Rhodes CHROMA ARP Analog Polyphonic Synthesizer

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via this auction

This is the second one listed today. These are beautiful instruments and thanks to the iPad, Chromas with the CC+ upgrade can now be edited in real time with a dedicated iPad editor.

Notes on this one via the listing: "Here is a Rhodes Chroma that has recently been restored to full operation by William Santana at Santana Musical Electronics of Portland, OR. The unit was purchased from the original owner and has already been upgraded with the SPSU that is currently available for the Chroma.

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The CPU in the unit is the original design but the CC+ CPU upgrade is on order now and will be available some time in March. Once the kit is available I would be willing to ship it to the seller as it's value is included with the sale price in this auction. No further costs will be incurred by the buyer of this unit for the value of the CC+. The CC+ will be shipped as soon as is received from the manufacturer. The only thing the buyer will have to make arrangements for is for the installation of the upgrade. The CC+ along with the SPSU brings the Chroma truly into the 21st century providing an enduring stable service life for many more years to come as well as many new and valuable features provided by the CC+. Read more info about it at: rhodeschroma.com

The CC+ is essential for full CC control of all parameters and has already been used to great benefit by the designer of the
Enabler Chroma interface, and the iPad Touch OSC interface:

The woodwork is all original. Due to the typical nature of the aging Rhodes Chroma, often the end caps are found to be stained from the degraded foam that lines the flight case for the Chroma. This unit came to me with foam stains but has since been refinished and the case has been refoamed as well.

As you can see in the pics, the cosmetic condition is very clean. I have since provided bushings under the front panel screws to give it a cleaner look. The tolex is very clean as well. Overall, this unit is an excellent example of the Rhodes Chroma model.

Also included is 2 extra channel boards. Parts have been removed from both of these boards to facilitate the restoration of this Chroma. Currently, NONE of the CEM ICs are present on these boards. However, there are other parts that are specific to the Chroma including the cards themselves. Both of the extra cards are the 2nd or 3 revisions that still had to have a jumper installed at the factory. The need for this jumper was corrected by the later revisions of the channel board which are what all 8 channel boards are currently loaded in the Chroma you see here.

The sound of the unit is big, organic and very deep. The keyboard is a real, wooden 64-note velocity-sensitive dream come true. The programming features are truly unlike any other synth. The "patch" parameter gives you several different routing options between the 2 voices on each card. Some have compared this to the "Algorithm" concept found in the Yamaha DX7.

This unit comes with all of the original accessories including:
Dual sustain/sostenuto pedal (Rhodes)
Single patch advance pedal (Rhodes)
Variable voltage control pedal (Rhodes)
3 x cassette interface cables (original) 2 x 5-pin 1 x 8 pin
Programming manual
Performance Manual
Syntech MIDI interface with all documentation
Front panel interface feature chart
2 x original factory patch cassettes

The Rhodes Chroma was the last product to come from ARP. This unit was to be ARPs big push back into the very competitive synthesizer market. They were definitely onto something. There were many innovation that were developed for this machine that were way ahead of its time. Unfortunately, ARP could not hold things together to release the product to market. Phillip Dodds, who was responsible for the Chromas development and the shutting down of ARP, managed to convince CBS to take up the design along with the R&D team to release it to market under the Rhodes badge. The Rhodes Chroma saw some hi-profile use and was definitely the "players" synthesizer in its day."