Rediscovering old gear

LPF83

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Rediscovering old gear
« on: September 14, 2024, 03:43:05 PM »
I recently created another thread about the joys of rediscovery of a specific synth I hadn't used in a while, and Soundquest pointed out that this could be a great topic to share experiences on.

Have you recently rediscovered an old synth or piece of gear that you've stored away because it's too good to let go?  Or maybe repurchased something you owned in the past that you realized you shouldn't have let get away?

Talk about it here!
Prophet 10, OB-X8m, Prophet 6, OB-6, 3rd Wave, Prophet 12m, Prophet Rev2-16, Toraiz AS-1, Pro 2, Korg Polysix, Roland JP-8080, Roland System-8, Virus TI2, Moog SlimPhatty, Hydrasynth desktop, Roland SPD-SX SE / Octapad, Maschine, Cubase/Ableton/Akai MPC

Re: Rediscovering old gear
« Reply #1 on: September 14, 2024, 04:01:46 PM »
I recently created another thread about the joys of rediscovery of a specific synth I hadn't used in a while, and Soundquest pointed out that this could be a great topic to share experiences on.

Have you recently rediscovered an old synth or piece of gear that you've stored away because it's too good to let go?  Or maybe repurchased something you owned in the past that you realized you shouldn't have let get away?

Talk about it here!

Oh, no... I've been found out!
I'm on my third Micromoog, but I've posted about that one elsewhere.

I grabbed a Casiotone 201 not long back, my second. My dad bought me one when I was 13 and it changed my life. I don't remember letting that one go, but I probably traded it towards one of my early "real" synths. Anyway, mostly out of nostalgia, I bought one for a modest fee a couple years back, while my dad was still alive. He was happy to hear that that thing still meant something to me. And turns out, it's a great sounding keyboard, in its way. Had a rehearsal with a new band the other night... bass, drums, clarinet and me on Casiotone. It held its own... such a basic tone, but the "horn" sounds worked perfectly with the clarinet. Really, a lovely keyboard.

I do have other demons in the closet - a Casiotone SK-1, say - that I'm tempted to sell, just to clear up psychic space, mostly, but digging things out and plugging them in seems to count as a genuine "thing to do" sometimes, no?

LPF83

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Re: Rediscovering old gear
« Reply #2 on: September 14, 2024, 04:42:32 PM »
I recently created another thread about the joys of rediscovery of a specific synth I hadn't used in a while, and Soundquest pointed out that this could be a great topic to share experiences on.

Have you recently rediscovered an old synth or piece of gear that you've stored away because it's too good to let go?  Or maybe repurchased something you owned in the past that you realized you shouldn't have let get away?

Talk about it here!

Oh, no... I've been found out!
I'm on my third Micromoog, but I've posted about that one elsewhere.

I grabbed a Casiotone 201 not long back, my second. My dad bought me one when I was 13 and it changed my life. I don't remember letting that one go, but I probably traded it towards one of my early "real" synths. Anyway, mostly out of nostalgia, I bought one for a modest fee a couple years back, while my dad was still alive. He was happy to hear that that thing still meant something to me. And turns out, it's a great sounding keyboard, in its way. Had a rehearsal with a new band the other night... bass, drums, clarinet and me on Casiotone. It held its own... such a basic tone, but the "horn" sounds worked perfectly with the clarinet. Really, a lovely keyboard.

I do have other demons in the closet - a Casiotone SK-1, say - that I'm tempted to sell, just to clear up psychic space, mostly, but digging things out and plugging them in seems to count as a genuine "thing to do" sometimes, no?

I had to look the Casiotone 201 up because I wasn't familiar... but man, the wood alone is gorgeous.  The tone is definitely niche and not for every situation but as you said it really has something to the tone and your history with it and connection to your dad is another reason I personally probably wouldn't let it go.

