Wood Coloration

[LPF83]

Here we go

Looks-wise I think it has character, but the bottom line is heartwood was advertised (and can be reasonably expected on a synth at this price point), and for that reason you should get what was promised.  Very surprised at the support response you received.  If I received same and was less than satisfied, I would send it back and get a replacement, that's what B stock discounted equipment sales are for.

[ddp]

I was pretty disappointed with the wood finish on my Rev2, enough that I contacted support to complain, and to their credit, they sent me new wood ends, but I ended up not changing them because they weren't a whole lot better.  If it were me, I would have used very a very nice hardwood, but I grew up with teak furniture around me.

[AlainHubert]

I was pretty disappointed with the wood finish on my Rev2, enough that I contacted support to complain, and to their credit, they sent me new wood ends, but I ended up not changing them because they weren't a whole lot better.  If it were me, I would have used very a very nice hardwood, but I grew up with teak furniture around me.

Then wooden ends on my REV2 are pretty nice. The ones on my OB6 Desktop module however are rather cheap looking with visible poorly sanded spots here and there, and a rather lackluster mismatched brown colour.

[LPF83]

I was pretty disappointed with the wood finish on my Rev2, enough that I contacted support to complain, and to their credit, they sent me new wood ends, but I ended up not changing them because they weren't a whole lot better.  If it were me, I would have used very a very nice hardwood, but I grew up with teak furniture around me.

Then wooden ends on my REV2 are pretty nice. The ones on my OB6 Desktop module however are rather cheap looking with visible poorly sanded spots here and there, and a rather lackluster mismatched brown colour.

I think finished wood must be subject to a lot of manufacturing variation. 

Comparing the wood across my Sequential synths, I'd have to say overall quality is consistent across all four of them.  Different grains and shades of stain of course... and the wood ends are a little thinner on the OB6 compared to the P6 and Rev2, but I believe this is intentional design to stay consistent with the look of vintage Oberheim gear.  I say this because even the choice of fastening screws are similar in style to OBX-a or OB-8. 

[AlainHubert]

I think finished wood must be subject to a lot of manufacturing variation. 

Comparing the wood across my Sequential synths, I'd have to say overall quality is consistent across all four of them.  Different grains and shades of stain of course... and the wood ends are a little thinner on the OB6 compared to the P6 and Rev2, but I believe this is intentional design to stay consistent with the look of vintage Oberheim gear.  I say this because even the choice of fastening screws are similar in style to OBX-a or OB-8.

Yes, I get what DSI/Sequential tried to do on the OB6. But my wooden end cheeks certainly don't look as good as this:

[LPF83]

I think finished wood must be subject to a lot of manufacturing variation. 

Comparing the wood across my Sequential synths, I'd have to say overall quality is consistent across all four of them.  Different grains and shades of stain of course... and the wood ends are a little thinner on the OB6 compared to the P6 and Rev2, but I believe this is intentional design to stay consistent with the look of vintage Oberheim gear.  I say this because even the choice of fastening screws are similar in style to OBX-a or OB-8.

Yes, I get what DSI/Sequential tried to do on the OB6. But my wooden end cheeks certainly don't look as good as this:

Subjectively, I'd say mine look notably better (minus the nifty voice tuning control) compared to that photo.  Have you sent a picture of yours and sent to Sequential to see if they would be willing to send a set of new ends?

[realtrance]

Here we go

Gee, that’s beautiful! I have an inherited walnut table and the wood is 60 years old, and wood qualities were better back then, and this is Ethan Allen we’re talking about. It has knots, and grain, and swirling patterns. That is walnut. Live with it awhile, or sell it and wait for Sequential to offer cherry or maple, if they ever do (doubtful) as those have less character. But this is in no way objectionable fir walnut.

[SynthWolf]

I’m loving all this talk about wooden panels for synths.
I do a bit of woodworking, check these panels I’ve made recently,

https://youtu.be/DDT7FtU-YnU

It would be interesting to make a set for the new p5/ P10.

