Some advice on buying a vintage synth

There are basically two types of people who buy vintage synths. The first type are those who are experienced and who have probably bought many and who know exactly what they want. The second type are those who are just starting out and are unsure of how best to go about buying a vintage synth.

If you belong to the first group you can stop reading here and go immediately to my store and start buying. If however you belong to the second group or somewhere in the middle then read on and hopefully I can give you a little advice on how to safely buy a vintage synth.

There are a number of factors you will need to consider before buying a vintage synth.

The first is whether or not you really need one or should buy one. Many of the great sounds that have made vintage synths so desirable are now available as samples that you can load into your sampler or computer. There are also many software versions of famous vintage synths which do sound great. So if space or money is an issue then the software option may be a good choice.

However, as any collector will tell you, there is nothing quite like getting your hands on the real thing. They have their own unique character no software could reproduce. They are a piece of history. They are beautiful. If any of these things matter to you then the software just won’t do. I have used almost every software version ever made and while they do sound great for me I need all those knobs and sliders in my hands not on a screen.

My hope with this website is to share my years of experience with vintage and used synth and hope that it helps you in some way.

I will share buying and repair advice and programming tips. I also want to share my passion for these great instruments and show you some of the unique characteristics of the many different models.