The WASP - A Very British Synthesizer

Alex Ball

"The WASP is an iconic British synthesizer designed by Electronic Dream Plant in 1978.

EDP were Adrian Wagner (yes he was a relation), Chris Huggett and Steven Evans. They only traded until around 1982, but that wasn't the end of their synth story. Chris Huggett in particular has had a prolific career in the industry, founding the Oxford Synthesizer Company in 1983 and releasing the (also iconic) OSCar and subsequently (after work with Akai), he joined Novation, who are still trading to this very day.

Back to 1978, the concept of the WASP was to build a powerful, low cost synthesizer. That seemed to have worked as one of the original reviews I found uses the headline "The Synth we can all afford" but still dubs it a professional instrument.

I also found a Moog price list dated June 15th 1978 and it lists the Minimoog as $1,995, the Multimoog as $1,495 and the Micromoog as $895. Assuming they sold for about the same in the UK, the equivalent prices would be approximately £1,090, £820 and £490 respectively. The aforementioned WASP review also states that an Odyssey is still over £1,000 in 1978, so with the WASP priced at £199 this demonstrates what a bargain it was at the time.

In fact, I had a brief conversation with a friend who remembers running out to buy it the moment he heard about it in 1978 and he still has his. It was also the first synth of Dave Stewart and Nick Rhodes among others.

In this video I breakdown its features and use it to make a short track.

0:00 - Intro
0:42 - The WASP
2:07 - The Keyboard
2:59 - The Oscillators
3:40 - Noise
4:03 - The Controller Oscillator
5:06 - The Filter
6:08 - The Envelopes
6:30 - LINK
7:11 - Internal Speaker
7:32 - Demo Track
9:21 - Outro

Gear used:
EDP WASP (1978)
Simmons SDS-3 (1978)
AMS DMX 15~80S (1978)
Roland CR-78 (1978) samples

Some original brochure scans stolen from the wonderful Retro Synth Ads blog:
http://retrosynthads.blogspot.com"

Alex Ball synth vids

EDP GNAT

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via this auction

"bought whilst at college so between 79-81 from a instrument shop opposite my college on charing cross road

thoughts of joining a synth group passed very quickly and it's been packed away ever since...comes with adaptor+lead,

apart from the plug being replaced
the only damage is a missing rubber stabiliser from the base"

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EDP Wasp 1978 with MIDI kit

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via this auction

"Spent most of its life in storage. Amazing condition. Plays and sounds perfect

Elby Designs miniMIDI-WASP kit installed."

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Bzzzzz......

Published on May 25, 2020 Laurent Baloran

"Premiers pas avec la guèpe JASPER, clone du Wasp, en version noknob :D :D
Elle déménage bien. Quel drôle d'instrument ! Peu de commandes, mais l'ensemble est plaisant. Et le son, aussi gros que Lo est vraiment intéressant.
J'aime le filtre que vous allez un peu entendre ;)
Le tout passe juste dans le Hall de la BigSky...."

EDP WASP [Sound Check]

Published on May 3, 2020 TinySymphony Music & Synthesizers

Ludus Pinsky Live lockdown diaries

Published on Apr 30, 2020 luduspinsky

Live for 'le cannibale' lockdown diaries
28/04/20

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Elektor Formant modular on the right and a couple modules on the left. Looks like a DIY sequencer in between and a number of other DIY modules. Extensively modded KORG Poly-800 and Nova Mod Roland SH-101. Apparently an EDP Wasp filter clone is featured as well.

Update on the Poly-800 mod: "in the poly800 I added a steiner filter, phaser, chorus, lfo, vca and a double counter (4017) to play with the rhythm."

1981 EDP WASP SN 003779

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via this auction

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Rare SPIDER Sequencer! Electronic Dream Plant (EDP) - Rare - Gnat Wasp -

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via this auction

"1978 Electronic Dream Plant (EDP) Spider Sequencer
Works with original EDP Wasp and Gnat Synths
Includes the Din cable to connect to Wasp or Gnat.

In good shape, no cracks in the plastic. I used this in my synth studio for a few years. Very fun. Can clock it with audio signal. I use to sent a trig out of a Roland Tr-606 with wonderful results. Trimmers on the side to adjust sensitivity.

Very rare item.

from the web,
"The Spider is a 256-note step, or 84-note real time digital sequencer to control the Wasp and/or Gnat. It features a few simple controls for entering notes in step or real time and transposing the sequence a semi-tone, whole-tone, major-3rd, or perfect-5th as well as speed controls."

