Hillwood Blue Comets 73 Analog Synthesizer

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Hillwood A-7 SYNTHETRON Electronic Organ SN 447067

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Vintage HILLWOOD Drum-Machine

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Ultra rare HILLWOOD SY-1800 analog synthesizer 1977- by Darth NoiseLab

Published on Jan 5, 2014 NoiselabCH·5 videos

"No effects or anything, just pure analog sound (however as usual recorded with an IPhone only) ! 1ST VID EVER ABOUT THE HILLWOOD SY-1800 on YOUTUBE !

Hillwood SY-1800 built from 1977-79, is a curious preset Synthesizer made in Japan similar to the Roland SH-2000, ARP soloist and ELKA Soloist. Manufacturer Hillwood had a full range offer typical at the time:

- Combo Organs and keyboards
- Synthesizer like the SY-1800 and more known Hillwood Comet
- Electric pianos
- Guitar amp
- two drum machines
- rotary speaker simulator
- and even a spinett-organ
(found in a catalog fromm 1977)

I never had or know a synthesizer with practically no information on the net like the SY-1800. Presets are mostly worthless like all preset Synths of the time. However these synthesizer have some modulations to explore and the SY-1800 has some PWM, CHORUS, possibly BP-Filter sounds worth to take a closer look. Even with a weak filter I think the HILLWOOD SY-1800 is an inspiring little toy.

Any information about HILLWOOD is apreciated...

Be the analog synthforce with you...

Darth NoiseLab"

Hillwood Foot System, self-contained Bass Pedal Synthesizer Model 4322

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"'Old School' bass pedals, used by musicians to play music live, in real time. This is an analog synth. It does not trigger digital samples. All parts are intact and fully functional.
13 pedals with switch for 2 octave range
5 knobs - tuning, sustain, expand, tone, volume w/ power on/off
5 latching push button switches - OCTAVE low & high, Sustain, ATTACK percussion & mute

Substantial metal construction - about 25 lbs.

I am not sure of the date of manufacture, but this item is listed in the 1977 catalog at this site."

Grey Hillwood Multivox Basky II Synth Bass Pedals

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This is the first time I've seen a Hillwood branded Basky II. The Multivox model was black. You can see some here.

Via the listing: "Hillwood Basky II model bs 4322 bass synth pedal with a filter sweep and octave built in. This unit is 100% functional and is in great shape, lived in a studio and hardly used, does have some scratches and dings the fake wood sticker stuff is peeling up in spots, nothing major. The brand is Hillwood, but I know for a fact that Multivox made these as well. Basically its like a lightweight, less expensive, little brother to the Moog Taurus pedals. the black button on the right controls the filter sweep, the rest of the knobs are labled properly..."

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Multivox MX-75 & Hillwood Pulser M-75 Dual Voice Synthesizers

via Connor 'Macleod' Eck on The MATRIXSYNTH Lounge

Hillwood Blue Comets 73 Super Rare Analog Synth SN 52009

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"Up for auction is the incredibly rare HIllwood Blue Comets 73 Synth for parts or repair. Very little is known about this synth. I'm sure there are very few in exsistence, it may be worth owning just for the bizarre name/collectibility.

"This is a single oscillator monophonic synth, made in 1973. It has a 12db filter. The oscillator has both sawtooth and square wave that can be selected individually or combined with the four rocker switches simply labeled "Wave 1", "Wave 2", "Wave 3" or "Wave 4". It can be modified with 7 presets assignable with rocker tabs labeled "Effect 1", "Effect 2", etc. There are no descriptions to the tabs as to what they actually sound like. Luckily there is a tab labeled "Control" that allow you to tweak the sounds with the control panel to the left of the keyboard. Select all four "Wave" tabs and it will randomly distort. Add in "noise" and "Growl" and it can get downright nasty. It has a retro white heavy-metal casing."

I found this demo on youtube, not the best, but you can get an idea of what it sounds like. Dirty lo-fi analog spacey: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81QZOhiWlSg [previously posted here]

It powers on but produces no sound when attached to an amp. It has scratching and pitting on the faceplate and the control section as pictured below, it doesnt have any missing sliders or broken buttons. Seems to be totally intact but definitley with wear to the body. One of the wood sides is attached, but loose, like as if the wood needs to be glued back down. Sold AS IS!"

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Hillwood CP-2 Vintage Electric Piano 1970's - Video

YouTube Published on Apr 21, 2012 by abertronic
This one is currently listed on eBay here.