I have been very tempted to buy a Roland S10 again.  This was the first sampler I ever owned (at a time when computers weren't very good samplers).  I think I paid $400 for mine used in 1987.  I had only owned it a couple of weeks when I showed it to my dad (was a pro guitarist) and he and I sampled his Les Paul into it.  That was so much fun, the samples that came out of that were probably not something that would wow anyone today but exploring that technology at the time with my dad (who is still to this day not a tech guy) was meaningful.  Not only that, but the S10 has something special in the sound (retro lo fi crunch that's hard to replicate), Espen Kraft talks about this all the time highlighting it as one of his favorite samplers.
Prophet 10, OB-X8m, Prophet 6, OB-6, 3rd Wave, Prophet 12m, Prophet Rev2-16, Toraiz AS-1, Pro 2, Korg Polysix, Roland JP-8080, Roland System-8, Virus TI2, Moog SlimPhatty, Hydrasynth desktop, Roland SPD-SX SE / Octapad, Maschine, Cubase/Ableton/Akai MPC

Re: Rediscovering old gear
« Reply #3 on: September 15, 2024, 08:17:51 AM »
I recently created another thread about the joys of rediscovery of a specific synth I hadn't used in a while, and Soundquest pointed out that this could be a great topic to share experiences on.

Have you recently rediscovered an old synth or piece of gear that you've stored away because it's too good to let go?  Or maybe repurchased something you owned in the past that you realized you shouldn't have let get away?

Talk about it here!

Oh, no... I've been found out!
I'm on my third Micromoog, but I've posted about that one elsewhere.

I grabbed a Casiotone 201 not long back, my second. My dad bought me one when I was 13 and it changed my life. I don't remember letting that one go, but I probably traded it towards one of my early "real" synths. Anyway, mostly out of nostalgia, I bought one for a modest fee a couple years back, while my dad was still alive. He was happy to hear that that thing still meant something to me. And turns out, it's a great sounding keyboard, in its way. Had a rehearsal with a new band the other night... bass, drums, clarinet and me on Casiotone. It held its own... such a basic tone, but the "horn" sounds worked perfectly with the clarinet. Really, a lovely keyboard.

I do have other demons in the closet - a Casiotone SK-1, say - that I'm tempted to sell, just to clear up psychic space, mostly, but digging things out and plugging them in seems to count as a genuine "thing to do" sometimes, no?

I had to look the Casiotone 201 up because I wasn't familiar... but man, the wood alone is gorgeous.  The tone is definitely niche and not for every situation but as you said it really has something to the tone and your history with it and connection to your dad is another reason I personally probably wouldn't let it go.

I have been very tempted to buy a Roland S10 again.  This was the first sampler I ever owned (at a time when computers weren't very good samplers).  I think I paid $400 for mine used in 1987.  I had only owned it a couple of weeks when I showed it to my dad (was a pro guitarist) and he and I sampled his Les Paul into it.  That was so much fun, the samples that came out of that were probably not something that would wow anyone today but exploring that technology at the time with my dad (who is still to this day not a tech guy) was meaningful.  Not only that, but the S10 has something special in the sound (retro lo fi crunch that's hard to replicate), Espen Kraft talks about this all the time highlighting it as one of his favorite samplers.

It's touching to note how many synth-supportive dads there seem to be amongst the Forum peeps. Of course, I told my dad "For my 16th birthday, instead of a car, can you buy me a Prophet 5?" He made clear that he had no intention of buying me a car - or a Prophet! That might've been the year I got bongos, though!

I kinda missed out on samplers back in the day... used them in the studio, but as much to repair tracks that had lost a tooth or two. It's only since I switched from PT to Logic that I've become a sampling fiend. That said, not having a history with such, I'm not as tempted to purchase hardware. Sounds like your Roland would be worth a re-own...

One blast from the past that's turned out to be as fab as I remembered is the Effectron II delay. It was another of my first bits of teenage kit and I grabbed one for sale not long ago. Every time I see someone in a forum panic because the Prophet 5 has neither in-built fx nor stereo outs, I pat the Effectron on the back for the fine job it does. My P5 runs through it full time... In the same way that the Prophet has that "beautiful blur," so does the Effectron, despite it being a digital effect. It never feels like it's doing a specific task, it just sorta does a thing that always works/sounds good...

Re: Rediscovering old gear
« Reply #4 on: September 16, 2024, 09:35:08 AM »
The Doepfer Dark Time sequencer was a recent rediscovery for me.  Using just the switches and knobs was a refreshing alternative to more sophisticated options that I now have.  I'll probably always keep it just because of it's old school design.
Sequential/DSI Equipment: Poly Evolver Keyboard, Evolver desktop,   Pro-2, Pro-3, OB6, P-12,
 

https://Soundcloud.com/wavescape-1

Re: Rediscovering old gear
« Reply #5 on: September 16, 2024, 10:20:26 AM »
The Doepfer Dark Time sequencer was a recent rediscovery for me.  Using just the switches and knobs was a refreshing alternative to more sophisticated options that I now have.  I'll probably always keep it just because of it's old school design.

