Before you buy a Vintage Synthesizer in 2023

[@IzzyMann]

you are literally a living legend! keep up the great work!

[@matthewgaines10]

Just picked up a new Roland Integra-7 but still might get a Kurzweil K2000R. One that has have it’s screen backlight replaced and been recapped. Being digital will help things along a bit. If it breaks, some things I can fix. You make good points.

[@StephenMendes]

Good luck with your equipment, bro ..... I thank God that I have had minimal hardware problems over my lifetime 👍...... much better to be PLAYING than fixing 🙂

[@matthewgaines10]

@StephenMendes 100% Agreed. That's why I went new on the Integra-7. If the used Kurzweil goes down, I still have the Roland Integra, Roland D-05, Roland J-6, Yamaha Reface DX, Casio PX-560, and Casio MZ-X500 to play with. That and various VSTs. That puts no pressure on future repairs of the Kurzweil. I can take my time repairing or send it out. Thankful, there are a fair amount of 3rd party components for these old Kurzweils. New daughter boards, displays, EPROMs, RAM, etc. And you can always recap them.

[@izzzzzz6]

That's a mad accent. Sounds like a bit of Irish, Jamacian and Northern UK . I just bought a CS20M 1979 and an OB12. I had to tidy up the work done by previous owners / amateurs, especially on the psu. It was even missing 4x 1uf caps. Found a few issues and fixed the memory that only lasted a few hours. There was simply some corrosion in the battery holder so i soldered directly to the spring at one end and bridged across from the spring to the rivet side on the series connection end.

[@StephenMendes]

Good for you ....... doing your own repairs on ancient gear 👍🙂

[@KiR_3d]

Hello, Stephen! It's a bit sad to me that you're not making more videos about analog sound circuits' maths and the nature of these circuits. It was VERY interesting (at least what I've seen ~1 year ago). Photography is very good! But I must say honestly: here are a lot of very good photographers and teachers/tutorials about photography in the World. But much much less very good math/physics teacher. And those that makes videos/lessons about actual analog sound modules/devices, the basics and the advanced lessons... they're just in very few persons. I remember only Lanterman's channel. And yours. Adamsky gives a lot of inspiration but he's more like an artist which is very talented in terms of self-education and giving ideas and etc. Maybe I've forgot somebody else... Don't know.

[@StephenMendes]

Thanks for your interest ...... check out this link smendes.com/el22c/general.htm .... and tell me if this is the content you are looking for ?

[@KiR_3d]

@@StephenMendes Yes, great set of Notes! Seems it's the basis (maybe not full, IDK).

[@StephenMendes]

@@KiR_3d OK I will soon make some videos to explain the equations.... when the semester starts

[@KiR_3d]

@@StephenMendes Thank you!

[@mzgin400]

Hello how are you. How do I insert Arabic or Turkish drums into Alesis sr 18 and what is the method please explain it to me in a short video 2 - How do I create rhythms via midi and then save in Alesis sr18 3 Last question: Can wav be saved in Alesis? Note: I use Studio One. Thanks for all the other explanations.

[@StephenMendes]

1. How do I insert Arabic or Turkish drums into Alesis sr 18 ? ..... sorry this is IMPOSSIBLE 2. How do I create rhythms via midi and then save in Alesis sr18 ? .... this video will be released shortly 3. Can wav be saved in Alesis?..... NO this is also IMPOSSIBLE Best Wishes to you 🙂

[@officialpwmusic1]

my next purchase is the Roland - 'MC-101' Groovebox its a very powerful groovebox with modern sounds Zen-core etc and mobile - usb powered or batteries - will go well with my Roland fa -06 / or stand alone hardware product , and yes I am a Roland addict for half my life :)

[@HazeAnderson]

My semi-modular setup ran me about $5K but this includes 8 fully normalized mono synths with MIDI, 1 paraphonic synth, 1 drum machine, 1 percussion synth and an actual mini modular rig with a modular FX unit. Nothing vintage, but 5 of the mono synths are clones of vintages. I prefer to sequence them with MIDI and not just because my eyesight is rather poor --- but anytime I feel like getting lost in WIRES the options is there. 😄

[@StephenMendes]

Thanks for the info..... I have the equivalent of 8 synth voices in my dotcom rig and another 2 in my eurorack setup ...... I have several MIDI interfaces 3 in the dotcom rig and a Mutant Brain (polyphonic or stacked) in the Eurorack..... but I thought a couple of "on the fly" sequencers would be a good addition and Sam (Look Mum No Computer) sent me a message on Patreon suggesting Beat Step Pro coupled with Cirklon ..... but I checked today and the Cirklon has a waiting list of THREE YEARS (they are so popular that's how long you have to wait to get a new one from the manufacturer)

[@DieVoix]

I really like the Modular solution. Using modern modules with modern electronics. Perhaps with better circuits.