I’ve heard a lot of people are not fully content with their new p5/p10 wood casing. some of us are, but for those who are not , I feel for you.
Knowing you’ll have to look at it everyday and think to yourself “jeez, If only this thing looked the way it sounded, then I’d be really blown away”
and i don’t think its really an outlandish thing to be displeased with considering the fact that all of sequentials professional marketing photos for their synths showcase cherry picked walnut panels. You know, I think it’s safe to say that they know the difference between an ugly cut of wood and a nice cut of wood, and that perhaps we wouldn’t be opposed to quality control tightening up their discrimination for wood choice.

And I feel it’s safe to say that after spending so much money for your synth to only find out you got the ugly cut of wood, would be enough of a bummer for people to comment and even make a thread for.

Those are my two cents

[brandonm]

I need to restore the ends on my OB-8 but I don't have any experience with that sort of thing. I would like mine to look the same as the one above. I also need new screws as many of them are a bit stripped. I know I just need to look around for those. The rings are OK, but it would be nice just to get a hold of a new set of both. The OB-6 looks to have similar style so they must be available.

[SynthWolf]

I need to restore the ends on my OB-8 but I don't have any experience with that sort of thing. I would like mine to look the same as the one above. I also need new screws as many of them are a bit stripped. I know I just need to look around for those. The rings are OK, but it would be nice just to get a hold of a new set of both. The OB-6 looks to have similar style so they must be available.

I could potentially make you a set for your OB-8, have you seen the video above ? If any of that stuff interest you, send me a PM
- Nick

[station2station]

I love my wood.  I've seen some really pretty Prophet R4's out there.  I've only seen one strange one where the top strip above the keys looked like light pine compared to the rest of the wood used on that one unit.

...but as a whole it's nice to check out all the variants that I see on Instagram as well as here.  I personally like the dry open-pore wood vibe that Sequential has commissioned.  But the original poster who used the Minwax did a fantastic job on his instrument.

[station2station]

Here we go

See I LOVE the knots.  I think they give character and make it yours.  It's all about your perspective; patina and nature.  I like your Prophet - I think you got a classy one.

[SynthWolf]

I love my wood.  I've seen some really pretty Prophet R4's out there.  I've only seen one strange one where the top strip above the keys looked like light pine compared to the rest of the wood used on that one unit.

...but as a whole it's nice to check out all the variants that I see on Instagram as well as here.  I personally like the dry open-pore wood vibe that Sequential has commissioned.  But the original poster who used the Minwax did a fantastic job on his instrument.

Wow. That’s actually a really beautiful piece of case that compliments the synth very well. I’m personally a fan of the deep browns, just like this rev4 has. Jeez that’s nice.
Mine for some reason looks straight up like pine wood with a bad dye job! But the finish is nice on it. Maybe a wax

[station2station]

I love my wood.  I've seen some really pretty Prophet R4's out there.  I've only seen one strange one where the top strip above the keys looked like light pine compared to the rest of the wood used on that one unit.

...but as a whole it's nice to check out all the variants that I see on Instagram as well as here.  I personally like the dry open-pore wood vibe that Sequential has commissioned.  But the original poster who used the Minwax did a fantastic job on his instrument.

Wow. That’s actually a really beautiful piece of case that compliments the synth very well. I’m personally a fan of the deep browns, just like this rev4 has. Jeez that’s nice.
Mine for some reason looks straight up like pine wood with a bad dye job! But the finish is nice on it. Maybe a wax

Wow, they are starting to come out in all shades.  I just saw another one off YouTube that looked balsa wood light.

THIS IS NOT MINE PICTURED HERE - no offense to the owner but I would have returned it.:

[AlainHubert]

Ouch. Looks like they forgot to stain it!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWhp5hQAoIo

[SynthWolf]

I love my wood.  I've seen some really pretty Prophet R4's out there.  I've only seen one strange one where the top strip above the keys looked like light pine compared to the rest of the wood used on that one unit.

...but as a whole it's nice to check out all the variants that I see on Instagram as well as here.  I personally like the dry open-pore wood vibe that Sequential has commissioned.  But the original poster who used the Minwax did a fantastic job on his instrument.

