PNW-Synth 2008 photos by David Skinner

more images here

Roland Studio Systems System 700

via an anonymous reader.

YAMAHA DD-7 (MECHANOID) by S-CAT.

YouTube via PHONICPOTION.

"CIRCUIT BENT WITH 21 MODIFICATIONS."

Univox Mini-Korg Demo

YouTube via jabberwalky
"A sunday morning dick around with the Univox Mini-Korg aka MiniKorg700"

MAC 1 MONO SYNTH 9 OSCILLATORS

via this auction. Not the best shots but you don't see these often.

"Mac1 (Macbeth) modular mono synthesizer, custom built by Ken Macbeth in Edinburgh, 1997 - see photos for signature. Featuring the best components available, built to an uncompromising standard utilising many Moog components and grade 'A' devices...

This synth sounds absolutely incredible. The bandwidth is huge. The highs are are incredibly smooth, and the bass is thunderous. Truly amazing. I'm selling to finance a big mixing project. Easily controllable over CV gate - we use a channel via the Novation bassstation. Very cool!

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VOYETRA 8 REV 4 and VPK-5 Keyboard

images at this auction

PAiA Oz As seen in DEVO's "Come Back Jonee" video

via this auction

"In 1982, a friend owed me money but I got this synth and a story instead... After high school I thumbed my nose at the regular life and moved myself to Austin, Texas which was then as it is now: the live music capitol of the world. Everybody was in a band and if you weren't in a band then someone in a band owed you money. Or both. I was both.

My friend Ryan was in a Devo/Kraftwerk ripoff band called "Light Switch" or some vaugely stupid electrical term. The band wasn't that good but they had a pretty impressive collection of synthesizers - especially for 1982 - including the first electronic drums I'd ever seen. One item in particular that I always admired in Ryan's aresenal was a lovely little Paia Oz. I liked the woopy little pitch bending pad, the teeny keyboard and the alien beep the little machine made.

Anyway, at some point I loaned Ryan and the guys of "Light Switch" nearly one-hundred dollars to pay for rehearsal space, food, electricity and probably weed, knowing them. Of course they had no intention of ever paying me back and, predicably, push came to shove (including actual shoving) in an attempt to recover my money. So I said we could call it even if Ryan gave me his PAIA Oz. I really loved that keyboard and I'd probably been subsconsciouly angling for this outcome in the first place.

And he said, "No way - Mark gave that to me." "Wait, " I said, "Mark? Like Mothersbaugh? Like Devo? That Mark?"

Yes, that Mark.
The story goes that in high school Ryan worked at a music shop in Houston around 1977 and who should walk into thier shop with a sweat-ruined Minimoog was none other than Mark Mothersbaugh himself. They had a show at the Texas Opry House, a Houston punk club, and Mark had ruined his Moog with sweat and possibly beer. So, Ryan cleaned up the Moog's contacts, replaced a few pots and had her booping again. Ryan was so flabbergasted that Mark was in his shop that he didn't charge Mark for the repairs and, in turn, Mark was so surprised that this kid could fix synths that he invited him to the next Devo show in San Antonio - including after-party passes. Wow - girls, booze and everything!

Ryan made the five-hour drive to the show, which was super-awesome, and the after-party, which was also super-awesome. Mark, possibly made jolly and generous by the various substances at the party kept introducing Ryan to partygoers as "the guy that saved the show." Before Ryan left for Houston, Mark gave him his PAIA Oz as a thank-you.

Well, it was a nice story and I wasn't sure if it was true. If it were in fact true, then it only made me all the more determined to let the Oz stand as repayment. And if it weren't true I wanted it anyway bacause I thought the Oz was way neato. But Ryan wouldn't budge. He wouldn't part with the synth.

Well, then...
I moved back to Austin a few years ago and who should I meet again but my old friend Ryan. We exchanged phone numbers and emails - and it turned out that our wives already knew each other - and bid farewell. He called me that night and said, "Hey - you still want Mark's keyboard?"

There you are. I have no idea if the lineage of this keyboard can be traced back to Devo or what. It's probably total BS, but you never know. There WAS a PAIA OZ in the Devo video "Come Back Jonee." I like the story more than I like the Oz, so bid early and often."


Update via BirdFLU in the comments: "That's a great story. But if you look at the little keyboard in the Come Back Jonee video it's the same orange/yellow color as an EML Polybox. The OZ may have been Mark's but I don't think it's what's in the video. "

OBERHEIM OB-1

images at this auction
"# 2 VCOs with sub-oscillator each (!). Like on the SEM you've got Saw and Pulse. But there's one interesting new feature: there's a smooth running control knob that moves either from sawtooth to sine or from narrow to broad pulse.. This is quite unusual, and even voltage control of the oscillator waveform is possible... quite good, really! Especially those nice sound between saw and sine are very interesting and not to be found on too many other synths (except multimoog, kobol and some other unusual instruments)
# 1 VCF... very powerful. Sadly it's not the multimode-filter of the SEM... what a shame...
# 2 fully equipped ENVs... without any extraordinary feature, but: just simple and easy to use, and sonically perfect...
# 1 LFO with sine, pulse and S/H
# noise
# very useful controls to the left of the keyboard
# 8 memories"

ROLAND TB-303 with Midi Sync Box

images at this auction
"Also including in this auction is a custom made 1 MIDI in to 2 SYNC out (1X2) Sync Box (with power adapter). This tiny little magic box let's you Sync not just one classic Sync instrument.. BUT TWO AT ONCE! Meaning you can Sync both a TB-303 and TR-606 (or MC-202, SH-101 and many other vintage pre-MIDI pieces) to any modern MIDI device. From a Groovebox to a ProTools or Reason rig, you will be able to use this amazing classic with any and ALL of your present gear."

Roland SH-101 with Mods

via this auction

"It has 2 awesome cutom mods, courtesy of world famous Mark Verbose. Please watch these 2 short videos for demonstration. This is one of a few SH101s used live by my group Prototype 909 in our recent tour of the US."