MATRIXSYNTH: Vintage ARP Quadra Poly Synthesizer


Monday, December 17, 2018

Vintage ARP Quadra Poly Synthesizer

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ARP Quadra demo @ RetroLinear Published on Dec 18, 2018 RetroLinear


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"We're proud to offer this amazing ARP Quadra for sale. This synth has been painstakingly restored and upgraded to 11 in every way possible. Before we get into specifics on its electronic restoration. Cosmetically speaking this synthesizer is in great condition a solid 8/10 overall. There are signs of use as it's from the late 1970s. The button panel had a few areas which began to split (this is a notorious problem) unfortunately no companies produce replacements. We've fabricated a clear vinyl overlay using quality 3m material which is affixed atop the existing button strip, effectively bolstering the button strip. Both wooden sides have imperfections, metal work overall is clean, few touched up areas. Please be sure to check out all the pictures.

ARP dove head first into the Polysynth race combining the OMNI and SOLUS into one single unit with ADSR, phasing , chorus, arpeggiator , after-touch ,and basic preset memory. These were almost unheard of features in a single unit during the late 1970's- quite ahead of its time. Tonally this synth sounds vast - it produces a massive analog expanse of lush string tones layered in chorus and phasing. Has the signature ARP lead sound as well. Overall it's hard to beat! Independent 1/4" outputs for each section bass, strings, poly and lead synth or stereo left / right output or mono. Lots of output flexibility.

Our team of technicians put 60+ hours into this restoration.
Every detail has been addressed to yield a reliable, stable instrument.
The original faders (dust collectors) have been replaced with illuminated LED Sliders, The LFO rate controls pulsate based on where the rates are set. Unfortunately the key board control board sustained irreversible battery acid damage which is a common issue. In some cases you can patch damaged traces back together however, in this case, the damage was extensive and a new board was fabricated to solve the problem. Our techs referenced original service documentation to reverse engineer a new direct replacement keyboard controller board. The Key-bed has been disassembled, re-bushed , leveled, and all contact points cleaned and polished. All of the internal connectivity has been replaced. ARP used low quality connection points which corrode - one of many issues commonly plaguing these units. To rectify the internal connectivity issues we've installed new gold headers and sockets on all boards which won't corrode. This has also been fully recapped, all 4000 series chips have been replaced, all troublesome analog ic's have been replaced, Calibrated.
Everything works as it should, tuning is stable!"

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