click here for more shots. This is a photo set taken during this visit. You can see previous posts on the museum here.
Thursday, November 01, 2007
New England Synth Museum
click here for more shots. This is a photo set taken during this visit. You can see previous posts on the museum here.
27 comments:
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MATRIXSYNTH - EVERYTHING SYNTH
© Matrixsynth - All posts are presented here for informative, historical and educative purposes as applicable within fair use.
MATRIXSYNTH is supported by affiliate links that use cookies to track clickthroughs and sales. See the privacy policy for details.
MATRIXSYNTH - EVERYTHING SYNTH
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Couldn't he have cleaned the trash up off the floor and given the synths a good wipe down before allowing a visit? That place is a pig-sty.
ReplyDeleteAt the very least wrap the synths with plastic tarps and desiccant packs and get a dehumidifier in there ASAP - or put them into an inexpensive storage facility or a pal's clean, dry basement for a temporary period of time until a more suitable location can be found.
It really is a shame to see some of those really rare and precious items becoming filthy and rusted.
Sorry if this sounds harsh, but there's NO excuse for the trash and filth - the roof, I can understand. But there are cheap measures that he can take to help stave off the damaging effects of the surrounding environment.
I think this guy needs to call Clean House. I'll be in line at the yardsale...
ReplyDeleteThe place looks very disorganized.
ReplyDeleteHis heart may be in the right place, but when you get older, and more eccentric (read: crazy), you end up needing to rely on others more and more.
We should all make a trip down there for a party, and to help clean up. I'm sure that would be a positive act.
How bout it? Big NESM cleanup party? Sort of like the mennonites all getting together to build a barn?
If I was in the area, I would absolutely devote an afternoon to help, ala DF's idea. As great as this guy's collection is, though, I've always seen him as a "Ghost of Christmas Future" type figure. Hopefully other hoardy synth types are learning appropriate lessons, too.
ReplyDelete*readies another pile for eBay*
The good Doktor has the right idea. I'm in. I live in Seattle, but I'll gladly hop a plane and even pop for a few shelves and tables to preserve the treasures there.
ReplyDeleteCount me in, too. I live in CT.
ReplyDeleteI would absolutely fly up from Texas for a weekend and pitch in. Then again, maybe what he needs is money...
ReplyDeleteJesus. I thought that instrument collectors were sad enough to begin with, but after seeing the hovel that this guy lives in makes me sick. I imagine that this place stinks of filth and loneliness. The real sin here is that these instruments aren't being used or played at all, they're piled up against the walls like firewood. I would hazard a guess that most "collections" are like this. Pathetic.
ReplyDeleteA stack of Sheetrock & some screws would be a good start, but cleaning the place won't undo the damage done by Mr. Hillel-Wilson's hand-etched "Stolen from the New England Synthesizer Museum" warnings on the front panels of certain rarities.
ReplyDeleteI've meet Dave. He's a little odd but a very nice guy all around.
ReplyDeleteI've been there a couple of years ago. It doesn't stink. :) Neither the floors nor the synths were wet. It is a shocker, literally rooms full of synths, dry wall missing on some of the walls, dry papers on the floors, etc. The space just isn't there without the shelving and shelving costs money. If you seriously want to help it will take money.
ReplyDeleteNot all of the items work and I'm guessing he picked them up this way with the inclination of repairing them, but I didn't confirm this.
Dave is a very, very nice guy and he is not crazy, unless you live in world that gives little respect to others being as they wish.
For what it's worth, the place actually looks a bit better than when I visited but the roof problems sound new.
My take is Dave is a guy that loves synths and as he said in the prior video he was able to pick them up for cheap when no one else cared about them. He opened up his house and his collection to the public. Think about that for a sec. Would you do that? It's a huge risk. During my visit he once mentioned a person tried to walk out with an SEM.
He also contributes a bit to the synth community. See my latest post on his Rhodes Chroma Voice Board Test Controller.
If you are serious about helping out, contact him. If you know of any contractors that can help him or you are willing to chip in some funds let him know. The museum does take donations and I'm sure he'd be open to having some help.
I do want to help the New England Synth Museum, but my funds are in shorter supply than usual. Ya know, I've got a nice little roomful of synths here.... Hmmm....
ReplyDeleteI hereby dub my studio the "Connecticut Synth Museum!"
