaining pieces I wanted (others are TG77, Eventide Eclipse, MIDI Murf, and some other random things).  Thinking was to replace my OB-6 keys with a P12 keys, and swap the OB for a desktop OB-6 to save space and because I really don't like short keybeds.

I wasn't really ready to pull the trigger on a P12 yet though, because it's such a deep synth and I have other synths I'm focused on learning right now, but this end-of-life is kinda putting the squeeze on my timeline.

I have an offer for $1600 for a clean P12 keys, one owner, never gigged, will ship in original box packed in another box.  Seems like a solid deal, and technically I have the money for it, but will be a little stretch, and as I mentioned, I wasn't mentally prepared to get one just yet.

I'm afraid if I wait, prices will go up.  On the other hand, if Dave announces the replacement at NAMM and it ships April/May-ish, people might be dumping their P12s to fund the new one.

What would you do if you were in my shoes?  I need to pull the trigger soon before the offer gets rescinded.

[jazzygb1]

I love my P12, it’s possibly my favourite ever synth but I don’t think there’s any particular need to buy one now if it’s a stretch financially tbh.
If you want it now...great, but I wouldn’t let this deal be the reason there will be other deals.
It’s definitely a ‘slow burn’ too imo.
By that I mean that it’s not as immediate as you might expect it to be and it took me a couple of months before I really ‘clicked’ with it.
Once that moment happens though it just gets better and better. So if you’re time is taken at present it might be worth waiting 7ntil you have a little more time and the finances are less stressed.
What I can guarantee you though is this...it’totally worth the wait it’s a truly wonderful synth! 🙂

[proteus-ix]

I love my P12, it’s possibly my favourite ever synth but I don’t think there’s any particular need to buy one now if it’s a stretch financially tbh.
If you want it now...great, but I wouldn’t let this deal be the reason there will be other deals.
It’s definitely a ‘slow burn’ too imo.
By that I mean that it’s not as immediate as you might expect it to be and it took me a couple of months before I really ‘clicked’ with it.
Once that moment happens though it just gets better and better. So if you’re time is taken at present it might be worth waiting 7ntil you have a little more time and the finances are less stressed.
What I can guarantee you though is this...it’totally worth the wait it’s a truly wonderful synth! 🙂

Thanks for that feedback!  I guess I should have said it's a stretch for what I want to spend... right now... going into prime holiday gift buying season.  It's not going to interfere with any of my bills or anything, but it feels a little like a $1600 impulse buy given the timing.  If it hadn't been on my list for a long while, and wasn't part of my overall studio strategy (replacing the keys on my OB6), I wouldn't even let the pressure apply to me right now.

I guess the followup then would be... can you imagine prices ever being LOWER than $1600 for an excellent condition P12?  The low end in Reverb's estimate range is $1605, but that's not taking into account the sudden implication of scarcity.  The cheapest on eBay right now are all just shy of $1800.

[proteus-ix]

Ok nevermind, I decided I had to go for it.  )))

$1600 for a clean P12 (the pics show it still has the film over the display!??) was just too good to pass up.  Even if I sell it later for a loss (highly unlikely), it will be worth "renting" it in the meantime for the difference.

Now I just have to swap my OB-6 keys for a desktop and all of my DSI dreams have come true!  (Ok, because I can't even dream of owning a PX without selling most of what I have... maybe some day...)

Anyway... thanks for allowing me to document my hand-wringing...  any tips for how to come to grips with this megalodon are much appreciated!

[Razmo]

I'd say, that you would probably not go wrong getting a P12 keys... sure there may be a new and more powerful synth coming from Dave to replace it as the new hybrid synth, but if you take a look back you can see, that there is always people wanting the older synths too... the Poly Evolvers are still going strong... probably because they still are unique with a lot of things that even the P12 did not... so I'm pretty sure, that even if we get a new hybrid, then the P12 will have it's own thing that it, and only it has... I'd not worry... i may even get one myself at some point, even though I'm waiting to see what the replacement will be... if you only want ONE hybrid from Dave, then I'd probably wait and see what comes next... I can hardly believe there will not be anything coming to replace the only poly-hybrid synth DSI has...

[proteus-ix]

I'd say, that you would probably not go wrong getting a P12 keys... sure there may be a new and more powerful synth coming from Dave to replace it as the new hybrid synth, but if you take a look back you can see, that there is always people wanting the older synths too... the Poly Evolvers are still going strong... probably because they still are unique with a lot of things that even the P12 did not... so I'm pretty sure, that even if we get a new hybrid, then the P12 will have it's own thing that it, and only it has... I'd not worry... i may even get one myself at some point, even though I'm waiting to see what the replacement will be... if you only want ONE hybrid from Dave, then I'd probably wait and see what comes next... I can hardly believe there will not be anything coming to replace the only poly-hybrid synth DSI has...

Yes that was my thinking too.  In fact, my general approach to the P12 is that I know I'm never going to get into modular, because I just don't have the time (not to mention money) and don't really want to be an electrical engineer in what little spare time I have.  To me, the P12 is my way of having the depth of a modular, with Dave Smith design genius and quality, without the pain in the ass! 

What's weird is that as I watch more videos on it, it doesn't even seem hard to program at all - in terms of operation.  I was a little scared of that because of people talking about it's learning curve.  But in my experience, this almost always comes from people wanting to use ALL THE FEATURES from the first second they touch a new piece, and there is just no reason to do that.  But everything seems to be pretty close to the surface, so it's more about knowing what you want to do with the tons of possibilities than it is actually implementing them.  I was excited before, but the more videos I watch the more excited I get.   

[jazzygb1]

I think maybe it took me a while to get used to the Prophet 12 because I was predominantly used to Roland and Korg synths before.