[@StephenMendes]

It really is the safest investment LONGTERM ...... and it can change and adapt as you age 🙂 and your music taste or priorities change...... a single (very expensive) synth on the other hand presents quite a problem when "something" goes wrong with it (particularly if it is no longer supported by the manufacturer..... and currently they only support discontinued models for about 5 YEARS max)

[@chizmo7]

I started buying synths in 1977. I would never buy a vintage prophet-5, memorymoog, or OBXa. I owned them all and they all went south even though I treated them with TLC. For people to spend tons of money on these OLD units is craaaaazy.

[@StephenMendes]

Through God's Grace mine fared better...... and most of what I bought in the 70's is still working ..... I lost the RX11 drum machine and a mixing board and the memory cartridge capability on the D-110 ...... but I agree with you totally .... it is sheer MADNESS to spend all that money on OLD electronics ..... because UNLIKE furniture, paintings, china and other antiques ..... TECHNOLOGY (particularly older semiconductors made in the 70's) can FAIL and when they do they have ZERO value...... TECHNOLOGY is absolutely the worst way to spend your money ..... advances are made and prices on old gear DROP ..... only in the MUSIC world where people are not thinking straight and there is more money around than "common sense" do people spend more money on old technology

[@jaboomblue48]

Hay stevie the wonder, back again checking out your videos, hows you and yours doing? Hope to see a new video soon about song writing and chord construction you know 'music matters ' shalom shalom.

[@StephenMendes]

yea sorry for the long wait ..... it's been rough this semester ...... but I am about to get a long vacation to hopefully play music and do other relaxing stuff that I like doing 🙂

[@jaboomblue48]

Every year is getting shorter never seem to find the time😃 ok thought I'd touch base.

[@StephenMendes]

@@jaboomblue48 "Every year is getting shorter never seem to find the time😃" .... is a line from song on the Pink Floyd album "Dark Side of the Moon" (and for our reader's information)..... the said album is considered a pivotal pioneer album in the development of the use of synthesizer sounds in songs ..... this album inspired me in the 70's to write and (ultimately record in 1984) songs like "Ghost Story" and "Satellite" ..... the real reason I had to wait TEN YEARS before recording the aforementioned songs is simply I could not afford the gear in the 70's .... but by 1984, not only was I working, but the cost had drastically dropped on synthesizers...... in the 70's all I had were organs (YC-20 and BK-5) 🙂

[@jaboomblue48]

Wow cool story on your past , ill have to check out this song line .thanks from the USA 😆

[@user-vk5vh6tj5l]

Hi ! thank you for this interesting point of vue! What do you thing about MOON & MosLab & COTK ? MosLab has a very good reputatation but i don't know for others. Personally I'm looking for a synth of the construction quality of dotcom, wihtout surface mount components BUT with memories!! do you have a suggestion for me ? Just found the moog Voyager , but he have already around 20 years !

[@StephenMendes]

I have heard good things about all 3 of them (MOON, MosLab and COTK) ..... and I would be willing to spend on a second or third-hand obsolete module from those guys BECAUSE they are very small Companies that service a "boutique" market and they take great pride in their reputation .... BUT you may have to pay quite a HIGH price for that "great service" .... so don't immediately be fooled by a LOW bid price on ebay or Reverb.... just for the record, DOTCOM does NOT use surface mount components and all their IC's are in SOCKETS (so repair is easy for most owners) ..... and the more recent modules contain program MEMORY for module settings ...... but the "overall patch" is still made with CABLES ...... and the only way around this is to buy a "one piece synth" (which puts us right back where we started unfortunately 🙂)

[@user-vk5vh6tj5l]

@@StephenMendes Thank you very much for your answer and advice!