Won't you please help the Connecticut Synth Museum? CSM needs your support & cleanup efforts. CSM may be forced to auction off a few rarities soon! CSM needs YOU! Mostly your check. Contact Dave at the CSM today, to learn about how you can contribute. With your check.
if he needs money for shelves why doesn't he simply sell a few of the less interesting items and use the proceeds to better preserve the real "gems".
ReplyDeleteI don't think he should compare his collection to real museums like Audities and CANTOS. They have actual displays and spend a great deal of time and money keeping the instruments working as well as making them available to musicians.
A broken mellotron is not a museum piece. its a paper weight.
I'd propose having one of those AH style gatherings there once or twice a year:
ReplyDelete"showing off our gear, maintain the museum and maybe even performing."
-Raise funds by charging participants a fee.
-Anyone who can't afford the fee, could exchange labor (or materials).
-whoever manages the money works with the contributors to decide how it gets spent
there's gotta be someone here (Matrixsynth) that's done this before - no?
I am sure his place will stay clean for 6 months, then turn to a unorganized mess again. He has a nice collection, but you can't fix the fact that he is lazy.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteYeah, that's not a museum. It's just a run down house with an ass load of synths crammed in every nook and cranny available. At least get some new shades so people can't peek in and see a fortune's worth of vintage synths.
ReplyDeleteFirst Cikira, now this guy... my god, what is it about the majority of humans that when they see someone with more stuff than they have, their first instinct is to look for reasons why the person who has it doesn't deserve it?
ReplyDeleteRepressed envy does horrible things to people...
Does everyone writing negative comments know the guy personally ?
ReplyDeleteConcerning what needs to be done and all the wondering about the state of the museum, how about asking the guy what's needed ?
re: Crazy
ReplyDeleteI always mean crazy in a good way :) Sort of eccentric.
I'm happy for the positive thoughts above. I'll contact him and see if he's into the idea or not. A big BBQ Synth party or something too. Sometime in 2008.
In the videos, he says he needs $16,000 to keep the roof from leaking. Without the roof getting fixed, the synth collection will eventually serve to keep the floor dry.
ReplyDelete"Real" museums regularly sell off inventory to fund improvements. So forgive me if I don't cry a river that a private a collector (albeit a sweet man generous with his home and time) sitting on $200,000 worth of synths doesn't sell off %10 of his stock to save the other 90% of the rare collection from the weather. Yeah, Im being an armchair accountant but you get the gist.
If Moog made only 5 of a module, and Wendy Carlos has one, and you have the other 4, I dunno, ebay 2 of them, buy tables and get your customers repair rigs off the floor.
Without some sort of sensible plan to keep the lot from rotting and rusting I fear his plight will inspire little $ympathy.
It looks sad and a bit scary.
ReplyDeleteHe seems nice, if a bit odd, and he knows something, but meaning well doesn't mean you are doing the right thing and critics who sound nasty can be absolutely right.
I learned quite a lot from the techs in the recent controversy over Buck Owen's Moog modular. Unfortunately, it's both difficult and necessary to separate what is said from how it's said.
The synths don't care whether you are a nice person or not. They just work if you maintain them correctly and don't if you don't.
The offers of help are great, but it's going to take a lot of money and resources to fix the situation, and not just a one-time charitable cleanup.
Envy? Hardly. Fact is, it's a run down house about to fall to pieces. And rather than either sell of some of less esoteric pieces, or get a loan to pay for the repairs, it seems he's asking for help. Dave DOES have a job, no? It's NOT a museum, it's a run down house. No ifs ands or buts about it.
ReplyDeleteI don't see the situation as being all that hard to fix in terms of the material situation. Besides the roof it seems like it just needs some basic cleaning and home repairs, nothing a couple weekends couldn't cure if one had a strong desire to improve the environment. Some people need moral support more than money. I don't see throwing money at it as solving anything but probably tempting Dave to find more gear. I'm the same way in a way, I have bought gear even when I'm behind in bills etc. Obsessive behavior is common with gearheads. He likely needs to have someone attend to the household/museum duties once a general clena condition is attained which yes takes money but first he needs help with overcoming the stagnation.
ReplyDeleteHe's not asking for help. Try not to make so many assumptions folks. I'm the one that stated if you want to help, that might help, not him.
ReplyDeleteSo, the guy is an eccentric collector--of long standing--that likes to tell stories and share his pile of goodies with others. What's the big deal?
ReplyDeleteThe big deal is the state of his collection of "goodies".
ReplyDelete