It has a few quirks too.

There's no way to quickly solo or mute oscillators which is a bit annoying tbh, especially when there's 4 oscillator buttons!!!
I initially found the Portamento being per oscillator rather than just global for the overall sound quite confusing too. I'd turn the Glide knob to a new value and couldn't understand why it wasn't reacting as I expected.

The fact that every program has two layers can be head scratcher at first too - particularly when Layer B is inactive and saves a basic program there by default. This can be confusing later when perhaps layering sounds and scrolling through the list you'd see a lot of 'Basic Programs' which can be a bit confusing.

I also found it weird that you could play a stacked sound and the controls wouldn't affect the sound as I had expected because (again) they didn't work on the sound overall but on a per layer basis instead.

Now because the Prophet 12 operates this way it means you can create sounds on it that are simply impossible on many other synths and that's why I utterly adore it now, but conversely for the same reasons it can be a bit a slow burn to begin with IMO.

I was VERY close to actually selling mine after a couple of months tbh, but then it just 'clicked' with me and I never looked back.

There's workarounds for most of the quirks i've mentioned so they become unimportant, but when you first start using they synth it can be a bit more confusing because of them (at least it was for me).

You'd have to pry it from my hands to get it off me now though, so when others get one I feel I have a duty to mention that it might not be as immediate as expected (at first), as I'd hate them to give it up as I so nearly did.

I really hope you enjoy using your new Prophet 12 as much as I now do.

It truly is a superb instrument that can sound fantastic and gets better and better the longer you own it.

Have fun!

[Frocktar]

I think you made a good call on this. I think in the years to come this will become highly sought after and considered a true modern classic.

I love mine, started off on the module but later bought the keys as I just loved it so much.  I’ve had many many synths over the years, some that have legendary status, and this one I would never sell. So many possibilities.

[proteus-ix]

I think maybe it took me a while to get used to the Prophet 12 because I was predominantly used to Roland and Korg synths before.

It has a few quirks too.

There's no way to quickly solo or mute oscillators which is a bit annoying tbh, especially when there's 4 oscillator buttons!!!
I initially found the Portamento being per oscillator rather than just global for the overall sound quite confusing too. I'd turn the Glide knob to a new value and couldn't understand why it wasn't reacting as I expected.

The fact that every program has two layers can be head scratcher at first too - particularly when Layer B is inactive and saves a basic program there by default. This can be confusing later when perhaps layering sounds and scrolling through the list you'd see a lot of 'Basic Programs' which can be a bit confusing.

I also found it weird that you could play a stacked sound and the controls wouldn't affect the sound as I had expected because (again) they didn't work on the sound overall but on a per layer basis instead.

Now because the Prophet 12 operates this way it means you can create sounds on it that are simply impossible on many other synths and that's why I utterly adore it now, but conversely for the same reasons it can be a bit a slow burn to begin with IMO.

I was VERY close to actually selling mine after a couple of months tbh, but then it just 'clicked' with me and I never looked back.

There's workarounds for most of the quirks i've mentioned so they become unimportant, but when you first start using they synth it can be a bit more confusing because of them (at least it was for me).

You'd have to pry it from my hands to get it off me now though, so when others get one I feel I have a duty to mention that it might not be as immediate as expected (at first), as I'd hate them to give it up as I so nearly did.

I really hope you enjoy using your new Prophet 12 as much as I now do.

It truly is a superb instrument that can sound fantastic and gets better and better the longer you own it.

Have fun!

Awesome, those are helpful tips!  In regards the portamento, there's no way to set it to global per layer or patch?  If not, do you have any tricks to make sure portamento is lined up on all oscillators and layers, or do you find that close enough is good enough (or better)?

I'm generally used to layers so that's not a problem for me, I've read the manual once so far but I'll review how to quickly identify the split points and how to solo/mute layers so as I scroll through the patches I can know what knob tweaks are supposed to impact what.

[proteus-ix]

I think you made a good call on this. I think in the years to come this will become highly sought after and considered a true modern classic.

I love mine, started off on the module but later bought the keys as I just loved it so much.  I’ve had many many synths over the years, some that have legendary status, and this one I would never sell. So many possibilities.

Thanks, I'm definitely feeling quite happy and excited about going for it.  I actually do expect Dave will come out with a successor that improves on it fairly soon, but the reality is that will also be more than 2x what I paid for my P12.  So even if something better comes out, I'll have many years of fun exploring the P12 before the prices of the new thing are in my reach.

[jazzygb1]

Awesome, those are helpful tips!  In regards the portamento, there's no way to set it to global per layer or patch?  If not, do you have any tricks to make sure portamento is lined up on all oscillators and layers, or do you find that close enough is good enough (or better)?

I'm generally used to layers so that's not a problem for me, I've read the manual once so far but I'll review how to quickly identify the split points and how to solo/mute layers so as I scroll through the patches I can know what knob tweaks are supposed to impact what.

If you press and hold on of the Oscillator button all four will illuminate and then when you adjust the glide it will do so for all the oscillators in that layer. 😎

[proteus-ix]

Awesome, those are helpful tips!  In regards the portamento, there's no way to set it to global per layer or patch?  If not, do you have any tricks to make sure portamento is lined up on all oscillators and layers, or do you find that close enough is good enough (or better)?

I'm generally used to layers so that's not a problem for me, I've read the manual once so far but I'll review how to quickly identify the split points and how to solo/mute layers so as I scroll through the patches I can know what knob tweaks are supposed to impact what.

If you press and hold on of the Oscillator button all four will illuminate and then when you adjust the glide it will do so for all the oscillators in that layer. 😎

Sweet, that is a great tip!