OBERHEIM OB-Xa (x2 Collector vs Player Grade Demo)

video upload by Synth Tailor Electronics

"Here's two very different looking Oberheim OBXA's that just had full restorations at Synth Tailor Electronics. One is in very minty "Collector's Grade" cosmetic condition, and the second one had a very poor life on the road. Surprisingly, the mint OBXa landed in the shop with a lot more problems than the player grade OBXa.

0:00 Intro
0:38 Collector Grade OB-Xa
20:10 Player Grade OB-Xa

Both units had major restorations to each including: Power Supply Rebuild, Voice Cards/Tray Restorations, Left Hand Controller Rebuild, Upper/Lower Motherboard rebuild, and a Full Calibration/tuning. We installed Bourns 25 turn high quality trimmers on the voice cards (x6 per voice card: PW, Initial Frequency, Volts Per Octave.) This is critical to install high quality trimmers in these to have stable tuning!

Surprisingly, me personally liked how the less desirable cosmetic unit sounded, compared to the nicer cosmetic unit. Both were early revision/ both different revision OBXa's, but both sound great. These truly are such an iconic 1980s Analog Synthesizer designed by the great Tom Oberheim.

If you have a broken Oberheim OBXa or any other vintage synthesizer, drum machine, outboard gear, or rare obscure gear that needs repaired/restored, please reach out on our website contact form or email."