Note: The unit uses the same 9v power supply the WASP and GNAT use. Standard guitar power supply with 1/8 adaptor tip. (not included)"

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Behringer WASP Deluxe Waveform + Filter Test Analog Synthesizer Rik Marston

Published on Feb 19, 2020 Rik Marston Official

#behringerwaspdeluxe #behringeranalogsynthesizer #edpwasp
Behringer WASP Deluxe "Waveform + Filter Test"
Synthesizer Demo by Rik Marston
***Watch in HD!!*** ***Turn it UP!!*** ***No Talking!!!***

The Behringer WASP Deluxe in ACTION!
Here I play around a bit then show off the WASP Deluxe
4 individual filters with slow cutoff filter sweeps, etc
for those who are interested in the WASP Deluxe!

The Korg Minilogue Classic as the midi controller! ;)
Recorded DRY into the BOSS BR-600 with no extra FX!

Thank you for watching!

Jasper Wasp Diy Build (EDP Wasp Clone)

Published on Jan 16, 2020 Uros Stojnic

"Easy and straightforward build.
All music and sounds in the video created by Jasper only. No heavy processing except pad sound (no mixdown nor master)."

Is Behringer's WASP Deluxe a Clone of a Clone?

Thought this was interesting. Take a look at the front panels.

The top is the original EDP WASP Deluxe.

The middle is the Jasper clone.

The bottom is the Behringer WASP Deluxe.

Note the knob layout for each.

Clone of a clone? Depends on the internals. Reminds me of the original Technology Transplant (Cyclone Analogic) TB-303 and x0xb0x clones - see this post. This is also worth a read.

Update: Note the ENV hold switch, ENH waveshape in the oscillator section, and Noise level knob on the Jasper & Behringer clones. They are in the exact same locations yet completely absent on the original. These were introduced in the Jasper.

Behringer WASP: First look & Walkthrough

Published on Dec 20, 2019 Starsky Carr

"Review and demo of the Behringer WASP Deluxe Synth including a quick walkthrough.

Oscillators 6:37
LFO 10:29
Filter 11:56
VCF ENV 15:23
VCA ENV 16:35
2 Sounds 17:35
Conclusion 19:30"

Behringer Teases New EDP WASP Clone

"Oh, and one more thing... Uli BEEringer"

WASP Filter comparisons Vintage & AE modular

Published on Nov 8, 2019 DJjondent

Jasper Wasp Clone Analog Synth

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via this auction

"Jasper Wasp Clone Analog Synth. Non Midi. Just built ready for first owner. 2 DCO’s triangle, square, pulse width..."

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EDP Wasp

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via this auction, also on Reverb

"Definitely one for the synth lover and collector, is the gorgeous & rare Electronic Dream Plant Wasp! These were made in the UK in the 70s, and they are now quite hard to find - and even more rare to find one in as lovely condition as this one.

Fully functional, and sounds fantastic - the Wasp filter is legendary!

Note, the plastic on the front 'lip' of the unit has been refurbished, and it is battery operated only (no power supply). I never used a power supply with it myself and always worked beautifully. There is a teeny amount of wear on the paint on two keys as one may expect with a synth this age, but it does not affect the operation of the keyboard at all."

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Electronic Dream Plant Limited England WASP

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via this auction

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Waspish

Published on Aug 14, 2019 zack dagoba

"Messing on the Modcan. In particular, I'm exploring the very interesting Cynthia Twin Wasp Filter. This is based on the EDP Wasp multi-mode filter, but it has two of them, controlled by one set of inputs and one output

Also in this patch is a simple drum machine setup using the sequencer trigger outputs

Theres also a tiny bit of reverb from the astonishing Roland R880 mainframe reverberation system

See http://myblogitsfullofstars.blogspot.com for more"

EDP WASP Vintage Synthesizer

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via this auction

"Electronic Dream Plant Limited, WASP Synthesizer. Battery operated. Used, all functions work. 5 knobs missing their covers. Some ware and gaff tape residue on the underside. Must have for any synth collector. Does not have MIDI as the one on E-Bay from Sweden wrongly states. The Link connector are for the propitiatory digital interface EDP developed so you could link several Wasps with a Caterpillar controller."

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EDP WASP

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Published on Jul 22, 2019 Lackan

"Selling my EDP WASP on Reverb and I made a short demo to show that it works."

via this auction

Pic of the inside below.

"EDP WASP in very good physical condition. Just one very small 5 mm crack in upper left corner (see image), perfect in all other aspects with a clean battery compartment and non worn keyboard sticker.

The internal speaker is faulty and produces a high pitch sound. This stops once "line out" is plugged in. So this is just the speaker, not the synth. (see YT video)

MIDI by Elby Designs in Australia. Works perfect.

Recently serviced. All potentiometers desoldered, opened and cleaned. Which means absolutely no cracks or jumps. All pots work perfect, again, see video."

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