"This a rare electric piano by Hillwood made in the 1970's. It is typical of the keyboards at the time in that it uses a divide down octave circuit to create full polyphony. It has 5 sounds; pino low, piano high, vibe (vibrato), harpsichord low and harpsichord high. It also has a note sustain knob. The presets used in this demo were vibs and harpsichord high. If you after that authentic 1970's electric keyboard sound you cant go wrong with this.
Please check out this and other vintage japanese gear on my ebay store." abertronix (RSS)

HILLWOOD CP-2 Vintage 1970's analog electric piano

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abertronix (RSS)

"Electric piano from the 70's
4 basic sounds;
piano low
piano high
vibs (nice preset with vibrato)
harpsichoed low
harpsichord high

Also has sustain knob on the right hand side next to the volume."

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Hillwood SY-1800 Synth SN 74103

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Vintage Hillwood Instruments FS-4322 "Footsystem" Pedal Synth

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"This is one of the earlier successful attempts to have a wide-range of sounds for Bass in a small Combo music group..."

HILLWOOD BLUE COMETS 73 SYNTHESIZER

YouTube Uploaded by nickyboyfloyd100 on Aug 24, 2011 "Some random noises from my Hillwood Blue Comets"

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" The Blue Comets is a single oscillator monosynth with a 12db filter. The osc has both sawtooth and square wave that can be selected individually or combined with the four rocker switches simply labeled "Wave 1", "Wave 2", "Wave 3" or "Wave 4". It can be modified with 7 presets assignable with rocker tabs labeled "Effect 1", "Effect 2", etc. There are no descriptions to the tabs as to what they actually sound like. Luckily there is a tab labeled "Control" that allow you to tweak the sounds with the control panel to the left of the keyboard."

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HILLWOOD 70's drum machine HR2 super variation MINT

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HILLWOOD ELECTRIC PIANO

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"electronic piano/keyboard. Very warm and fat like RMI. Very Kraftwerk'ish sound."

Hillwood Ultra Rare Keyboard Called The Blue Comet 73

YouTube via bobbybot2000 — May 22, 2010 — via this auction

Hillwood Synthesizer, Blue Comets 73

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"Sie bieten hier auf einen Klassiker. Ein Hillwood Blue Comets 73 in einenm Super Zustand. Voll Funktionstüchtig. Ohne Anleitung oder Ständer. Schutzhülle vorhanden. Muß meines Wissens nach an eine Box angeschlossen werden. Strom zeigt es an. Vielleicht kann mir einer Weiterhelfen, stammt aus einer Sammlung eines Sammlers. Stelle noch mehr Keyboards ein und anderes Zubehör, wie Mikrofone und Boxen.Ware muß abgeholt werden. Artikelstandort ist Stuttgart."

Googlish: "You are bidding on a classic. A Hillwood Blue Comets 73 in einenm super condition. Full Functionally. Without guidance or stand. Cover available. I know, must be connected to a box. Electricity to it shows. Perhaps I can help one, comes from a collection of a collector. Place even more keyboards one and other accessories such as microphones and Boxen.Ware must be picked up. Item location is Stuttgart."

Hillwood Blue Comets 73

flickr set by transanalog (click for more including shots of the inside)

"WWW.TRANSANALOG.COM This is one of the rarest and most unique vintage synthesizers I own. It's one of those rare finds in that it broke back when it was new then put in storage for 30 years until it finally changed hands. it is in excellent condition, not only for it's age but also considering how awful Hillwood products were made. The Blue Comets is a single oscillator monosynth with a 12db filter. The osc has both sawtooth and square wave that can be selected individually or combined with the four rocker switches simply labeled "Wave 1", "Wave 2", "Wave 3" or "Wave 4". It can be modified with 7 presets assignable with rocker tabs labeled "Effect 1", "Effect 2", etc. There are no descriptions to the tabs as to what they actually sound like. Luckily there is a tab labeled "Control" that allow you to tweak the sounds with the control panel to the left of the keyboard. Not that any of this helps. This synth sounds aweful. The keyboard tracking is so bad that Hillwood included a knob labeled "Slope" so you can almost keep the keyboard in tune as you play. The filter only has decay, and the AR VCA is very limited. But it does have some charm. Select all four "Wave" tabs and it will randomly distort. Add in noise and "Growl" and it can get downright nasty.

The circuitry of the synth is definitely amusing! The circuit boards look hand made and the components look cheap, even by 1970 Japan standards. Each board is held by only two screws so I can't imagine any of these staying functional or in tune very long in a gigging environment. Still, if you want something very unique for ambient lo-fi bleeps and bloops, you can't go wrong with one of these."

HILLWOOD SYNTH

flickr by industrial drawing
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full size

Hillwood Multivox Pulser

Two shots of the Hillwood Multivox Pulser


This one via fdiskc


This one via this larger shot on tcapp.

Here's two more posts on Hillwood Synths:
Hillwood SY-1800
Another shot of the Pulser