Wow. That’s actually a really beautiful piece of case that compliments the synth very well. I’m personally a fan of the deep browns, just like this rev4 has. Jeez that’s nice.
Mine for some reason looks straight up like pine wood with a bad dye job! But the finish is nice on it. Maybe a wax

Wow, they are starting to come out in all shades.  I just saw another one off YouTube that looked balsa wood light.

THIS IS NOT MINE PICTURED HERE - no offense to the owner but I would have returned it.:

U-G-L-Y

[LPF83]

THIS IS NOT MINE PICTURED HERE - no offense to the owner but I would have returned it.:

Also no offense to the owner, but I would have never even taken it out of the box.  Things like that concern me with regard to future resale.  Observing what I have over the last 40 years or so, instruments with unusual characteristics can be a real gamble with regard to resale value...with the odds being far more against the unique trait adding resale value, more likely subtracting it, because oddball characteristics tend to lower demand.  That actually applies to many things, not just instruments.

A certain amount of manufacturing consistency is a reasonable expectation on a synth this expensive.

I will be deferring my purchase of a Rev 4 until I gain confidence that initial production pains have been worked out.  I feel like the QA process here is sub par.

[AlainHubert]

I will be deferring my purchase of a Rev 4 until I gain confidence that initial production pains have been worked out.  I feel like the QA process here is sub par.

Wise decision. Their QA seems questionable at times, both in the hardware AND software departments.
Some of us have suffered some early woes of half-baked OS in the past with other models. I'm talking from experience.

To their credit though, their support team has always been doing their very best to try to give the customers full satisfaction. And the wood sides on my REV2 are gorgeous! 

[LPF83]

I will be deferring my purchase of a Rev 4 until I gain confidence that initial production pains have been worked out.  I feel like the QA process here is sub par.

Wise decision. Their QA seems questionable at times, both in the hardware AND software departments.
Some of us have suffered some early woes of half-baked OS in the past with other models. I'm talking from experience.

To their credit though, their support team has always been doing their very best to try to give the customers full satisfaction. And the wood sides on my REV2 are gorgeous! 

Yes, by the QA process, I meant that of manufacturing, since I assume Sequential has that taken care of by an outside local vendor (or am I wrong and they are employees of same company)?  I know Dave's company is small, and things like the capacitor snafu are an honest mistake... but I mean when something as visible as wood color has such obvious variation, it means manufacturing isn't even looking (literally) at what's coming off the line.  Software is always going to have bugs and as long as they are addressed promptly, I don't mind to do an OS update once in a while, but something that requires me to physically mail back a large box will piss me off. 

In an interview, Dave cited the amount of wood required to give the P5/10 the original look was a major factor in the elevated price tag, so If I'm paying that much for a synth the wood needs to be right.

[SynthWolf]

I will be deferring my purchase of a Rev 4 until I gain confidence that initial production pains have been worked out.  I feel like the QA process here is sub par.

Wise decision. Their QA seems questionable at times, both in the hardware AND software departments.
Some of us have suffered some early woes of half-baked OS in the past with other models. I'm talking from experience.

To their credit though, their support team has always been doing their very best to try to give the customers full satisfaction. And the wood sides on my REV2 are gorgeous! 

Yes, by the QA process, I meant that of manufacturing, since I assume Sequential has that taken care of by an outside local vendor (or am I wrong and they are employees of same company)?  I know Dave's company is small, and things like the capacitor snafu are an honest mistake... but I mean when something as visible as wood color has such obvious variation, it means manufacturing isn't even looking (literally) at what's coming off the line.  Software is always going to have bugs and as long as they are addressed promptly, I don't mind to do an OS update once in a while, but something that requires me to physically mail back a large box will piss me off. 

In an interview, Dave cited the amount of wood required to give the P5/10 the original look was a major factor in the elevated price tag, so If I'm paying that much for a synth the wood needs to be right.

When I contacted support and offered to purchase a new set of wood for mine, so long as it closely resembles walnut, at first they said okay, then I got a second email saying, the manager kiboshed it and won’t let me purchase an additional kit because the supply is meant for the synths in production. Which makes sense, sort of. So perhaps when the production is levelled out they can allow me to purchase something that looks “better”