I'd kinda love one of those. I have a Dark Energy module, which was my "swine flu inspired" reentry back into the world of analog(ue) synths. The Dark Time is lovely bit of gear.

Re: Rediscovering old gear
« Reply #6 on: September 25, 2024, 05:13:13 PM »
A funny update... I mentioned the Casiotone 201 earlier as the first real keyboard I owned. The one I bought a couple years ago gets a lot of use. An ironic twist is that I find myself programming my Prophet 5 with Casio-esque patches these days. Sorta reedy but thicker-than-thin tones...

LPF83

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Re: Rediscovering old gear
« Reply #7 on: September 25, 2024, 05:38:47 PM »
A funny update... I mentioned the Casiotone 201 earlier as the first real keyboard I owned. The one I bought a couple years ago gets a lot of use. An ironic twist is that I find myself programming my Prophet 5 with Casio-esque patches these days. Sorta reedy but thicker-than-thin tones...

Nostalgia on the ear is a powerful thing.  The first synth I ever purchased new was a Kawai K5.  I didn't buy it because it was my dream synth, I bought it mostly because of how good it felt to play when I tried one at the store.. and the fact that original MSRP was around $2,300 USD....they weren't selling well so I was able to pick one up for a few hundred bucks, and it was well worth that at the time even just as a MIDI controller (even to this day it might be the best feeling keybed I've played).  The promise and potential of additive synthesis was also very attractive, but I didn't realize what a brutal introduction to learning synth programming that would be!  I still have not encountered a synth quite as difficult to program.. additive synthesis is tricky!  Luckily I had a good editor for the Atari ST.

The sound was never really quite what I wanted out of a synth.  It had its own sound, unlike other digital synths at the time, so it would have been great for someone who already had the other bases covered and wanted a character synth. 

But even though tonally it didn't grab me at the time, when I listen to audio from one now, it takes my mind back to simpler times and always pleases my ear.  I've even found myself amused when I get a "K5-ish sound" out of one of my other synths, and every now and then I find myself looking at used ones online.  I sold mine when I was in college, wonder how she is these days?
Prophet 10, OB-X8m, Prophet 6, OB-6, 3rd Wave, Prophet 12m, Prophet Rev2-16, Toraiz AS-1, Pro 2, Korg Polysix, Roland JP-8080, Roland System-8, Virus TI2, Moog SlimPhatty, Hydrasynth desktop, Roland SPD-SX SE / Octapad, Maschine, Cubase/Ableton/Akai MPC

Re: Rediscovering old gear
« Reply #8 on: October 16, 2024, 08:20:25 PM »
For me it’s actually not so much a piece of gear I owned but one that is older and likely abandonware at this point. The Pioneer/DSI collaboration of instruments, specifically the SP16. I was obsessed with it when it was first released more or less because it wasn’t being marketed properly and it was flying under the radar and Pioneer wasn't doing their due diligence...but I digress.

I’ve come across more and more videos and demos of people using it and I have to say, having sold the ISLA S2400....if I had the choice, I’d actually get the SP16 over a new S2400. Warts and all. No support and all. Perhaps it’s the DSI connection or just the ease of use of the machine or how underrated and misunderstood it is...but, much like the Prophet X, I feel this need to get one to showcasing their potential of just how great of an instrument it is.

The other would be the Roland System 8. Zero interest in the Jupiter or Juno emulations but the System 8 engine itself has such a distinctive character and can come up with such unique sounds that very few other synths can that are currently in the market. It’s plastic build quality and limited patch memory aside, there’s something special here and I think Roland did themselves a huge disservice by not embracing the System 8 as its own synth rather than a device to play a select few VSTs. The idea of a strange sideband Filter with FM oscillators being modulated by an LFO Run through a Juno Chorus and lush Reverb being layered with an analog pad on the Prophet 6 or OB6 is a lot more appealing sonically than a digital emulation of Juno or Jupiter being layered with the P6/OB6.