Title link takes you to shots pulled via this auction. The current bid is at $3,227.00. I'm guessing the following is why.Some Details:
"The classic Oberheim OB-X was only made for a short time, and is hard to come by! The “X” has some of the smoothest and fullest sounds ever to be produced by analog keyboards. Later versions were “chipped out,” including the later OB-Xa and the newer synths. Nothing beats the OB-X when it comes to sweeps and big thick pads, as it is based on the old SEM design complete with Temco regulated VCO’s and largely discrete filters. It has 32 program memories, polyphonic portamento, and polyphonic sample & hold.
This unit underwent a complete overhaul, by Tony Clark of Great Lakes Modular, in late 2005. This included new trim pots, new capacitors, several replacement pushbuttons, cleaning of the keyboard contacts, and a recalibration. He has an excellent website (including before-and-after pictures) that shows his work, at this link.
This is an 8-voice synthesizer. Originally it was bought as a four-voice, with four more voice-cards added in 1984. Since the unit was manufactured as a 4-voice, you might notice that the back label indicates it is a 4-voice model.
The J.L. Cooper MIDI retrofit dates back to the 1980’s, and includes MIDI in and MIDI out, with note on/off, and program change supported: pitch bend and modulation control are NOT supported. A company called Encore Electronics currently has a newer MIDI retrofit that does a superior job. If you win the auction, I’d frankly recommend you check out their product at the following link.
In the picture with the pitch-bend/mod levers, you’ll notice a “remote/local” switch. When the switch is in “local” mode, the unit works absolutely normally. Switching to “remote” allowed me to use a Korg RK-100 keytar to remotely control the unit via MIDI. The switch was necessary because I also had to use a custom control-voltage connection to use the pitch-bend and mod-wheel. This custom connection was made via an extra 5-pin XLR jack on the back of the unit.
serial # is 803514"
The prices of OB-X's have been rising steadily over the past couple of years. Finally the OB-X is getting the respect it deserves. It's nearly an Oberheim 8-voice without the multimode filter, but with cross-modulation and easier programmability. Mine was also modded by Tony Clark and has been ultra-stable ever since.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, I saw this exact OB-X when I visited Tony a couple years ago. It was the cleanest OB-X I'd ever seen.
ReplyDelete