eBay Scams

The below is in via an anonymous reader. I catch these as well. Be careful. In these listings, there is usually an offer to pick the item for a great BIN outside of eBay by contacting the seller. NEVER go for it. It's usually a scam and it is against eBay policy.

When I see them I filter them out of the eBay links on the right of this site, so use them. Please note it's not possible to catch them all the second they go up, and there are other scams out there, so always be careful. The list is "cleaner" but not perfect. I also filter a few other things to keep the feeds synth only.

via an anonymous reader:
"I follow your blog for some time now. I use your blog mainly to keep up to date with all synth related and from time to time find good deals on eBay. But the reason of my email is for something else, today I found a few eBay items and almost got scammed.

The item in question was an Alesis Andromeda. I took a few screen shots and decided to forward you those. Perhaps you can make a post and warn others of the issue.

The A6 on the screen is not the same I was about to be scammed into. But today I've seen many of them come up and go by many different sellers. I believe that the seller accounts got hijacked and they are not even aware of the issue, none the less it will great to warn others of the matter. The worst part is that the scam is for many types of synths, oberheim, arps, jupiters, etc. which really sucks specially during holiday season. "

Also see this post on protecting yourself against scams.

SYNFO - Service Manuals and Schematics

http://www.synfo.nl/ - 135 docs as of this post.
You'll also find synth parts and synth repair links.
Note this is Vintage Planet on eBay

Button Fly Low - "Cure for a Dark House"

YouTube via djnotsomuch | October 10, 2010 |

"In the middle of practicing some ideas in Ableton I kept carving out complicated rhythmic sketches on my http://lividinstruments.com/ OHM64. SO I recorded them via my cellphone and a MicroTrack II. The BPM was about 115, approximately 12 samples were used. All but 2 only 1 measure in length - each one geting crushed. Just having some fun practicing and working out ideas!

Geek stuff: no effects in use, CPU max 3%, stick white Macbook."

Using Ableton to provide control voltage for a Moog Slim Phatty [tutorial-demo]

YouTube via djnotsomuch | November 27, 2010 | 6 likes, 0 dislikes

"Seeing the Slim Phatty retaining CV (control voltage) inputs I wondered how well line level voltage would work as a control source. The answer:

Pretty Damn Well!

This is a tutorial/demo on how I pulled this off and everything you need to know! The Moog (notes) are controlled via the MPK25 but the filter and pitch modulation is via the CV inputs.

Yes - Line level (analog) signal has voltage. I learned some of these tricks about a year ago - once thinking CV was far out and not so easy to gain control of - wrong.

The modulation of the SF can be controlled with amazing accuracy and synchronization using an application like Ableton. The possibilities are endless - I am still trying to understand where I would like to go with this idea. For now - you have the basic knowledge - please post back ideas and break throughs! Thx.

Supporting post : http://djnotsomuch.com/moog-slim-phat..."

Modded Roland Drumatix TR-606

via this auction

"You’ll see from the image that it’s been modified slightly though it doesn’t affect its’ operation in any way. When I carried out this mod years ago it made sense to be able to pan the various drum sounds in a mix, so all I’ve done is take a feed off each output pot and run it to a jack socket. Not exactly rocket science but it did work!"

Vintage Roland CR-78 CompuRhythm Drum Machine

via this auction
Unit serial number is 935446.

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Synthesizer Handbuch (Dellmann/Thewes, MusikMedia 1985)

via this auction

Googlish description:
"Further, illustrated reference book of Gerhard Dell Mann and Martin Thewes (music Media 1985.162 pages) on the technology of that time, etc. synthesizer, with among others the following contributions: What is an envelope? - How does an electronic sound? - What lies behind FM and PD-art? - How does a synthesizer? - What is sound sampling and MIDI? Rarity! Condition: 2-3."

Logan LE Organ

via this auction

"Logan Le Organ complete with stand/basspedals/case.... It works, typical transitor organ type sounds, as well as a kind of arpegiator/ rhythmic delay thing which is pretty cool."

This one is listed as "Logan LE Organ/String Synth." Anyone know if it actually has string sounds?

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JEN SX100 ANALOG VINTAGE SYNTH

via this auction

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Skull-Face 4093 oscillator synth

YouTube via TheZombiest | November 26, 2010 |

"a lovely 4093 quad nand synth inside a cheapo halloween skull.
4 cascaded oscillators and a voltage starve as standard. A colour changing LED which can be switched on and off and a trigger button and switch for making the noises happen."

via this auction

"A lovely macabre square-wave nosie maker based around a 4093 quad nand gate CMOS chip.
Capable of hideously beautiful beepy noise.
The 4 oscillators interact with each other to create a relentless range of synth tones.
The power starve dial adds further modulation and manipulation of the oscillations.
SKULL-FACE fits well into the palm and can be enjoyed by anyone with a passion for harsh, gringing noise terrorism.
It's powered by a single 9v battery which is housed in a holder on the back of SKULL-FACE's um, skull.
There's a 6.35mm jack socket for hooking up to your amp/mixer/effects.
There's no internal speaker!
There's a pure green LED to indicate that SKULL-FACE is on.
There's also a switchable colour-changing LED which modulates the sound further and looks real pretty."